Why Is a Midsummer Nights Dream a Comedy?

Updated: February 06, 2023
A midsummer nights dream is a comedy because it is a lighthearted play with a happy ending. The play is also full of humor and witty banter.
Detailed answer:

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comedy because it deals with the ridiculous. One of the main themes of this play is the fact that people often act foolishly out of love. The play explores how people are not always rational when it comes to matters of the heart.

Moreover, Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comedy due to the quick-witted humor and the overall lighthearted plot line. It prominently features four main characters who stumble, charm and overly romanticize their way through the night all for the sake of love. It also has underlying themes rooted in marriage, religion, class and art which all bring focus for laughter. Finally, it involves happy ending with marriages resuming across all sections of society.

The most obvious example of this is with Titania and Oberon, who both fall in love with someone other than their own spouses. This does not end well for them because they are unable to see that what they are doing is wrong.

Another example of foolishness comes from Puck, who decides to give Oberon some magic juice to make Titania fall in love with Bottom (who has an ass’s head). This ends up backfiring on him because he forgets that he told Oberon not to use it until midnight and by mistake uses it before then, causing all sorts of trouble for everyone involved.

In addition to being about love being foolish, A Midsummer Night’s Dream also addresses how irrational humans can be when it comes to other matters such as money or power. For instance, Polixenes wants his daughter Hermia married off quickly so that he can depart from Athens without having to pay any further tribute (money) to Theseus.

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