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Fantasy land filled with comic drops – A Midsummer Night’s Dream

This blog is neither a summary nor a detailed interpretation of the book.

The blog is about why one should read this fantasy play filled with comedy acts and scenes.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of the most famous plays by William Shakespeare performed across the globe in most theatres. There are several subplots in the play, and they are interconnected with Duke Theseus of Athens’ marriage and the Hippolyta Amazon queen.

Nobody knows for sure when the play was written or first performed. However, based on the texts’ description, one can accurately assume that William Shakespeare may have written the play around the late 1500s.

William always tried to capture the audiences deepest feelings from the first scene to the end- be it a romantic play like Romeo and Juliet or the comedy play with fantasy like A Midsummer Night’s Dream or even the power play of Julius Caesar. He showed every emotion and feeling through his words. The world regards Shakespeare as the greatest dramatist because of these beautiful works.

William wrote most of his plays late in his life, between 1580 – 1613.

Critics had various opinions of the works written by William Shakespeare. In the 16th and 17th century, they put him below John Fletcher and Ben Jonson. During the romantic era of the 18th century, the critics praised him abundantly.

The beauty of perception is that only the person writing the words knows the exact meaning. Everyone else perceives different meaning and outcome from a similar situation. The play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, has been in a similar dilemma for centuries. Some people celebrate love filled with fantasy and comedy, and others believe that it sows the darker side of love and fantasy.

The play is set in Athens where the fairies bewitch four Athenians to fall in and out of love in the forest. The story is a perfect mix of love, fantasy, jealousy and marriage. William is the only person who can intertwine tragedy with comedy in an ideal way. He got criticised by many, but this was his stage and always landed with flying colours.

Due to the structure of the play, nobody can find the apparent protagonist in the story. All the three subplots’ characters are essential to the story- be it the Athenian lovers, the fairies or the high rollers. Each character gave something valuable to the play. No matter how twisted the plot is and how many fights one has to take part in, there is a happy end for all the lovers and fairies.

Knowing what you want in your life, partner, and everyone around you is not enough. It’s because what you want is always not the right path. This thought is corroborated throughout the story by the author.

Every subplot has its dilemmas and internal fights which accidentally mixes with other plots and gets connected. In the fantasy section, where the fairies attend the duke’s marriage, internal struggles between the king and queen of fairies are going on. At the same time, the Athenian lovers are fighting for their love against the patriarchy.

Every plot intertwines with other stories most beautifully and remarkably. Nobody sees the shifts of the subplots and their connection to other actions.  The smoothness of all the play’s acts makes it one of the most famous plays globally.

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