A Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare Essay -- Papers

A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare In the second scene that completes Act I, we are introduced to an extraordinary group of familiar but outlandish comical characters that have been enlightened with the possibility of performing a stage interlude as part of the entertainment at the quick approaching marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. ====================================================================== The Mechanicals are not only thought of as the 'rude mechanicals', they are also thought of as sweet and gentle folk who have had no promoting purpose in their lives until now. ================================================================== Peter Quince play as one of the mechanicals as the Playwright for the amateurs. We are able to tell that he is more experienced in writing as Shakespeare makes him present his prologue which is a masterpiece of writing deliberately ruined to give the play a comical beginning. Shakespeare does this by making Quince seem like a very smart man, the smartest out of the mechanicals and we know this because he is directing the play and not actually featuring it. This shows us the audience that he has a shy character although he seems very excited and open towards the beginning of the play when actually he seems to have Stage fright. ====================================================================== Nick Bottom the Weaver seems however to be very enthusiastic and wants to play all the roles, furthermore he always tends to overact which annoys Peter Quince but ends up acting the part of Pyramus in the Act 5 Scene 1. ==========================================... ...; my soul is in the sky: Tongue, lose thy light! Moon, take thy flight! Now die, die, die, die, die. At the end of the play both Bottom and Flute get up from where they are lying, supposedly dead, and offer to perform an epilogue or a bergamask (a type of dance). Theseus quickly intervenes and tells them they need no epilogue, but rather should only perform the dance, which they do and Puck ends the play. Overall the play within a play is an exciting look into the life of the mechanicals and has a definite dramatic effect on both audience's because of its charm and amusing effects, which too me would have made the audience applause, thus making it a good way to finish the play. This is because it helps break the illusion of the theatre and helps to bring us back down to earth, to the day of the wedding.