A Midsummer’s Night Dream – A Tribute to an Idealized Summer

I love summer; it’s the time of year where I start believing many more things are possible, where things start anew, where love and dreams come alive again. It’s a time where things, as Shakespeare says, can occur just as quickly as a dream. Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer’s Night Dream” captures the theme of dreams in the last lines which the character Puck says,

“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,

Gentles, do not reprehend.

If you pardon, we will mend.”

This theme is established from the beginning when Hippolyta says, “Four days will quickly steep themselves in night, / Four nights will quickly dream away the time” (Act I.i 7).

How quick summer flies, and sometimes the friendships we create come and go just as fast. I first picked out this Shakespeare novel for class and I noticed it was incredibly short. Perhaps Shakespeare designed the play for this length to show how this story goes very quickly and obscurely, like a dream.

Another theme was love's struggle. Haven't many authors of love stories written on summer love and the hardship? This novel could serve as the precedent for many to follow. Lysander worded it best to his lover, "The course of true love never did run smooth" (I.i.132–134). 

Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night Dream is a excellent summer read because it's light-hearted, a fast read, and it brings forth the spirit of love and dreams of summer evenings. 

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet - A footprint for entertainment?

Romeo and Juliet. Where to start with this incredibly famous tragedy?

Romeo and Juliet is the archetype story for love in English literature. The names alone imply romance in any other context.

Have you noticed that many romance movies follow the format of this Shakespearian tragedy?

The Romeo-Juliet love affair occurred in a total of three days. Romeo is an emotionally-charged character, driven by his deep desire to love. Although he claims a love for Rosaline, he decides on sight that he loves Juliet and develops a more “mature” love because she returns the affection. Once decided, Romeo acts on feeling rather than logic to convince Juliet his dedication to her when he enters the Capulet’s home and climbs up to her. After Romeo kills Tybalt, there grows a tension between Juliet when she realizes the fault of her new husband, but she decides to accept his flaw and they reunite.

I don’t know about you, but several movies with parallel attributes came to my mind as I thought about this story: Titanic, Just like Heaven, The Proposal, Hitch, The Prince and Me, and Letters to Juliet. Shakespeare made three the magic number for romance: three dates, three nights, or three events before the characters fully decide they love the other more than anything else.

That’s all of the movies I can connect on the top of my head, can you think of any others that tie into the Shakespeare format?

-Hillary

King Lear, a Shakespeare tragedy

The same weekend I watched Twelfth Night, I also saw King Lear. Needless to say it has a much different tone.

King Lear has a near-and-dear sentiment to me. I not only saw it outside on a beautiful summer evening, but also studied it in my high school English class. My teacher was very passionate about this play and it rubbed off on me.

King Lear creates strong imagery that, after seen, leaves a deep impression. The scene where the Earl of Gloucestor has his eyes gauged out stays in my mind vividly. And how could it not? When my teacher explained that Shakespeare created this disturbing scene, the point was to have mankind strongly repudiate it, and instantly acknowledge that everything about it was morally wrong. 

When I wasn't in the theater and I was sitting in class I gained a different insight: the framework of a tragic hero.

This concept says that the main character has a tragic flaw, a mistake which he tends to make at the beginning of the story and the consequences of his character trait or action follow him to the end of the story. The tragic hero is defined as a great and noble character, in fact the most noble, so his mistake (or "tragic flaw") affects everybody in his association. In Shakespearean tragedies, no character comes out with a decent ending.

King Lear was a harder one to read than Macbeth or Hamlet because, although he was stubborn old king, he was an older man than most of Shakespeare's tragic heroes, and in a much more venerable condition. When Lear lost his mind it was hard to watch and created a greater sense of sympathy than any other of Shakespeare's tragic characters. 

-Hillary

Shakespeare's Twelfth Night

It’s Shakespeare season. You know, when multiple places around the United States (and the world) start launching productions of Shakespeare’s plays. Several years ago I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a Shakespeare Festival with my parents and see some live productions in a traditional format.

The first Shakespearian play I saw was Twelfth Night. And what an excellent starter. I can’t recall a play that I’ve attended where I laughed harder. And this confirmed to me the notorious statement made about Shakespeare’s plays:

Shakespeare’s plays are meant to be seen, not read.

I didn’t read Twelfth Night before I went. I read the playbill’s introduction and I don’t feel like I missed much. In fact, I think I may have enjoyed it more. I had no expectations of what faces Malvolio would react to. I didn't imagine where stage direction would be beforehand. It was great.

My favorite moment that sticks years later is the moment when Viola’s identity is revealed (spoiler alert, sorry). And it was not because of what Viola particularly did, but rather Orsino’s face after he realized that Viola was not his male servant Cesario. I found the greatest humor in the actors’ reactions and the constant motif of gender uncertainty and ambiguity. The fun was in how the text was interpreted rather than just the text.

If Twelfth Night ever comes to town again I plan on seeing it again, it's an excellent Shakespearean comedy to watch.

What Shakespeare play do you want to see?