1. Shakespeare is the poet of double vision.
He was a mingler of comedy and tragedy,
low life and high, prose and verse. He
was a teller of English folktales who was Shakespeare is
equally versed in the mythology of
ancient Greece and Rome. His mind and the poet of
world were poised between Catholicism
and Protestantism, old feudal ways and
double vision
new bourgeois ambitions, rational
thinking and visceral instinct. Nowhere is
his double vision more apparent than in A
Midsummer Night’s Dream, a play that
moves between the city and the wood,
day and night, reason and imagination,
waking life and dream.
3. Shakespeare’s type of romantic comedy follows a tradition...
which has affinities with the medieval traditions of the
seasonal ritual play. We may call it the drama of the green
world, its plot being assimilated to the ritual theme of the
triumph of life and love over the waste land... in all these
comedies there is the same rhythmic movement from normal
world to green world and back again.
(Northrop Frye, The Anatomy of Criticism, 1990 [1957], p 182)
4. The second world is called the
‘green world’ because it often
The first is a world belonging takes place in a forest, a This is the world created our
to older people or parental wood or another non-urban of the resolution in the play. It
figures. It is usually environment. It is a world of is a world that has learnt from
repressive and often urban. freedom, but it is also a world its past mistakes and has
There is generally a lack of of confusion. Forests were resolved any previous
freedom due to the laws and sometimes viewed as being problems. Usually, characters
established ways of doing magical and dangerous return from the ‘green world’,
things. Most often it is a world places (think of all the dark often back into the urban
resisted by the young people, forests in fairy stories). This world, but this time, a new
who find it unfair and is an environment most suited order is established.
unsympathetic to their needs. to fairies, mix-ups, disguise
The ‘old world’ may only be and misinformation.
seen for a very short while in
the play.
The ‘Green
The ‘Old In Britain and Shakespeare was World’
time in which
Europe during the
The ‘New
World’ writing,were untouched and of
forest
huge, dense swathes
World’
unpopulated.
5. The ‘green world’ represents disorder. As comedies become
MAGICAL THINKING In the age of candle, nights were
more sophisticated over time, there are new ways in which this seriously dark! The night was
‘green world’ operates. We need to remember that despite an accordingly imagined to be seriously
Wood, night, imagination,people inThese are the co-ordinates of the
overlay of Christianity, dream. this period were still very different from the day. The very fact
second form of sight, which is best described asand little thinking. It
superstitious, believing in the work of fairies magical people. of long hours of light itself conferred
is the mode of being that belongs to visionaries, astrologers, ‘wise a kind of magic upon Midsummer
women’ and poets. It conjures up acomedy ‘is the drama of the
Fry argued that Shakespearean world animated with energies
and spirit forces: it finds correspondencesto the ritual themes of the
green world, its plot being assimilated between earthly things The ‘Green World’
Night. This is the night of the year
when magical thinking is given full
triumph of life and love over the waste land’ (Northrop Frye, The rein. For centuries, the summer
and divine. of Criticism, 1990 in this way 182).‘in a fine frenzy’ asother
Anatomy The eye that see [1957], p rolls By this, and his solstice had been a festive occasion
Theseus says, glancing ‘from heaven following:
arguments, he seems to mean the to earth, from earth to celebrated with bonfires, feasting and
heaven’. It ‘bodies forms of things unknown’, ‘turns them to shapes merrymaking.
and gives to airy nothing a local habitation and a name.’
The rural world means that urban and business concerns can be
Magical thinking answers a deep human need. It is a way of
forgotten.
making sense of things that would otherwise seem painfully random
Time is also forgotten. There are no clocks.
– things like love and beauty. An ugly birthmark on a baby would be
explained away by the suggestion that the infant might with.
The older, restrictive generation can be dispensed be a
‘changeling child’, swapped in the cradle by some night-tripping
There is often gender confusion.
fairy. mythical and real merge. in the process of what we now call
The The sheer chance involved
sexual chemistry may be rationalized in the story of the magic
It is a temporary holiday atmosphere.
properties of the juice of the flower called love-in-idleness. And in a
world dependant on hierarchy.
There is no social an agricultural economy, bad harvests were
somehow more palatable is explained by the intervention of
malicious spritesthis can be seen again and weather.
Fry notes that upon the vicissitudes of the again in
Shakespearean comedy – notably in A Midsummer Night’s
Dream.
6. The ‘new world’ is symbolised by several elements –
notably a marriage, or very often multiple marriages.
Multiple marriages are important because they
usually cut across all classes of people, suggesting
social harmony. Other important elements that
The ‘New World’ represent this ‘new world’ are dancing (a celebratory
act), feasting and an opportunity for those doling out
the ‘law’ to reform and rethink. Sometimes a
character will offer an epilogue, explaining what their
hopes are for the future. Obviously, marriage not only
signifies a union, but also the opportunities for
children, and therefore progress in the future.
Because love is a kind of uncontrolled and irrational
force, marriage demonstrates that it is also a way of
controlling and managing it in the ‘new world’.
Epilogue
The short concluding
section of a play or poem,
something summarising the
content or theme.
7. A sense that they have had the ‘holiday’ of
living in another world; of experiencing
others’ lives and problems with the
assurance that most of them will be resolved
happily at the play’s end; of sharing a sense
of the laughable absurdities of the ordinary
world which can’t be fixed. As Castiglione
Two hours’ traffic wrote.
Whatsoever therefore causeth
What does the audience laughter, the same maketh the mind
experience in the two jocund and giveth pleasure, nor suffereth
a man in that instant to mind the
hours’ traffic of a troublesome griefs that our life is full of.
Shakespearian comedy? Therefore (as you see) laughing is very
acceptable to all men, and he is much to
be commended that can cause it in due
time and after a comely sort.
8. A Midsummer Night’s Dream
and Frye’s Interpretation
Northrop Frye’s ‘The Argument of Comedy’ pinpoints a pervasive structure: ‘the
action of the comedy begins in a world represented as a normal world, moves into
the green world, goes into a metamorphosis there in which the comic resolution is
achieved, and returns to the normal world’. But for Shakespeare, the green world,
the forest and its fairies, is no less real than the court. Frye, again, sums it up
brilliantly:
‘This world of fairies, dreams, disembodied souls, and pastoral lovers may not be a
‘real’ world, but, if not, there is something equally illusory in the stumbling and
blinded follies of the ‘normal’ world, of Theseus’ Athens with its idiotic marriage law...’
In The Tempest Prospero gives a speech about the dream nature of reality and how
it applies equally to both the ‘old world’ of Milan and the ‘green world’ of the
enchanted island. ‘We spend our lives partly in a waking world we call normal and
partly in a dream world which we create of our own desires. Shakespeare endows
both worlds with equal imaginative power, brings them opposite one another, and
makes each world seem unreal when seen by the light of the other.’
9. Act 5 Scene 2
OBERON: Now, until the break of day, Helpful hints:
Through this house each fairy stray. •What is Oberon talking about?
To the best bride-bed will we,
Which by us shall blessed be; •What’s the rhyme scheme of Oberon’s
And the issue there create(400) speech? What might this suggest about
Ever shall be fortunate. the resolution of the play?
So shall all the couples three •Which conventions of the dramatic
Ever true in loving be;
And the blots of Nature's hand comedy does Oberon reference in his
Shall not in their issue stand;(405)
Never mole, hare-lip, nor scar, Oberon’s Epilogue
speech?
•Who are the ‘couples three’?
Nor mark prodigious, such as are •What does he promise inat the veryto the
Look at Oberon’s speech relation end
Despised in nativity,
Shall upon their children be. couples’ future children? Dream. It is
of A Midsummer Night’s
significant because it seems to
With this field-dew consecrate,(410) •How does the speech reference the
summarise so much about the function
Every fairy take his gait, ‘greenShakespearian comedy. world’?
of world’ and the ‘new As you
And each several chamber bless, comment on the language, consider how
•At the end of ties together the various
this speech the speech what does
Through this palace, with sweet peace;
And the owner of it blest Oberon reference to suggest that like
strands of the comedy. Note time?
most ‘high status’ characters in
Ever shall in safety rest.(415) How does this linkcomedy, ‘green world’
Shakespearean to the Oberon uses
Trip away; make no stay; andverse. world’
‘new
Meet me all by break of day.
10. Act 5 Scene 2
Oberon is speaking in
rhyming couplets. These Now, until the break of day,
suggest that a certain Through this house each fairy stray.
Oberon’s Epilogue
harmony has been reached
at the end of the play. To the best bride-bed will we, Multiple marriage is an
Which by us shall blessed be; important signifier at the end
And the issue there create(400) of a Shakespearean comedy. speech, there is much
In this short
This refers to Theseus Ever shall be fortunate. that can be related to the overall
and Hippolyta, Hermia So shall all the couples three
and Lysander, and Helena
and Demetrius. Ever true in loving be; function of comedies. Oberon
And the blots of Nature's hand refers to solutions and new
Because of the fairy’s Shall not in their issue stand;(405)
blessing, the children of beginnings. There is an emphasis
the three couples will not Never mole, hare-lip, nor scar, on the importance of children.
have any disfigurement Nor mark prodigious, such as are
and will be born healthy. Despised in nativity, There is a notion that we would all
Shall upon their children be. This is more magical since to bless our field
wish fairies it comes from the homes in
With this field-dew consecrate,(410) and perhaps is way. towater.structural
this
links back the concerns of Athenian
drama. This fairy holy The
The fairy
world is
Every fairy take his gait, importance of the new dawn is
now in And each several chamber bless,
harmony Through this palace, with sweet peace; also noted.
again with
the human
And the owner of it blest The disorder of before has been negated.
world. Ever shall in safety rest.(415) All the characters are now safe.
Trip away; make no stay; Consider: How do you think modern audiences
Meet me all by break of day.
respond to the ending of MSND? Do you think they
The night alluded to here is harmonious since the
couples are now together. The dawn makes for a
would believe in the capacity of fairies to bless a
new era in Athenian society. house? Are superstition and folklore important?
11. Interpretations by other readers
As you proceed through your studies of English literature you will come to understand that
different readers offer different interpretations of texts. The ways in which they have been
interpreted are often influenced by the time period the criticism was written in, as well as other
trends in literary criticism. You should aim to read and recognise a number of different points
of view that will help you to understand the text. It is often good to include or indicate these
different reading in your coursework. Use their views to reflect your own. It is always worth
keeping an open mind on what different observers are saying.
The patterns proposed by Frye do work, by and large, they are a useful first approach to
‘meaning’. But as Jean Howard points out,
reliance on certain premises of Frye can lead us to minimize some aspects of the
comedies, most notably the degree of unresolved turbulence and contradictions present
in those plays and present in the audience’s aesthetic experience of them...
In MSND what might the ‘unresolved
turbulence and contradictions’ be?
12. Create a representation (pretty picture) of each of the ‘worlds’ (old,
green and new) in MSND. Annotate each with:
a) evidence (Shakespeare’s lovely words) from the text which support
the key features of Fry’s ‘Green World’ interpretation. Make sure that
you spell out which feature each piece of evidence supports.
b) evidence to support the conventions of dramatic comedy (see recap
of conventions attached). Make sure you spell out which convention
each piece of evidence supports.
Frye’s ‘Green World’ A delightful added extra:
Add, in relevant places, to your representations of the ‘worlds’ in MSND
Your independent study task for the and historical and contextual titbits you have picked up along the way
(either from that first homework or lessons). For example: although
half term holidays. largely Christian in belief, the Elizabethan audience were still largely
superstitious, believing in the work of fairies.
Want to extend those
brains? Read the Want to extend those brains some more?
extended version of Look into the medieval traditions of the
the lesson on: seasonal ritual play to which Fry compares
http://missallenenglish. Shakespeare’s comedies.
wordpress.com/
13. The Conventions of Dramatic Comedy (a recap): mix-ups, chaos,
interlinked plots, happy ending, foolishness of human beings, love,
exaggerations of stereotypes...
General conventions:
• Comedy highlights that human beings are in fact ridiculous and cannot change. Comedies, therefore, often confirm our view of the world.
• Love is a motivating force and occasionally when people are in love and infatuated with someone else they do foolish things.
• Usually end with a marriage or similar celebratory event, sometimes accompanied by music and dance.
• Disorder is at the heart of comedy. This disorder can be funny and amusing, but it can also be threatening and dangerous.
• Exaggerations of stereotypes are often used.
• All dramatic comedies have the same basic structure to them: the tripartite structure of exposition, complication and resolution.
Shakespeare’s conventions:
• The main kind of comedies Shakespeare wrote are often labelled romantic comedies.
• These plays are quite light-hearted, but do have some darker and more disturbing elements to them.
• Like the model set in previous centuries, Shakespeare realised that the best kind of comedy is generated by a series of mix-ups where
disorder is rife and life is turned upside down.
• All of his comedies look at the foolishness of human beings.
• They often have interlinked plots.
