Abstract
This paper is to analyze on of the character in the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the characterization and the roles of Robin Goodfellow or Puck in the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. To achieve the purpose of this paper, the writer uses the characterization theory and close reading methods. The writer finds that Puck is mischievous but he is a kind-hearted person, he is neither protagonist nor antagonist character. In conclusion, A Midsummer Night’s Dream does not have an exact protagonist or antagonist character including Puck.
Keywords : A Midsummer Night’s Dream ; Characterization ; Dynamic Character ; William Shakespeare
INTRODUCTION
1.1 UNIT BACKGROUND
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, comedy in five acts by William Shakespeare, written about 1595–96 and published in 1600 in a quarto edition from the author’s manuscript, in which there are some minor inconsistencies. The version published in the First Folio of 1623 was taken from a second quarto edition, with some reference to a promptbook. One of the “great” or “middle” comedies, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with its multilayered examination of love and its vagaries, has long been one of the most popular of Shakespeare’s plays.
1.2 UNIT PURPOSE
The purpose of this paper is to analysis one of the characters from A Midsummer Night’s Dream named Puck, a mischievous fairy that has an important role in this play.
PLAYWRIGHT BIOGRAPHY
William Shakespeare was an English playwright, actor and poet and is often called England’s national poet. Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, he was an important member of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men company of theatrical players from roughly 1594 onward. Written records give little indication of the way in which Shakespeare’s professional life molded his artistry. All that can be deduced is that, in his 20 years as a playwright, Shakespeare wrote plays that capture the complete range of human emotion and conflict. Known throughout the world, the works of William Shakespeare have been performed in countless hamlets, villages, cities and metropolises for more than 400 years. And yet, the personal history of William Shakespeare is somewhat a mystery. There are two primary sources that provide historians with a basic outline of his life. One source is his work — the plays, poems and sonnets — and the other is official documentation such as church and court records. However, these only provide brief sketches of specific events in his life and provide little on the person who experienced those events.
Scant records exist of William’s childhood and virtually none regarding his education. Scholars have surmised that he most likely attended the King’s New School, in Stratford, which taught reading, writing and the classics. Being a public official’s child, William would have undoubtedly qualified for free tuition. But this uncertainty regarding his education has led some to raise questions about the authorship of his work and even about whether or not William Shakespeare ever existed.
Between about 1590 and 1613, Shakespeare wrote at least 37 plays and collaborated on several more. His 17 comedies include The Merchant of Venice and Much Ado About Nothing. Among his 10 history plays are Henry V and Richard III. The most famous among his tragedies are Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth. Shakespeare also wrote 4 poems, and a famous collection of Sonnets which was first published in 1609.
William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway on November 28, 1582, in Worcester, in Canterbury Province. Hathaway was from Shottery, a small village a mile west of Stratford. William was 18 and Anne was 26, and, as it turns out, pregnant. Their first child, a daughter they named Susanna, was born on May 26, 1583. Two years later, on February 2, 1585, twins Hamnet and Judith were born. Hamnet later died of unknown causes at age 11.
THEORY AND METHODS
3.1 THEORY
This analysis is using a Characterization Theory. In terms of characterization, Jones (1968: 84) says that characterization is the depicting of clear imagines of person. He continuous saying about characterization as follows: “There are two methods of characterization: The Dramatic and the Analytic. In the dramatic we form our opinion of the characters from what they do and say, from their environment and from what other characters think of them. In the analytic method the author comments upon the characters explaining their motives, their appearances and their thoughts.”
3.2 METHODS
This paper is using close reading methods. Close reading is a method of literary analysis which focuses on the specific details of a passage or text in order to discern some deeper meaning present in it. The meaning derived from the close reading is the reader’s interpretation of the passage or text. Close reading tends to rely on the principle that no details are present in a text by “accident.” The author’s conscious intentions in writing are often insignificant, as unconscious layers of meaning or even prejudices may be sublimated into literary works. Regardless of whether an author consciously or unconsciously constructs a particular meaning in a text, if details are present which support that interpretation, it is valid.
RESEARCH OBJECT
4.1 MATERIAL AND FORM OBJECT
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of Shakespeare’s early “festive comedies” written around 1595. Despite the many thematic references to “dreams” and the fantastic setting of the Athenian forest, the play also contains a fair amount of commentary on Shakespeare’s contemporary English world.
4.2 SUMMARY OF THE PLAY
Aegeus is an Athenian nobleman. He had a daughter named Hermia and he wants her daughter to marry a guy named Demetrius but she disobeyed him because she already in love with another guy named Lysander. Aegeus demands Theseus, the Duke of Athens to forces his daughter by invoking Athenian law which requires a daughter to obey her father or face death. Hermia and Lysander make a plan to run away from the law and they tell Helena, the one who once engaged to Demetrius. Hoping to get him back, Helena tells Demetrius about the plan but he still rejecting her love and decide to stalk Hermia into the woods. Oberon, the king of fairies had a fight with Tania the fairy queen quarrel over a young Indian prince. Oberon seeking a revenge by asking his merry servant, Puck, to acquire a magical flower. Puck obtains the flower and Oberon asks him to spread its juice over Titania’s eyelids hoping that she would falling in love with first living creature. Oberon also tells Puck to spread the juice over a young Athenian guy after he saw Demetrius act cruelly toward Helena but Puck did a mistake by spreading the juice over Lysander. Puck also do pranks to Athenian craftsmen who are rehearsing the play around Tania’s sleeping place by changing one of the actor’s head with a donkey head hoping that Tania would instantly fall in love with the actors right after she wakes up. Things got complicated until Oberon gives Puck another flower and tells him to spread it over Lysander’s eyelids so he can love Hermia like it used to be. Oberon removes the spell off from Titania whom in love with donkey-headed actor and then Puck take the actor’s head back. The plays end with Theseus agrees that two young couples can marry.
ANALYSIS
5.1 INTRINSIC ANALYSIS
Puck is the mischievous sprite who serves Oberon, the Fairy King. He is harmless but he likes to pranks human characters for the sake of his enjoyment. Another fairy called him a “hobgoblin” a term whose connotations are decidedly less glamorous than other fairies. Puck triggers many of the play’s most memorable events because of his mischievous nature but actually he is the kind-hearted fairy because he had the willingness to fix things that got complicated.
CONCLUSION
6.1 SUMMARY
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream there is no true protagonist character. Puck is a kind of dynamic character because he changes significantly during the course of the story. He drives the plot forward with his impish pranks (changing actor’s head into a donkey head) and his unfortunate mistakes (spreading the magical flower over the wrong Athenian).
6.2 SUGGESTION
Puck is a character who always ruin things but he is also a kind-hearted fairy at some point. Sometimes, there is a mischievous side in yourself but you must remember that you have responsibilities in everything you do. Do not be like Puck in being mischievous for the sake of your enjoyment, but be like Puck in your willingness to fix things that got complicated.
2019-7-1-1561985560