A Midsummer Nights Dream -The Comedy Comes Close to Tragedy in Places - Coursework Example

Shakespeare’s plays are said to be accompanied by comedy, as well as tragedy. Apart from the focus on love and relationship, most of the readers in literature usually attribute most of his work with comedy and tragedy. He uses this style to fabricate an interesting play. Apart from catching the attention of the reader, the performance of the play becomes very interesting. The piece, Midsummer Night’s Dream and the famous Romeo and Juliet have a lot in common (ShakespeareFAQ). Both plays has a lot of humour as well as tragic events that normally do not fold to actions. They both portray love as the main theme and therefore they are said to be romantic. The purpose of this essay is to investigate the level of tragedy in the comedy in relation to Shakespeare’s usual work. The play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is a comedy that focuses on love. Marriage is also focused in an immense gravity as it is the result of love. Some of the eccentrics are attributed to falling in fondness in their marriages. Therefore, love and relationship is the core premise of a dramatic piece. Since it is a comedy, the play is expected to be written in hilarious styles. The styles and the atmosphere of the act similarly require to be friendly. We expect to observe very limited instances of violence and suspense in the act. The expectations do not come to show as we read from the act. There are various instances where characters are seen as if they are creating suspense that brings tension in the play. Unless someone reads the play carefully, he or she may fail to get the concept of humour. The act is a comedy according to the way it has been written. The comedy shows some sequence of tragedy when focusing on Pyramus and Thisbe. The series of tragedy is crucial and becomes part of the play (Encyclopedia of World Biography). Comedy, as well as tragedy, is foremost seen out on the opening scene of the show. Therefore, the play starts right with the aspect of a comedy that comes close to tragedy, reflecting Shakespeare’s typical comedies. A comedy coming close to tragedy is reflected when Egeus who is the father to Hermia went to Theseus. Egeus requested that Theseus must take a hand and marry her daughter Dementrius. Theseus, on the other hand, was planning to marry another lady by the name Lysander. Egues threatened Theseus that if he does not marry her daughter Demtrius, will no longer be gentlemen. Egues offered this threat by saying, “As she is mine, I may dispose of her.  Which shall be either to this gentleman or to her death” (Shakespeare). Although the play is written as a comedy, these words from Egeus did not sound to be comic. Indeed, this is a tragedy to both Demtrius as well as Theseus. Another event where we obtain the comedy portrayed in terms of tragedy in this play is when Lysander offers a talk about love. In a speech he quotes, “the course of true love never did run smooth” (Shakespeare). These words do not portray any comic situations. Indeed, they reflect sadness instead of instigating laughter. Therefore, this situation of writing a comedy as put forward by Shakespeare leads to tragedy. Lysander describes the hurdles that are always present on the path of tenderness. In his discourse, he also labels love as “Sound, Swift as a shadow, short as a dream, Brief as the lightning in the collied night” (Shakespeare). These words from his speech will not make the audience laugh. The Shakespeare’s style of writing a comedy is, therefore, portrayed as being accompanied by tragedy. From the speech, love is portrayed as very beautiful thing. The relationship that is made between love and dream makes the audience sad as love is described as short lasting. If the affection portrayed by love in the speech could have a long life, the comedy would be attractive and enjoyable. Whereas tragedy tries to enter into the play, the sensational comedy smothers the play making it victorious. The victory establishes humour that eventually make the comedy become real and enjoyable. From the play, the comedy the Shakespeare’s comedy is perceived as there are attempts to make it tragic. There are situations where we see as if a tragedy will appear. The characters in the play throughout the plot seems to be very cautious and able to prevent the tragedy from occurring. Therefore, even though there are various situation where the audience feel as if a tragedy does happen, comedy comes in and take over making the comedy interesting. One of the attempts is portrayed when an undertone takes over from a near tragedy is during Pyramas and Thisbe production rehearsal. The play seems to have content that is full of tragedy. When the production is done, the actors who take the position of the characters in the novel can twist the tragic events. The play, therefore, becomes very interesting and funny. The disastrous events disappear making the production of the act hilarious. Therefore, the comedy presentation of the Shakespeare may seem to be accompanied by tragedy but when they are acted and produced gives the real taste of a comedy. Lysander and Hermias relationship also finds some tragedy in the play. Since Hermia’s father does not want her to marry Lysander, they decide to escape to Lysander’s aunt who is a widow. Before their plan is affected, Helena, who was a Lysander’s girlfriend, enters their room. She notices Hermia and wonders whether she was her boyfriend’s new girlfriend. The reason she wonders is because she is still in affection with Lysander. Hermia and Lysander reveals their evasion scheme to Helena (Shakespeare). From this instance, the spectators wonders what will happen to the two in affection. Will Helena betray them? Will they succeed to escape? The instance of suspension that can lead to tragedy be folds. Since the play is made to be a comedy, Shakespeare creates this situation as his normal way. The characters seem as near tragedy, but the humorous tone created in the play gives it the comic necessary to reinforce the purpose of the play. Puck makes a statement that seems to be offensive in its representation. His description on the couple as “fool” is critical in the edifice of a comedy. Puck says, “Lord, what fools this mortal be.” The declaration is described as the best and popular in the act. The statement is used to show the expected nature of tragedy that could befall the characters named as fools. The statement could trigger violence but since it is a comedy, there is a great absorption of the words by the characters. The translation, therefore, establishes a jester situation. The desired reception is, therefore, received positively by the expected audience. Suspense and humour are the core styles that are common in the play. I do agree with the statement that a ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ is a comedy that comes close to tragedy in places as was typical of Shakespeares comedies. The echelon of comedy is as high as that of the near tragic situations. It is the humour that comes through the way to suppress that existing suspense in a situation. Therefore, the task of the characters in the act is well developed to meet the requirement of the act. The play goes in line with the Shakespeare style of writing and therefore becomes a representative of the author’s work. Works Cited Encyclopedia of World Biography. William Shakespeare. 2004. 25 November 2014. Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Nights Dream. n.d. Web. 25 November 2014. ShakespeareFAQ. Shakespeare FAQ answers some of the more popular questions about the Great Bard. From Shakespeares love-life to his famous will, Shakespeare FAQ explains them all. n.d. 25 November 2014. Read More