Perspectives

Literary perspectives

The play A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare is a comedy. 

Although it features potentially tragic elements, such as lovers who are forbidden to see each other, revenge, and fights between lovers and friends, the play ends happily. Three of the couples get married, and Titania and Oberon reconcile. 

All the conflicts in the play are resolved, and there are no bad outcomes. This makes it a typical comedy since all comedies are sup…

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Works by the same author

Romeo and Juliet is another play by William Shakespeare. Both plays feature star-crossed lovers, but while A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comedy that ends happily, Romeo and Juliet ends in tragedy for both lovers. The story of Pyramus and Thisbe, presented in the play-within-a-play in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, recalls that of Romeo and Juliet. 

The two stories have many similarities, such as the lovers whose families are enemies, as well as the lovers’ tragic fate. Both Pyramus and Romeo commit suicide believing that Thisbe and Juliet are dead, which leads Thisbe and Juliet to kill themselves as well. After the lovers’ death, their families reconcile. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the tragic story is treated lightly because the play is poorly written and the actors are bad. However, the story also functions as a catharsis for the viewers, some of whom have narrowly escaped a similar tragic fate. 

Another comedy by William Shakespeare is Much Ado About Nothing. The play has several similarities to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, such as two couples who encounter several obstacles before they are married, miscommunication, and tragic elements which are eventually resolved. While in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, no one gets punished, in Much Ado About Nothing, the antagonist responsible for all the conflicts is event…