Question

Shakespeare’s poetry has come to be valued for its own sake on the stage. Comment with reference to the play ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’

Answer 1

William Shakespeare is known as the greatest playwright of all time. Known for his coherence and witty wordplay, Shakespeare‘s writings have a deep impact on its readers even today. Whether it is comedy or tragedy, Shakespeare knows how to skilfully weave the words together, so as to evoke just the right kind of emotion.

In the case of 'A Midsummer Night‘s Dream‘, Shakespeare has used the blank verse, a style of writing that was relatively new back in his time. In fact, most of Shakespeare‘s plays fall into the blank verse pattern. In this play, however, he uses different constructions for different characters. For example, the interactions between Bottom and the other workmen are presented in a rustic and simple manner while the conversation between Oberon and Titania is complex and full of magical references, so as to give their dialogues the mystical quality of the land of the fairies.

Shakespeare uses rhyming couplets for the verse of the four lovers - Helena, Hermia, Lysander, and Demetrius, for their passionate declarations and emotional outburst. An example of this is - 

“You are unkind, Demetrius; be not so;
For you love Hermia; this you know I know:
And here, with all goodwill, with all my heart,
In Hermia’s love I yield you up to my part:
And yours of Helena to me bequeath,
Whom I do love, and will do till my death.”

Shakespeare also uses rhyming couplets for most of the conversation between the fairies. However, these couplets have a light and casual tone to make them stand apart from the verse of the lovers. An example of this is - 

“Captain of our fairy band,
Helena is here at hand,
And the youth mistook by me,
Pleading for a lover’s fee.
Shall we their fond pageant see?
Lord, what fools these mortals be!”

On the other hand, the language between Bottom and the other workmen is just like prose, without any meter or rhyme.

Even the interactions between Bottom and Titania are in stark contrast with each other. Titania expresses her emotions like a beautiful verse, while Bottom responds with his thoughts in simple prose. This contrasts the sophistication of the Fairy Queen‘s world with the crudeness of the commoner, i.e., Bottom. Apart from the beautiful language, Shakespeare also makes use of various literary devices to enhance the experience of the readers. His use of nature and animal imagery to maintain the continuity of the forest atmosphere as well as to communicate the various actions, sounds, and emotions in a scene helps the reader understand the scene better.

Shakespeare‘s expertise in creating a rich blend of varied patterns for multiple characters and combining them with the use of a range of literary devices is testimony to his skills as a writer whose poetry has come to be valued for its own sake on the stage.