B1B Spring 2024 A Midsummer Night's Dream Character Analysis by Sharon Rowland

Nick Bottom

2024-03-21 06:34:27 UTC

In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Nick Bottom serves a clear instance of comical relief within Shakespeare's play. There are many instances in which Shakespeare employs both verbal and dramatic irony through Nick Bottom; for instance, the moment in Act 4, Scene 1, when Nick awakes from his dream asking for those around to call him when his cue arrives serves as a clear example of such irony, which adds to Bottom's humorous character. The repetition of the word "ass" in regards to Nick Bottom serves as humor, along with double entendre, as it describes Bottom in a humorous manner both figuratively and literally. - Isaac Atienza

Nick Bottom

2024-03-21 18:24:13 UTC

In a A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare contrasts the orderly Athenian court with the chaotic forest. The irony in the character’s names is that Helena is the same name as the mythological character from The Iliad whom is known for her beauty, yet Demetrius doesn’t love her. Helena’s experiences are far from the woman who shares her name. Shakespeare creates comedy with wordplay, puns, mistaken identity, and the absurdity of the experiences the characters have. For example, Bottom turns into an ass which makes the audience laugh. Bottom serves as a main point for comedic relief throughout the play. Shakespeare uses dramatic irony to provide humor in his character because he acts serious and thinks he is very important while those around him see him as silly, especially when he interacts with the fairy queen. - Charlie O'Brien

Puck

2024-03-21 19:59:40 UTC

In A Midsummer Nights Dream Puck serves as a device to cause several comedic moments throughout the story. He is shown to be not very smart throughout the story, such as when he mistakes lysander for demetrius, and so makes lysander fall in love with Helen instead of demetrius. Puck never interacts with the main cast, outside of the other faeries. He is used as more of a vehicle to create these sorts of comedic moments instead of actively taking part, as he is not present to help with the misunderstanding, only fixing it after the fact, when Oberon realizes puck's mistake. This makes for a moment of dramatic irony as we know that lysander isn’t the person puck is looking for, but he mistook lysander for demetrius, thus leading into the scenario of lysander falling in love with Helen. -Quinton Standridge

Helena

592676 — 2024-03-21 21:53:02 UTC

In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Helena is the more insecure and cautious one in the group of lovers. At the end of Act 1 Scene 1, Helena speaks to herself after Lysander and Hermia leave her. This dialogue is a soliloquy, allowing the reader to read her thoughts. Helena clearly bears resentment towards her current predicament. In this wall of dialogue, she says that she will snitch to Demetrius about Lysander and Hermia’s plan to elope into the forest, almost in a way where she is scheming to herself like a stereotypical villain. Her frustration about Demetrius choosing Hermia over her in this soliloquy gets represented by her personifying Demetrius’s love for Hermia in this line, stating, “Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; And therefore is wing’d Cupid painted blind”(1.1.238-238). By this point, Helena seems desperate to get love from a man who would not even look her way. Seeing her suffer from unrequited love is a tad bit sad, but her attempts to get Demetrius to fall for her are pretty comedic.

Helena - Mallorie Dieter

2024-03-21 21:53:06 UTC

Michael Hoffman’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a very unique adaptation of the Shakespeare play because of the many differences between the movie and the original play. For example, the setting of the movie takes place in Italy in the 1890s, whereas the original play takes place in Athens, late 1500s. This shifts some of the scenes, but the dynamics between the characters mostly is similar. Helena’s name is a reference to Helen of the Iliad. Her dynamic with the men of the show is an allusion to Helen’s dynamic in the Iliad. Helena’s strong sense of love, as seen in her fawning over Demetrius, is similar to that of Helen of Troy, who is another character associated with a strong sense of love or desire. Nick Bottom is one of the most humorous characters, and Shakespeare uses this character to create comedy. The audience laughs because Nick Bottom takes himself so seriously, when he behaves so ridiculously. He has a literal ass for a head for most of the show, which can be humorous when he is so confident and dramatic. Although Nick Bottom is widely regarded as the most traditionally funny character of the play, Helena is another character that is funny and important to the story. Shakespeare writes her as extremely unsure of herself, which can be used to make the audience laugh. Although attractiveness is subjective, it is widely regarded that the actresses for Helena are pretty. The character is meant to be beautiful, but insecure of herself and chasing Demetrius. It can be humorous at times to see such a beautiful woman in this way, since it subverts the audience’s expectations of her. Typically, the audience would expect a beautiful woman to be the one that is fawned over and sure of herself. Shakespeare subverts these expectations using the literary devices irony and subversion, which can create funny situations for this character to be in.

Helena

592676 — 2024-03-21 21:55:14 UTC

Nick Bottom - Manuel Tu III

2024-03-21 23:59:18 UTC

In A Midsummer Night's Dream, one character that I was interested in was Nick Bottom. In my eyes, Bottom can be described as the comedic relief of the play and gives the audience some enjoyment while viewing it. One literary example Shakespeare uses to describe this character includes irony as seen in Act 1 Sec., line 49-52, where Bottom makes a comedic joke that if he were to cover his face he could also imitate Thisne in the play. This character in some way brings joy to the story with his lines as not many of Shakespeare's plays includes such funny moments.

Quince - Manuel Tu III (please don’t view my other post)

2024-03-22 23:01:54 UTC

While reading A Midsummer Night’s Dream, one character that interested me was Quince. While he isn’t as over-the-top as Nick Bottom, he is shown to be more hardworking, diligent, and more of a leader compared to his partners. In the text, Shakespeare is able to characterize Quince by using alliteration. One example includes a line in Act 3 Scene 1, when Quince and Bottom is rehearsing lines and stated, “O monstrous! O strange! We are haunted. Pray, masters, fly, masters! Help!” (3.1.105 - 3.1.106). Alliteration can also be found in a couple of lines in Act 5. Scene 1 where Quince exclaims, “Whereat, with blade, with bloody blameful blade, He bravely broached his boiling bloody breast” while explaining the play they are presenting to the audience (5.1.155 - 5.1.156). Not only does his lines indicate Shakespeare talent of reusing similar letters and vowels, but it also indicates that Quince is more intelligent and more mature, compared to characters like Nick Bottom. One of the reasons why this character interested me was because, in my opinion, he is a role model similar to leaders like Odysseus who is characterized as a leader to the Achaeans, while having totally different personalities.

Puck - The Demonic Nuisance

2024-03-24 12:46:10 UTC

In AMND, or “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” by Shakespeare, we’re revealed a character named Puck who appears as the Antagonist’s executor of orders. Puck represents some comedic details, such as that of his puny appearance that somewhat makes him a pathetic character of nuisance. Parallel to the setting, it’s chaotic, and somewhat unnatural. Regarding the characters’ names, however, they very much represent the characters’ actions, such as Bottom being a lowly-individual, or Puck as somewhat of an annoying name- that of which his character and actor is. Reverting back to the analysis of his character, however, Puck serves as an ultimate source of comedy in AMND. Numerical instances occur, however, some notable scenes include Act 2, scene 2, when he puts love-potion into the eyes of Titania, creating an expectation of mischief associated with his character, thus making his appearance somewhat comical. Some literary devices that make his character comical is repetition, and potentially personification as he represents the unending ail that everyone experiences daily.