The Character of Puck in A Midsummer Nights Dream Essay -- Midsummer

The Character of Puck in A Midsummer Nights Dream Considered one of William Shakespeares greatest plays, A Midsummer Nights Dream reads like a fantastical, originative tale however, its poetic lines contain a message of love, reality, and chance that are not usually present in works of such kind. All characters in the play are playful, careless and thoughtless, and Puck one of the central characters in the play is significant to the plot, tone, and meaning of A Midsummer Nights Dream, thus becoming a representative of the above-mentioned themes. The plot in this one of Shakespeares plays is comical and, at times, ironic. As summarized by Puck in the last stanza of the play If we shadows have anger Think but this, and all is mended That you have but slumbred 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. And, as I am an honest Puck If we have unearned luck Now to co ck the serpents tongue We will make amends ere long Else the Puck a liar call So, good night unto you all. Give me your hands, if we be friends, And Robin shall preserver amends. (Shakespeare 89) Puck suggests to both the watchers and, consequently, to the readers, that if they did not enjoy the tale, they should pretend it was a dream a notion so convincing that at times the audience is left wing bewildered this effect of his works made Shakespeare seem so cunning, like Puck. The lines above formulate the ending of the play to be ironic and humorous, much in the same way as the rest of the story was told. The general plot, with certain char... ...ctions and attributes of other characters and Puck helps contribute to deceitful aura of the play. Another key element of this play were its many inclinations toward a comical relief and Pucks involvements of making mishaps occur. The mood, implication, and scheme are all carefully weaved together in the play, with Puck being a symbol or a catalyst for nearly every one of them. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. The Riverside Shakespeare. Houghton Mifflin Company. Boston. New York. 1997. Works Consulted Briggs, Katharine M. The Anatomy of Puck. London Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1959. Nevo, Ruth. Comic Transformations in Shakespeare. New York Routledge, Chapman & Hall, 1981. Rhoades, Duane. Shakespeares Defense of Poetry A Midsummer Nights Dream and The Tempest. Westport, CT Greenwood Press,1986.