Essay: Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Magic, Dreams, and Mischief as Theatrical Illusion

Removing the use of magic, dreams, and mischief in William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream would dull the premise of the play and leave only a difficult-to-watch drama filled with mismatched love affairs and gruelingly awkward romantic exchanges. The audience would not get the same level of enjoyment in A Midsummer Night’s Dream if there were no magic, because dreams and mischief keep the audience guessing, even after the play has ended. Shakespeare’s use of magic and mischief through the characters Bottom, Puck, and the rest of the fairies provides a much-needed injection of comedic relief. This comedic relief is how the artisans ensured their play wouldn’t come off “too real” and otherwise bore members of the audience. The swirling combination of comedy and tragedy creates a unique balance, and ultimately a thrilling play. Shakespeare proves in this play that art has the power to influence perceptions of reality and what is reasonable, especially during a time where Greek mythology played such a large role in society.
Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream explores the potential of dreams and their portrayal in theatre. Dreams play a large part in the play, starting with the title. The title of the play creates a sense of illusion from the very beginning, allowing the audience to question their interpretation of the play. Consideration for the audience’s ability to interpret the play on their own is one of Shakespeare’s greatest talents. Perhaps A Midsummer Night’s Dream was all the dream of the character nicknamed Robin Goodfellow who wakes up late in the play and says to the audience, “that you have but slumbered here/ while these visions did appear” (5.1.411-12). This interpretation is derived from the idea that Robin Goodfellow fell asleep in the woods and dreamed the entire story. And while this is just one plausible scenario, the thesis of this paper is further supported because there is no correct way for the audience to render the intentions of the play. This interpretation provides the audience with a sense of wonder, allowing them to draw their own conclusion to the story.
The illusion of dreams and magic is further deepened among the characters of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Bottom, a mere mortal, has difficulty understanding the magic that has impacted him in the play. Bottom continues to insist that his transformation into a man with the head of an ass was simply a dream. Bottom attempts to explain his unique experiences when he arrives among Quince, Flute, and Snug to perform.
Bottom: Where are these lads? Where are these hearts?
Quince: Bottom! Oh, most courageous day! Oh, most happy/ hour!
Bottom: Masters, I am to discourse wonders; but ask me not/what; for if I tell you, I am not true Athenian. I will tell you/ everything right as it fell out.
Quince: Let us hear, sweet Bottom.
Bottom: Not a word of me. All that I will tell you is that the/ Duke hath dined. Get your apparel together, good strings to your beards, new ribbons to your pumps… (4.2.24-32)
In this scene, Bottom fails to explain what actually happened to him. This quote provides strong evidence for my thesis because not even the mortals in the play who are influenced by magic fully understand what is occurring. Bottom is clearly unable to explain that Puck turned his head into that of an ass, so he shrugs off the curiosity of his colleagues and asks them to continue getting ready. Just as the characters are unable to understand, and merely pass it off as a dream, so can the audience members. This is important to recognize because Shakespeare’s work has long poked fun at the simplemindedness of humans, while targeting the nature of entertainment through wonder and illusion.
Puck’s spirits dictate much of the tone in the play, and his tricks on mortals create the problematic scenarios that make the play more enjoyable to watch. Although he claims in many instances that he plays tricks for his majesty Oberon, he clearly has a desire for such trickery and gets entertainment from doing so. Puck specifically targeted mortals like Bottom whose pompous attitude invited Puck to use his magic against him. These actions are derived from the form of theatre known as the morality play. Greenblatt’s General Introduction denotes the typical morality play scenario as “Typically, a person named Human… and a dissolute life among riotous companions like Lust or Mischief.” (General Introduction, Page 33) In this play Bottom is the mortal human and Puck is the riotous companion of mischief, although they are both arguably fools in their own regard.
Magic has the uncanny ability to create and intensify issues for the characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Magic can also solve problems for the characters. Nearly every character in the play is affected some way or another by magic. While magic directly impacts the characters in the play, it indirectly impacts the audience members. The audience can interpret the use of magic and dreams in the play in many ways. Same goes for the mortals in the play like Quince, who was also unable to fathom the magical occurrences. Quince says “Bless thee, Bottom, bless thee! Though art translated.” (3.1.105) This quote is relevant as it speaks to how unfamiliar the group of mortals is to magic. Quince and other friends then leave out of fear because of their lack of understanding of Bottom’s transformation. This was a common tendency between the mortals in the audience, and the ones in the play. Puck’s concluding remarks about dreams and plays speak greatly to the nature of illusion, and offered yet another opportunity for the audience to question the reality of theatre. The irrationality of the magic in is what keeps the audience involved; at the same time keeping them far enough from the truth to make them continue to wonder.