As critic Ronald Miller so eloquently stated: "The complex and subtle intellectuality of Shakespeare's comics has never been better illustrated than by A Midsummer Night's Dream and, in particular, by Shakespeare's employment of fairies in this play” (Miller 486). It may be added that the employment of this type of supernaturalism, in general, is what distinguishes A Midsummer Night's Dream from any other Shakespearean work. Although many critics of Shakespeare's day considered this work a "buffoonery", the modern critic Miller suggests that it "is now more likely to be read as a study in the epistemology of the imagination" ( 486). Say no to plagiarism. . Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Overall, Shakespeare's use of supernaturalism masterfully depicts joviality. The tone is filled with mystical and whimsical fantasy elements that produce a very happy and playful atmosphere. The only hint at the darker side of the supernatural world is his mention of ghosts in the third act: ...Yonder shines the harbinger of Aurora; at whose approach, the ghosts, wandering here and there, enter the cemeteries: all the damned spirits, who In crossroads and floods they are buried, Already their wormed beds are gone; Lest the day look upon their shame, They voluntarily exile themselves from the light, And must forever frequent the dark-browed night. (Shakespeare 3.2.380 -87) Critic Cumberland Clark suggests that in this passage, "Shakespeare's thought returned to the malevolent and hostile fairies of folklore, who were seen by some as the vanished spirits of men and women and, for this reason, were often confused. with ghosts” (Clark 400). Clark compared the somewhat negative use of supernaturalism in A Midsummer Night's Dream to Hamlet and Macbeth. Immediately after this haunting passage, Oberon, the king of the Fairies, “cast aside the shadow of their carefree joy” by declaring that they are spirits of another kind (400). In contrast, James Bush, an educator, scholar, and veteran theater director, suggests that the sets used in Shakespeare's stage production of A Midsummer Night's Dream are the best representation of the atmosphere that the playwright had the intention to create. At the beginning of the play, Shakespeare creates a feeling of lightness by setting the first scene in the early morning. Bush concludes that when the lovers escape into the woods and the fairies appear, darkness sets in, both literally and figuratively (Bush). Indeed, fairies are central to creating the atmosphere depicted throughout the comedy. The fairies that are part of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream are more than just fictional, fantastical characters who wander through the action. As EK Chambers said, they are “irresponsible creatures, eternal children.” They belong to the winds and clouds and flowers, to everything beautiful and graceful and fleeting in nature” (Chambers 396). Chambers notes that, above all, the main characteristics that men possess that fairies do not possess are "the sense of law and the instinct for self-control" (396). Perhaps this lack of self-control and sense of law is for the best. illustrated by the character Puck. As a fairy jester, Puck takes nothing seriously, even his own mistake in following Oberon's orders regarding the administration of a magical love potion. Not only does he not seem to take any situation seriously, but he also seems to fully enjoy "causing perplexity in unfortunate mortals"(396). More simply, “he likes to create chaos, especially among humans” (Greenhill 17). Jim Bush argues that these are not fairies lacking a sense of law and self-control, but rather a different type. “Fairies are all about self-righteousness,” Bush said. "Human right speaks to the common ground culture because what works best for the group is correct. Society must be protected. Oberon is a fringe Atlantic culture like the Irish and the Welsh and even the people of the Appalachia. The basic principle underlying Atlantic fringe culture is "what's best for me is best, and to hell with society" (Bush says that's the main thing). which causes so much conflict between fairies and humans in this region is used again to support Bush's claim about the element of self-righteousness "Puck is by far the most interesting, I think because he. is obviously designed to be the instigator of sexual passion", noted Bush. controller of although Shakespeare kept it G noted the sexual and human relations of the confusion of couples." But above all, Puck is under Oberon's control. This controlling factor represents a mythological connection to the Zeus-Pan (Bush) relationship. The best representation of the mythological connection to Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream is with the character of Oberon. Bush compares Oberon to Zeus: “His punitive actions and his anger against his queen are very reminiscent of Zeus's anger against Hera. » represented as a god, Oberon is depicted as a jealous king (Bush). Most striking, according to Bush, is the fact that Shakespeare's use of historical and mythological beings and events is very scattered and unstructured. Bush attributes the disorganization of the facets of history and mythology to Shakespeare's primary purpose in writing A Midsummer Night's Dream: to entertain. “Too often people see more in the work than Shakespeare intended.” According to Bush, there is no such thing as "evangelism for any cause or a satanic agenda," although many critics say there is. Shakespeare's main goal was to write "a way of making money for a theater company" (Bush). “He wants to give the audience a cheap thrill and by appealing to all the characters and all the realms he achieves entertainment” (Bush). Although they appear to be entertainment, the supernatural elements that Shakespeare incorporated into the main action and plot of his play do so. not achieve anything that would have been impossible or improbable without their presence. The main thread of the play is clear: the story of the breakdown of the romantic relationships of four young Athenians. The plot is simply reinforced and corroborated by the presence of supernaturalism. EK Chambers noted in his book Shakespeare: A Survey that "magical love in idleness actually does nothing other than symbolically represent the familiar workings of real love in idleness in the human heart." Chambers continued: "Boys in love change their minds just like that, or almost, without any whispers from the fairies to guide them." The interaction with love and the inevitable results of that interaction are a function of the various supernatural elements used throughout the play (Chambers 396). His use of magic, dream world and fairies from ancient folklore are simply ingredients he uses to give people an entertaining production Bush compared romantic comedy. from Shakespeare to the works of Neil Simon on Broadway: “The reactions are real. There is nothing unreal apart from the magical superposition of magic." the now famous Disney fairies?(Friedlander, www.pathguy.com). Although many credit Shakespeare with creating a fairytale frenzy that has lasted since the first performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Bush says the credit belongs to the sources. Bush suggests that the commonalities between the fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream and those in famous Disney stories, pictures, and now films are due to the sources they all used. Ancient sources of fanciful, pint-sized winged creatures date back to Shakespeare's time and have undoubtedly been used many times since, including in the work of JR Tolkein. The fairies in A Midsummer Night's dreams are, according to Ronald Miller, simply "literary ornamentation" (Miller 487). The way in which Shakespeare presents the fairies, whose "very artificiality of their language prevents us from being truly caught up in Titania and Oberon as dramatic characters", suggests that they are only stage characters with clever speech ( 487). According to Miller, fairies also seem to possess a mysterious element. "The intellectual implications of fairies...are hardly exhausted once the enigma of their metaphysical status has been explored," commented Miller. “There is no doubt,” he continues, “there is [emphasis added by Miller] a certain fugitivity towards these beings.” According to Miller, Shakespeare “allows us to have our fairies and to doubt them too” (487). Miller also noted that Shakespeare's art, while allegorical, is not so much about fairies per se as "the mystery [emphasis mine] of fairies." the very aura of evanescence and ambiguity surrounding their lives on stage indicates a mystery in our own existence, and particularly in such ambivalent earthly matters as love, luck, imagination and even faith. (487). These earthly questions, all arising from human experience, seem to occupy the attention of the fairies throughout the play. Shakespeare's use of the combination of supernaturalism and mystery leads the reader to continually ask unanswered questions as to the existence of these supernatural beings and their role in the moral experiences to which the fairies in Shakespeare's play are bound . With the enormous volumes of fantasy and science fiction available even today, it is clear that something in human nature needs magic, perhaps an innate subconscious human desire to create and reflect on the effects of the supernatural world. Bush said: “[People] need the wonder of a unicorn, the wonder of giants and beanstalks. I think Shakespeare consciously or unconsciously recognized this basic need. » One of the most interesting elements of Shakespeare's use of supernatural creatures in A Midsummer Night's Dream is the way they interact with the human characters. Cumberland Clark noted that unlike the Weird Sisters of Shakespeare's Macbeth, his "light and airy beings" are not separate from his moral characters (Clark 400). On the contrary, fairies mix freely among mortals although they live in two distinct worlds governed undoubtedly by different laws.G. Wilson Night notes that not only fairies but also fairyland “interpenetrate the world of human action” (Wilson 401). Moreover, the action of fairies is not limited to a single place or a single group of mortals. Instead, they mingle in the courtyards of Athens, in the woods where the artisans rehearse, and in the deeper woods where the young Athenians were for the night. Although they are considered woodland creatures whose primary existence is in the natural world, they are not limited to the boundaries established by mortals, whether physical or social (Greenhill 17).., 453-6.