A MidSummers Night Dream One of Shakespeares better plays, A MidSummers Night Dream incorporates 4 plots in one. It intertwines these four plots without mixing the characters or the themes. They come out of the blue with all different themes that somehow lead to the forest every time.
The forest is enchanted with a sense of lawlessness and and it all traces back to Adam and Eve. The title of this play has to do with the summer and how it brings about the good vibes in people. The four stories all happen somewhere in the woods where either the parents or society cannot touch the people who are bothered by the outside world. This quote, And in the wood, where often you and I, upon faint primrose beds were wont lie, Emptying our bosoms of their counsel sweet, There my Lysander and myself shall meet, and thence from Athens turn away our eyes to seek new friends and stranger companies…..We must starve our sight from lovers; food till morrow deep midnight (Act 1 Scene 1 Lines 214-223), explains that the woods are a sanctuary where people go at midnight to get away from society who burdens then. This story is between Lysander and Hermia.
Hermias father doesnt want her to marry Lysander but they go behind his back and go to the woods to get married. The next story we see is Puck and the fairies. Puck is very mischievous and goes to the forest because of its enchanted nature. We see the real Puck in this quote, I am that merry wanderer of the night. I jest to Oberon and make him smile when I a fat and bean-fed horse beguile, neighing in likeness of a filly foal; and sometimes lurk I in a gossips bowl (Act 2 Scene 1 Lines 43-47). Oberon goes to the forest to relax and Puck winds up playing tricks on her.
That very time I saw, but thou couldst not, flying between the cold moon and the earth Cupid, all armed. a certain aim he took at a fair vestal throned by the west, and loosed his love shaft smartly from his bow as it should pierce a hundred thousand hearts (Act 2 Scene 1 Lines 155-160). Thesus marries Hippolyta in four days. They go to the forest to escape persecution from their parents. This quote explains that she would rather marry than to become a nun, Either to die the death or to abjure forever the society of men. Therefore, fair Hermia, question your desires, Know of your youth, examine well your blood, whether, if you yield not to your fathers choice, you can endure the livery of a nun (Act 1 Scene 1 Lines 65-70).
The actors and churls also come into the play when they go into the enchanted forest. This quote explains that Pyramus falls for Thisbee in the forest, I see a voice. Now will I to the chink, to spy an I can hear my Thisbes face. Thisbe! My love! Thou art my love, I think. Think what thou wilt. I am thy lovers grace, And like Limander am I trusty still.
An I like Helen, till the fates me kill (Act 5 Scene 1 Lines 191-196). This whole play is basically a play on words from the title. The title says that people go into the summer in the midnight. They feel that the forest is enchanted and that if they go there it is like a good dream to them where they can get away from their earthly worries and focus on themselves.
Shakespeare
