A Midsummer Night’s Dream Why is this a Comedy?

Comedy? Traditionally, the plays of William Shakespeare have been grouped into three categories: tragedies, comedies, and histories. Some critics have argued for a fourth category, the romance. "Comedy" in its Elizabethan usage had a very different meaning from modern comedy. A Shakespearean comedy is one that has a happy ending, usually involving marriage for all the unmarried characters, and a tone and style that is more lighthearted than Shakespeare's other plays.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream Shakespearean comedies also tend to have: A struggle of young lovers to overcome difficulty that is often presented by elders Separation and unification Mistaken identities A clever servant Heightened tensions, often within a family Multiple, intertwining plots Frequent use of puns

A Midsummer Night’s Dream A Midsummer Night's Dream is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare written sometime in the mid-1590s. It portrays the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of amateur actors in a moonlit forest, and their interactions with the fairies who inhabit it. Today, the play is one of Shakespeare's most popular and is widely performed across the world.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream – plot continued Titania is awoken by Bottom's singing, and she immediately falls in love with him. She treats him as if he is a nobleman and lavishes attention upon him. While in this state of devotion, she encounters Oberon and casually gives him the Indian boy.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream – plot continued Having achieved his goals, Oberon releases Titania and orders Puck to remove the ass's head from Bottom. The magical enchantment is removed from Lysander but is allowed to remain on Demetrius, so that he may reciprocate Helena's love. The fairies then disappear, and Theseus and Hippolyta arrive on the scene, during an early morning hunt. They wake the lovers and, since Demetrius no longer loves Hermia, Theseus over-rules Egeus's demands and arranges a group wedding. The lovers decide that the night's events must have been a dream. After they all exit, Bottom awakes, and he too decides that he must have experienced a dream "past the wit of man".

A Midsummer Night’s Dream – plot continued In Athens, Theseus, Hippolyta and the lovers watch the mechanicals perform "Pyramus and Thisbe". It is ridiculous and badly performed but gives everyone pleasure regardless, and after the mechanicals dance a Bergomask (rustic dance), everyone retires to bed. Finally, as night falls, Oberon and Titania bless the house, its occupants, and the future children of the newlyweds, and Puck delivers an epilogue to the audience asking for applause.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream introduction continued- include: the plot of A Midsummer Night’s Dream; how the play fits into the comedy genre; the general themes of the play; the social and historical context of the play; where this scene fits into the play as a whole.