A Midsummer Night's Dream as a Shakespearian Comedy Essay

I believe that the play A Midsummer Nights Dream reflect aspect of Shakespeares context. I believe this because A Midsummer Nights Dream follows the basic structure and pattern of a Shakespearean comedy. A Midsummer Nights Dream follows this pattern because Elizabethans expected it. The template of a Shakespearean comedy contained love, clever use of language and Magic.

The prime theme of a Shakespearean comedy is love. Love is important in Shakespearean comedies because love is the foundation of Shakespeares comedies. Lovers in Shakespearean comedies often have to face things that stop them from their reunion. An example of this is in A Midsummer Nights Dream where Lysander and Hermia are troubled by Hermias father who wants his daughter to marry Demetrius because he is wealthier. Unfortunately, Hermia doesnt want to marry Demetrius and wishes to marry Lysander instead. Because of her stubbornness King Theseus pronounced that Hermia must marry Demetrius, die or become a nun; quote Either to die the death or to abjure For ever the society of men. Love in a Shakespearean comedy usually ended with marriage. This is in A Midsummer Nights Dream where Helena marries Demetrius (due to love potion), Hermia marries Lysander and Theseus marries Hippolyta; quote These couples shall eternally be knit: This use of lovers getting separated and later reuniting shows us what Elizabethans would have expected in a Shakespearean Comedy.

Another important part of Shakespearean comedies is Shakespeares use language. Shakespeare was a king of banter and he could create clever puns and wordplay battles in his works. An example of a clever insult in A Midsummer Nights Dream was in Act three, scene two where Lysander, under the influence of the love potion, calls Hermia a cat because she is clinging onto him and not letting go, he also says that he will shake Hermia off like a serpent, which is clever because snakes wiggle. Quote Hang off, thou cat, thou burr! Vile thing let loose/or I will shake thee from me like a serpent. Shakespeare also makes his characters funnier by making them misuse words. This is evident in

A Midsummer Nights Dream through Bottom, who constantly misuses words. For instances when Bottom said "Thisbe, the flowers of odious savours sweet, in this line humour is conveyed because Bottom said odious instead of odours. This is funny to the audience because odors means "fragrant smells," while odious means "repulsive." This shows Bottoms lower status because he made such a silly mistake this also shows Shakespeares command of humour and reflects Shakespeares context.

One other influential part of all Shakespearean comedies is setting. Setting is important because the setting helps to set the mood of the play. This is seen in A Midsummer Nights Dream is set in Athens which