A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare (Key Facts)

 

A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare (Key Facts) 

Full Title: A Midsummer Night's Dream

 

Author: William Shakespeare

 

Type of Work: Play

 

Genre: Comedy, Fantasy

 

Language: English

 

Time and Place Written: Between 1595 and 1596, London, England

 

Date of First Publication: 1600 (First Quarto)

 

Publisher: Thomas Fisher

 

Tone: Light, playful, comedic, whimsical, often shifting between romance and the supernatural.

 

Setting (Time): The play is set in a mythical past, specifically during the time of Theseus, Duke of Athens, which could be linked to ancient Greece.

 

Setting (Place): Athens and the surrounding forest, which is enchanted and home to fairies.

 

Protagonist: The play does not have a single protagonist, but rather an ensemble cast including Hermia, Lysander, Helena, Demetrius, Oberon, Titania, and Puck.

 

Major Conflict: The entanglement of various love interests, complicated by magic, especially involving the relationships between Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius, and Helena.

 

Rising Action: The arrival of the lovers in the enchanted forest, where Puck uses a magical potion to manipulate their affections.

 

Climax: The confusion and chaos that ensue in the forest when all the lovers, under the influence of the potion, mistakenly fall in love with the wrong person.

 

Falling Action: The spell is undone, and the characters return to Athens, where the correct pairings are restored, leading to a triple wedding.

 

Themes:

  - The nature of love (its irrationality and capriciousness)

  - Reality vs. illusion

  - The tension between dreams and reality

  - The complexities of identity and transformation

 

Motifs:

  - The contrast between the city (Athens) and the forest (the magical realm)

  - The use of plays and performances within the play

  - Dreams and the dreamlike state

 

Symbols:

  - The love potion (symbolizing the unpredictability and irrationality of love)

  - The moon (associated with the passage of time, romantic desire, and the supernatural)

  - Theseus and Hippolyta’s wedding (symbolizing order and the social contract)

 

Foreshadowing:

  - The tension between Egeus’s demand for Hermia to marry Demetrius and the resolution of the play foreshadows the eventual harmonious ending where love triumphs.

  - Puck’s early mischievous behavior foreshadows the chaos he later causes with the love potion.