116 A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
Parallels with Verona
In some ways, the Athens of
Theseus is as unhealthy as the
feuding Verona that brings such
tragedy to Romeo and Juliet
(which was written around
the same time). Like Romeo
and Juliet, Hermia and Lysander
are star-crossed lovers, doomed
to separation by foolish and
tyrannical parents. When
Lysander laments that “The course
of true love never did run smooth”
(1.1.134), it is almost as if he is
talking about Romeo and Juliet.
The journey into the forest in
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is
the journey the Montagues and
Capulets needed to embark upon
if Romeo and Juliet were to have
a happy outcome.A forest of the mind
The forest that the four lovers
enter, along with the artisans, is
a place of the imagination, a place
of fantasy and dreams, where the
normal order of things is turned
upside down. Nowadays,
psychologists might talk of the
realm of the unconscious, and
critics explore the psychological
symbolism of the play and its
expression of sexual desires and
gender issues. In Shakespeare’s
time it is simply the world of
dreams and fairies. Indeed, the
whole play is presented as a
dream that we have strayed into.
As Puck says at the end: “If we
shadows have offended, / Think
but this, and all is mended: / That
you have but slumbered here, /
While these visions did appear; /
And this weak and idle theme, /
No more yielding but a dream”
(Epilogue.1–6).
The forest of dreams is a
place where normality is subverted.
But it is more of a nightmare than
a dream. Characters play parts,wear masks and costumes, change
roles, behave out of character, suffer
delusions, swap status or lovers—
and even, as in the case of Bottom
the weaver, acquire the head of
an ass. Here the world of reason
and “common sense”—what is
normally sensed—vanishes and
nothing is certain. Identities
continually shift and transform.Troubled identity
The loss of identity is disturbing,
and often terrifying. What is love,
when it can shift so easily? Isn’t
love attached to a person’s identity?
Hermia, the most constant of the
lovers, begins to question who sheAdaptations The play’s unusual structure
means it has not always been
treated gently by adaptors. In the
17th century in particular, many
productions took liberties, for
example by staging the comic
elements alone. The pageant-like
nature of the play has inspired
many to add music. One of the
best was the Fairy Queen by
English composer Henry Purcell
(1692), which inserted exquisite
musical masques between each
scene. In 1842, Felix Mendelssohn
wrote beautiful incidental music
to a production that includes the
famous Wedding March.In the 20th century, adaptors
have been more interested in
the psychological and sexual
symbolism. Peter Brook’s 1970
version was performed in a plain
white box, and focused on the
adult themes over spectacle.
Benjamin Britten’s 1960 opera
had a fairy chorus of boy trebles
as a chaste counterpoint to the
libidinous adults. Film versions
have included Max Reinhardt’s
epic and visually sumptuous
rendering of 1935 and, more
recently, Michael Hoffman’s
1999 soap opera-like version
set in Tuscany (pictured).These are the forgeries
of jealousy
Titania
Act 2, Scene 1And though she be but little,
she is fierce.
Helena
Act 3, Scene 2