Act III, sc. i
Figurative vs. Literal
Have you ever heard one of your friends say that something was literally the best thing ever? Chances are that he or she was not using the word correctly.
Do you know the difference between literal and figurative?
Something that is literal means that it is true.
Shakespeare was a writer.
That sentence can be taken for its literal meaning. Was Shakespeare a writer? Yes! However, when something is figurative, you must figure out the intended meaning. It is departing from the literal use of the word.
Shakespeare's words hovered onto the page just as they do on the stage.
Did Shakespeare's words fly? No! This sentence isn't literal.
In the previous lessons, you read that Shakespeare incorporated imagery to describe characters, create mood, or suggest an idea. Shakespeare was a genius in incorporating literary techniques. Complete the sentences below with a word or words that uses language to appeal to your senses.
1. Laughter tastes like .
2. Love looks like .
3. Marriage sounds like .
Similes, Metaphors, & Personification
The comparison of two unlike things using the words like or as is called a simile. If you compare two unlike things without the use of like or as, it is called a metaphor. Personification is when the writer gives inanimate objects human characteristics.
Using comparisons like these help the reader see the action that is occurring. Shakespeare uses all three of these techniques in his writing.
Shakespeare could have written these words for Oberon…
"I know a place where flowers grow."
Instead, Shakespeare wrote this…
"I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite overcanopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet muskroses, and with eglantine.
There sleeps Titania sometime of the night,
Lulled in these flowers with dances and delight.
And there the snake throws her enameled skin,
Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in."
Look at this line of the passage in detail. Can you identify the literary techniques?
"And there the snake throws her enameled skin,
Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in."
Can a snake throw? No. This is personification. Shakespeare used his creative writing skills to say that the snakes shed their skin by throwing it, and the skin is wide enough to wrap a fairy in.
Act III, sc. i
Read Act III, sc. i in A Midsummer Night's Dream
Pyramus and Thisbe
Did this story remind you of anything you've read? Yes, it is the basic plot of Romeo and Juliet. And, yes, this is the story that Bottom, Quince, and the other mechanicals are performing at the Duke's wedding.
What does this say about the mechanicals?
The Mechanicals
The mechanicals are a clueless bunch. First, they hold their practices in the woods, not a theater or even an amphitheater. Next, Bottom thinks that the play needs a prologue so the audience won't think that he is actually killing himself. He also thinks the ladies will be afraid of the lion, so he needs to tell them it's not real but performed by Snout.
Puck's mischievous plan
Now, Puck has found the perfect person for Titania to dote on: Bottom. Is there any symbolism to his name? Of course!
Puck transforms Bottom into an ass,
a type of mammal that is smaller than
a horse but has longer ears, or as you
know it, a donkey. Why is this perfect?
Because Oberon wanted Titania to,
"Wake when some vile thing is near."
What is the meter and rhyme scheme of Titania's speech?
Out of this wood do not desire to go:
Thou shalt remain here, whether thou wilt or no.
I am a spirit of no common rate;
The summer still doth tend upon my state;
And I do love thee: therefore, go with me;
I'll give thee fairies to attend on thee,
And they shall fetch thee jewels from the deep,
And sing while thou on pressed flowers dost sleep;
And I will purge thy mortal grossness so
That thou shalt like an airy spirit go.
The speech is in iambic pentameter and heroic couplet.
What do you think this poetic choice achieves? Does it tell you anything about Titania's character?
Shakespeare uses a variety of forms of language in the play up to this point. In much of the play he uses blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter); however, Titania's speech is written in heroic couplet, which is rhyming iambic pentameter. This gives it a sing/song feel. Shakespeare probably meant it to be set to music and sung. Speaking this way shows that Titania is a magical fairy.