A Midsummer Nights Dream with a critics views
A Midsummer Nights Dream with a critics viewsCOMEDY OF SHAKESPEARE
Webster dictionary defines comedy to be “a drama of light and amusing character with typically a happy ending.” Melvin Helitzer, the author of Comedy Writing Secrets, contends that contrary to tragedy that seeks to engage the emotions, comedy strives “to entertain through ridicule of characters, customs, and institutions or through a resolution of contretemps thrown up by the plot.” Helitzer’s theory of comedy could be easily related to work of Shakespeare who wrote many different forms of literary works and one of them is comedy. Shakespeare utilizes many ways to portray life in a humorous manner and make his plays a success because of it. A careful mix of love with humor was the key for the extreme success of his play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Similar to Helitzer’s theory, Shakespeare introduced amusing characters, paranormal moments and clever dialogues to make his play a true comedy.
Again, comedy is the greatest form of entertainment best portrayed by witty actors with mesmerizing characteristics. Helitzer offers an explanation to why viewers like to watch comical characters. He stated that everyday people are looking for a small period of time where they could forget about the stressful world that they live in and imagine themselves in a far more different environment. Shakespeare realized this and his addition of bizarre characters such as Puck made “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” a genuine comedy. Puck has been beloved of audiences of all eras for his mischievous meddling: as Oberon’s helper, he aids in instigating the plot conflict as a benevolent antagonist. People can relate to Puck and wish they could live their lives as carefree as he does. Puck is a favorite of the audiences because he does not seem to take life seriously and all he wants is to have fun. For example, Bottom is the most egotistical character of the entire play and for this reason, Puck chooses him as the victim of his prank: he changes Bottom’s head into that of a donkey. This is a symbol of Bottom’s character (he makes an ass of himself). All the harm this trickster inflicts is remedied, and in his famous final speech he even apologizes for any offenses he may have committed and extends a hand of friendship to the audience.
Although entertaining characters are necessary, not everyone could be considered comical. Comical characters need that something additional that makes them stand out; for example, the ego of Bottom and the persistence of Helena were that something additional that made them different. But the inclusion of fairies led to some paranormal moments in the play that were especially amusing. The paranormal moments occur in the play when Shakespeare shows something that would never happen in real life. For example, after Lysander and Demetrius had been led around the king’s oak...
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