Analyzing A Midsummer Night's Dream
Analyzing A Midsummer Night’s Dream
The correlations of a piece of literature with its audience are often regarded as being significant in making the prose gratifying. In order to depict whether a play is deemed enjoyable to its audience, an analysis of the play’s aspects must be undertaken with evidence and facts to support any reasoning. The underlying connections to the audience brought forth by humorous irony, relatable themes, and vivid imagery cause A Midsummer Night’s Dream to be considered a literary success.
First, humorous irony allows the plot to connect to the audience through laughter while enhancing their understanding of the play. In the play, the character Bottom states, “I see their knavery: this is to make an ass of me; / …show more content…
In the play, the character Titania states, “Come, sit thee down upon this flowery bed,/While I thy amiable cheeks do coy, / And stick musk-roses in thy sleek smooth head,/And kiss thy fair large ears, my gentle joy” (IV.i.1-4). The vivid imagery displayed by this quote such as “thy fair large ears” allows viewers to mentally visualize and understand the forced love that Titania has for Bottom, in addition to the physical representations on stage if the play is watched rather than read. Furthermore, the character Oberon states, “Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows, / Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine, / With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine:” (II.i.250-252). This quote depicts the essential imagery as to where the love potion comes from. Oberon’s quote shows readers and spectators of the play alike to envision the described, magical location since there is no visual depiction of it in the play. Thus, the vivid imagery aids in enhancing comprehension through the audience’s mental visualizations appropriated to the play. Expert critics such as Anne Barton support this reasoning when stating, “Images of sleep and dreams, shadows and illusions, have been used so constantly in the course of the comedy, examined and invested with such body and significance that they cannot be regarded now as simple terms of denigration and dismissal” (Barton 1). Barton describes that the images in the play are critical to a viewer’s understanding. Furthermore, Barton supports this by referring to the detailed dreams and illusions that were essential to the comprehension of the plot. Additionally, B.J. Rahn states in his article, “Comparing her to a goddess, Demetrius uses clichéd imagery in a catalogue of Helena’s features beginning with her eyes, ‘O Helen, goddess, nymph, perfect, divine!/To what, my
The correlations of a piece of literature with its audience are often regarded as being significant in making the prose gratifying. In order to depict whether a play is deemed enjoyable to its audience, an analysis of the play’s aspects must be undertaken with evidence and facts to support any reasoning. The underlying connections to the audience brought forth by humorous irony, relatable themes, and vivid imagery cause A Midsummer Night’s Dream to be considered a literary success.
First, humorous irony allows the plot to connect to the audience through laughter while enhancing their understanding of the play. In the play, the character Bottom states, “I see their knavery: this is to make an ass of me; / …show more content…
In the play, the character Titania states, “Come, sit thee down upon this flowery bed,/While I thy amiable cheeks do coy, / And stick musk-roses in thy sleek smooth head,/And kiss thy fair large ears, my gentle joy” (IV.i.1-4). The vivid imagery displayed by this quote such as “thy fair large ears” allows viewers to mentally visualize and understand the forced love that Titania has for Bottom, in addition to the physical representations on stage if the play is watched rather than read. Furthermore, the character Oberon states, “Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows, / Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine, / With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine:” (II.i.250-252). This quote depicts the essential imagery as to where the love potion comes from. Oberon’s quote shows readers and spectators of the play alike to envision the described, magical location since there is no visual depiction of it in the play. Thus, the vivid imagery aids in enhancing comprehension through the audience’s mental visualizations appropriated to the play. Expert critics such as Anne Barton support this reasoning when stating, “Images of sleep and dreams, shadows and illusions, have been used so constantly in the course of the comedy, examined and invested with such body and significance that they cannot be regarded now as simple terms of denigration and dismissal” (Barton 1). Barton describes that the images in the play are critical to a viewer’s understanding. Furthermore, Barton supports this by referring to the detailed dreams and illusions that were essential to the comprehension of the plot. Additionally, B.J. Rahn states in his article, “Comparing her to a goddess, Demetrius uses clichéd imagery in a catalogue of Helena’s features beginning with her eyes, ‘O Helen, goddess, nymph, perfect, divine!/To what, my