A Midsummer Nights Dream, Othello and Romeo and Juliet - Essay Example

Insert Part Discussing the way the Comic marriage Plot Works In Terms of Father’s Attempt to Match His Daughter to a man of his choice (the Heavy Father motif) and the young man’s attempt to steal the daughter away from the intended match (the cuckolding plot) in A Midsummer Night’s Dream works The comic marriage works by using both linear and circular plot. The linear aspect of the plot is seen in the fact that the plot unravels from the point the duke of Athens, Theseus is making preparations for his marriage to the queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta as can be seen in Act 1, Scene 1. From this point, the plot proceeds to the forest or the woods where there are more or different characters. In the woods, the audience is made to understand how Titania ends up with Bottom, Demetrius and Helena and Lysander with Hermia. Just as Hern observes, the circular aspect of the play is seen in the fact that the plot starts from the point at which Theseus is preparing for his marriage to Hippolyta, the queen of the Amazons, in his palace, and ends up in the wedding between Hippolyta and Theseus doing their wedding, albeit a group one. The cyclic or circular aspect of the comic marriage is seen in the manner in which the plot begins at the palace, proceeds to the woods and resorts back to the palace. The plot begins with the topic of love and marriage and is concluded in the same (Shakespeare, Act 2). Similarly, the comic marriage plot helps underscore the theme in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. One of the themes that stand noticed is that of love and marriage. In the entire play, the author seems to intimate strongly that marriage should be based on love and that love should be the ultimate bond that necessitates the marriage and upon which the marital union is premised. The duke of Athens, Theseus is preparing to marry the queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta because they love each other. Egeus wishes and compels his daughter Hermia to marry Demetrius and not Lysander and even seeks a legal injunction from Theseus to this effect. Even Puck makes a mistake by giving Lysander a love potion so that Lysander falls in love with Helena. Nevertheless, in the end, Lysander and Hermia are able to be reunited and get married. This happens as the duke of Athens, Theseus also sees no reason to effect the injunction that would have Hermia compelled to a life in the convent or execution. In the end, it is true that the love that Lysander and Hermia have for each other triumph. Discussing the Problematic Ending of the Play: Who Is Matched To Whom and Why as the Play Ends In the play, Lysander and Hermia are matched with each other. The duke of Athens, Theseus ends up with the queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta. Demetrius ends with Helena. Titania ends with Bottom. Oberon ends up with the beautiful Indian boy. Definitely, the immediately foregoing presents some problems. One of the most striking problems that accost the play or the plot is consistency. At one point, it is pointed out that love is triumphant over all things, as can be seen in the case of Lysander and Hermia. Definitely, love is only true if it springs from the spouses partaking in it, in their own volition. It is therefore more whimsical than consistent of the author to show that Lysander and Hermia’s love for each other triumphs while Titania ends with Bottom. Another instance that seems to underscore the element of inconsistency is the fact that the love potion seems to be irreversibly potent while in some cases, it is revoked. Lysander is able to recover from his love for Helena, but Titania is unable to shake herself out of loving Bottom. This is unforgivably arbitrariness on the side of the author. Part 2 Discussing the Function of the Comic Plot (The Cuckolding Plot) In Romeo and Juliet The details and the comic plot also loosely referred to as the Cuckolding plot in Romeo and Juliet is specifically found in Act 4 of Othello. Like in the previous case, the plot helps the audience follow through the entire plotline. This helps the audience acquaint itself with the developments in the plotline and also accords the playwright, the chance to develop the characters and their traits. The audience is made aware of Othello’s personality, traits and occupation through the plot. For instance, Othello comes across as a man of noble character, diligent and loving. However, as the plotline proceeds, he is exposed as naïve and jealous as he loses his ability to think critically against Iago’s diabolical lies and manipulation. In the same manner, the audience is made aware of Desdemona’s character trait as chaste, sincerely loving and sensitive (she has a premonition of her death and instructs Emilia to wrap her with her wedding sheets, should she die). The circumstances of the plot makes Emilia come across as a liberal woman who thinks that women also have their sexual desires, should pursue them and should not be narrowly categorized as virgin or promiscuous. The plot informs the audience of Iago as an ill-willed and calculating diabolical liar who is out to have Othello kill both Desdemona and Cassio for selfish gain (Shakespeare, Act 4). Conversely, according to Hern, the plot helps underscore the theme in the play, Othello. One of the themes is the pitfalls of isolation. In the plot in Act 4, one sees how Othello’s problem is magnified as he continuously isolates himself from his wife, Desdemona. Desdemona is also isolated from him, but because of Othello’s accusatorial and illogically unfriendly behavior toward her. This isolation between Othello and Desdemona is seen to make the couple’s marriage more antagonistic. Another theme that the plot underscores is the question on the compatibility between love and military heroism. Othello has a checkered military career which nevertheless eats into his marriage. For instance, Othello’s strong stint with the military inculcates within him, a tyrannical mien which aggravates his troubled marriage, when Iago’s lies come in (Hern, 84). How the triangle of Older Man (representative of the Father), Young Daughter (Given by Father to Older Man), and the Younger Man (Who Steals Daughter- or the young woman-away from the Older Man) used to achieve tragedy in Romeo and Juliet The triangle of the Hermia’s father, Hermia and Lysander who attempts to run away with Hermia helps the plotline to unravel and to bring the play to its denouement. Specifically, the entrance of the old man, Hermia’s father radically shifts the plotline and attention from the wedding preparations for the duke of Athens, Theseus and the queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta. Immediately Lysander is introduced alongside his rival in love, Demetrius, the audience can clearly understand Lysander’s attempt at running away with Hermia. This leads to another semi-plot in the forest, before the play is brought to its conclusive end. Again, the triangle helps underscore the theme of love and marriage. It is obvious that Hippolyta and Theseus are intending to marry because they love each other. If anyone wanted to question the wisdom in their decision, the triangle is introduced, to magnify the importance of love and consent in any marital union. Part 3 Discussing the Function of the Comic Plot (the Cuckolding Plot) in Othello The comic plot helps the audience understand the entire plot behind Othello. The cuckolding plot specifically found in Act 4 of Othello helps the audience understand and follow through Iago’s wily ways in manipulating Othello, Emilia, Cassio, Bianca and Roderigo. One is able to understand the naivety of Othello and other characters because of Act 4 of Othello. Similarly, the audience is able to understand the traits of the characters involved. It is amazing that men of checkered military career such as Othello and Cassio can be so naïve and prone to manipulation. Throughout the plot, especially the point in which Desdemona and Emilia converse about men, Desdemona’s innocence is not only upheld but is also magnified: Desdemona remains faithful, loving and obedient to Othello, even as Othello mistreats her and eventually kills her (Shakespeare, Act 4). The plot is also important in appreciating the themes in the entire play. Themes such as isolation, the compatibility between military service and love and societal expectations on women are easily brought to the fore in Act 4 of Othello. For instance, it becomes very clear that the politics of military management affect Othello’s marriage and relations with Cassio. The fact that the Othello has been socialized and accultured to expect utmost purity from women blinds Othello with jealous too strong to pave way for reason when he is faced with the prospects of Desdemona’s infidelity. How the Triangle of Older Man, the Young Daughter and Younger Man is used to achieve tragedy in Othello The triangle helps develop the plot which eventually leads to tragedy in the play. The old man, Brabantio had already promised Roderigo his daughter and disapproves Othello and Desdemona’s marriage. Brabantio even tells Othello that one day, Desdemona would betray him. This leaves a door for suspicion. Othello and Desdemona’s marriage leaves Roderigo jealous. Roderigo finds a common ground with Iago who is jealous of Cassio who has been promoted by Othello in his place. From this point, Iago is able to easily manipulate people with his lies and thereby paving way for the tragic culmination. How the Triangle in Othello is Different from that In Romeo and Juliet The triangle in Othello is different from Romeo and Juliet’s because the triangle in the former is controlled by acts of one man- Iago. This is not the case with Romeo and Juliet where Hermia’s father, Hermia and Lysander and the rest of the participants are willingly and knowingly pursuing their love. In Othello’s triangle, Iago is the one who is manipulating the rest of the characters making up the plot. The triangle in Romeo and Juliet is driven by one common theme which is love. In Othello, the triangle is informed by career ambition, love, jealousy, isolation and naivety. It is also true that the issue of race or/ and racism may have been one of the factors in the triangle in Othello since Othello is generally thought of as a man of black descent. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Nights Dream. 1590. Print Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice. Globe and at the Black Friers, 1622. Print Read More