Essay on A Midsummer NIght's Dream

Submitted By KamrynH
Words: 836
Pages: 4
Open Document
William Shakespeare’s play, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is an English Renaissance comedy that features characters that go through chaotic obstacles for love and acceptance. The play contains numerous love triangles of rejection and obsession, only to find in the end that there is someone for everyone. A twenty first century adaption of this play is the movie entitled, “Get Over It”, which takes place in a typical American high school setting. The main characters struggle to hold on to the ones they love and go through all types of hurdles to obtain love. This movie can be said to be somewhat of a remix of the play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. In fact, the similar plot characteristics both tie into the idea that there is someone for everyone in the world, you just have to be aware of your surroundings and realize what is in front of you.

In “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Hermia, Demetrius, and Lysander are trapped in a love triangle in which both Lysander and Demetrius love Hermia, but her love only extends to Lysander. Hermia and Lysander run away from home because Hermia’s father has forbidden her to marry anyone besides Demetrius. The two travel through the forest and encounter many different chaotic obstacles to only return to each other’s arms in the end. Demetrius, on the other hand, follows the couple into the woods to both flee from his ex, Helena, and to profess his undying love for Hermia. In the movie “Get Over It,” Berke, Allison, and Striker are caught in a similar love triangle in which both Berke and Striker love Allison, but Allison only loves Striker. Allison and Berke were madly in love, but Allison broke up with Berke for Striker, the hot new guy that plays in a band. In the play, Demetrius is a key player that ties these two literary pieces together. Berke would be the 21st century version of Demetrius and Kelly, his best friend’s little sister, would be the 21st century of Helena. In the beginning of both pieces, the feelings between the two characters are not mutual. However, in the end of both pieces, the characters end up together. This scenario is taken directly from the play, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, which makes this an example of a hard remix of the play. In Shakespeare’s version, Demetrius never proclaims to have a legitimate reason to why he stopped loving Helena. In the remixed version of this scenario, Berke never really paid that much attention to Kelly so his feelings were never there to begin with. It takes a fairy to step in and make Demetrius realize that he truly did love Helena even though she had been there the entire time. For Berke, he had to get Kelly’s help with a play that was originally a plan for him to get back Allison in order for him to realize that he was really in love with Kelly. These two situations both contribute to the overall point that I believe Shakespeare was trying make with the play: the person who you are truly meant to be with, is usually the person right in front of your eyes.

Along with the idea stated above, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” contains numerous underlying motives. In my quoted text
Show More

Related Documents: Essay on A Midsummer NIght's Dream

Midsummer Night's Dream

The story A Midsummer Night’s Dream is set in ancient Athens and the wood just outside it. The very first sentence says “There was a law in the city of Athens…” telling the reader the initial setting.The other setting in when Shakespeare changes into a magic place with fairies…

Words 1210 - Pages 5

Midsummer Night's Dream

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…

Words 1422 - Pages 6

Irony In A Midsummer Night's Dream

Irony in A Midsummer Night’s Dream By Ana Victoria Martinez English 103, Section 1 Mrs. Elizabeth Rose Theme 5 April 13, 2010 Word Count: 745 Outline Thesis: The irony in this work presents humorous words or situations to develop the play into a comedy. I. Verbal irony makes some of the characters’ words humorous. A. Sarcasm occurs in the story to mockingly praise Bottom’s play. B. Another form of verbal irony in the play is malapropism. II. Situational irony humorously mocks the…

Words 926 - Pages 4

Deception In A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is about young lovers, Hermia and Lysander, who face challenges including Hermia’s father wanting her to marry Demetrius, fairies playing tricks on them, and marriage interference from Hermia's jealous ridden sister, Helena. In the midst of all this chaos, a group of workmen are trying to produce a play for the Duke of Athens at his wedding. In the end their challenges are overcome; the fairies fix what they did, the two sisters get to be with the ones they love and the…

Words 1414 - Pages 6

The Forest In A Midsummer Night's Dream

The twelfth century was an ideal time for Shakespeare to write his play A Midsummer Night’s Dream because of the setting of Greece at this point in history. The government played a major role in the twisted love affairs throughout this play by having the royal have so much power over who marries who. Shakespeare also enlightens the mystical tone for the play by implementing Greek Gods and Goddesses. Also by including fairies, making it evident that the forest is the perfect setting for Shakespeare's…

Words 149 - Pages 1

Relationships In A Midsummer Night's Dream

expressed in many ways, whether good or bad. It can bring out the best in people, but also the worst. William Shakespeare seemed to understand this truth and often sought to open the eyes of his readers to these ideas. Thus, the theme of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the contrast between irrational, flighty relationships and mature relationships. The contrast is apparent in the friendship of Helena and Hermia and that of Titania and the changeling’s mother. Helena and Hermia are emotional…

Words 735 - Pages 3

Symbols In A Midsummer Night's Dream

Love is like a dream- it’s magical and wild and unpredictable, it forces us to behave in ways that are absurd and irrational, and it radically changes our perceptions of other people and our own reality. Dreams are considered a very important symbol in William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Dreams are used as an extensive symbol because most of the play’s atmosphere has a dream-like feeling. For example, the setting takes place in a magical forest with wild elements, including fairies with…

Words 248 - Pages 1

Control In A Midsummer Night's Dream

People try and control others all of the time, but no one can just control anyone. Control is a major theme in, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Demetrius and Egeus both want to control someone but they fail at trying to. Shakespeare makes the case unpredictable to be true. The results are unpredictable, A Midsummer Night's Dream, shows that the results of trying to control another person's actions are unpredictable. In act 2, scene 1, when Demetrius is tired of Helena following him around Demetrius…

Words 238 - Pages 1

Hippolyta In A Midsummer Night's Dream

Some critics, such as Amanda Mabillard, argue that Shakespeare was a humanist and wanted characters to be judged not by gender but by characteristics and actions. A Midsummer Night’s Dream challenges this idea by relying heavily on portraying and mocking gender stereotypes of the Elizabethan Era to add comedic strands and to flesh out the complex relationships in the play, making it a significant theme to explore. At the time…

Words 453 - Pages 2

A Midsummer Night's Dream And The Tempest

The role of magic and the supernatural contradict the laws set by society. In The Tempest and A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare, the role of magic challenges and draws the line between the natural and civilized worlds. The characters Prospero and Oberon both use their magic to their own benefit. In The Tempest, Prospero's source of magic comes from the books the he studies as shown when he mentions, "I'll to my books; for yet ere suppertime must I perform much business appertaining"(The…

Words 823 - Pages 4