Midsummer Night's Dream

A master of the drama genre, playwright William Shakespeare knew full well how to mold and manipulate his works into creations rich with original plots, characters, and themes. Although this statement is not entirely untrue, perhaps “original” is not actually quite the right word. He did not plagiarize of course, but rather “recycle” plots and themes that had been born long ago. When one opens a copy of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, he or she may first notice the whimsical language or the confusion-strung events that litter the plot. Upon closer inspection however, one may begin to notice that several elements of the play seem oddly familiar. In fact, one may even observe that most of the play is very reminiscent of stories read …show more content…
It bases itself on the idea that there is a very limited amount of original story structures and elements, and that all stories in whatever form are a recreation of one of these preexisting structures (“Structuralism and Semiotics”). As stated by Professor Thomas C. Foster, “there is no such thing as a wholly original work of literature…[one] cannot create stories in a vacuum” (Foster). A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a structuralist orchard then in this way. The story centralizes on two pairs of lovers. One couple is divided because of their parents, so they decide to run away together. The plot sounds almost identical to that of Romeo and Juliet. In case it does not sound familiar enough yet, then here is one more modern example: two lovers are separated by their class system and one tragically dies in the end, otherwise known as James Cameron’s Titanic. If this plot is beginning to sounding familiar, it is probably because this structure has been (and will continue to be) used millions of times. The structure? Forbidden (or difficult) …show more content…
Never will there be a story like these that is new and original, no matter the plot or characters. If it is love, tragedy, upset parents as a result of love, or general unfortunate confusion, then one can be sure that structuralism is alive and working, and that it has been used countless times before. To further expand on this idea, one may look specifically at Dream’s connection to Shakespeare’s famous tragic love story, Romeo and Juliet. Like stated before, both share the story of two young people in love who are forbidden from seeing each other due to their parents (Harrison). Both stories utilize the frustration of the lovers in their attempts to run away with each other and marry in secret. Then within Dream is Pyramus and Thisbe, which is yet another play about forbidden and lethal love. In this story, two lovers are, again, separated by their disapproving parents, so they attempt to run away together. Although Dream is the only one of the three that does not end in several people dead, it still follows the close structure of problematic

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