Midsummer Insight Essays

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Midsummer Insight The play was beginning so I sat down in my usual spot at the back of the old, worn, playhouse, behind the small group of children that attended on the sunniest of days. Dusk was soon, the candles would come out, and that is when I would have work to do. I adjusted myself on the ground so I could see the last seat in the tier next to me. The seats on this side of the tier were reserved for the few nobility who dared enter the shady playhouses. Sometimes that is where Lady Clarence would sit, and I would look at her from afar. She was young like me, but she was born noble and rich, but unlike other nobles who trampled through the underbelly of society -when they did show up on occasion- she had a softness to her face which I presumed was due to living as a noble outside the harsh politics of the royal courts. How else could she get permission to see the plays so frequently? I saw her at the playhouse more than any other noble. She was the only noble girl who looked at me and smiled on occasion, ever so slightly, so no one would notice but me. If things were different I thought we could have been friends. I thought she pitied me, and I envied her because she would never know the pangs of hunger or the sting of winter frost like I did, but somehow I pitied her as well. Always dressed in nice clothes, she may have been rich but she was not free to roam like I was. Sometimes when she watched the plays, I thought I sensed a sadness in her eyes, like she longed for more freedom, but she would never get it. After all, she was a woman. One day a nobleman would give her babies and that would be the rest of her life. We met one year ago today. Lady Clarence had dropped coins from her purse. I picked them up, but rather than take them, I gave them back to her before her escort shoved me away. The other orphans told master Garruth what I had done. Master Garruth said the nobles had enough money and that we needed it more. He told me I was selfish, and he beat me, but I didn't care, not that time. I had done something unusual for her, and she knew it; I stood back up and looked at her and that was when she whispered to me "I'm Lady Clarence," then the crowd engulfed me, and she disappeared. I saw her at the playhouse again after that, sometimes when I tried to get her attention she would throw me sweets like candied nuts, and I would pick them up from the floor. I loved her for it, but I made sure to stay in the shadows, her guard was a big man, and I was a small orphan pickpocket. Nonetheless, one year after our encounter, I was sure I would see her tonight. The play began and I nestled closer to the other children to remain inconspicuous, A Midsummer Night's Dream was my favourite of the plays I had seen. Master Garruth regularly sent me to a Midsummer Night's Dream, because it was popular with the town children and I could blend in easily. I had seen it countless times, but I didn't mind. I was only 12 years old and the other plays had too much violence, and royal politics -which I never understood. Other children my age cheered at the violent scenes, pig blood gushing over the actors, but I never liked that. I liked magic, and the music that went along with it. Especially on a night like tonight when the moon was almost full, the air was filled with the slow rumble of the drums and the shrill whimsy of the flutes. Music was delightful, and the playhouse music was the best I would ever hear; Much better than the bards who would chase me from their redundant street performances.
However, the play had now begun, and her seat was still empty. The play began, as always, with Theseus and Hippolyta. I never liked this scene. The ornate costumes of the Duke, and the Queen of the Amazon, seemed superfluous. The superficiality of their wardrobe and the demanding, regal tone in their voices conjured images of opulence in my mind's eye. I pictured them in the midst of a grand Hall with servants and banquet tables,
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