A Midsummer Night's Dream: Act III, scene 1, l.1- 125

Résumé du document

Remembering their previous apparition, a comic and ridiculous situation is expected. Indeed, once again, it turns out that they are poor actors. Their play is supposed to be tragic and to trigger the pity and compassion of the audience while their acting keeps getting worse like the use of malapropism, that is to say a wrong use of a word: line 65 'odious' instead of 'odorous'. However hard Quince tries to help Bottom by picking him up and demonstrating how the correct adjective is formed, Bottom's response is to get it wrong again. Flute is corrupting 'Ninnus' into 'Ninny' that is to say, a fool. Moreover, they do not even manage to give the line at the proper moment. It adds to the burlesque tone, slap-stick comedy, as they are ludicrous. Bottom is convinced that he means the world to them, and that he is the center of attention.

Extraits

[...] The physical transformation is followed by a psychological transformation as a result Bottom has become rational and desirable. Even if she speaks in lyrical prose, she can't tell beauty from ugliness. Line 107: “what angel wakes me from my flowery Due to the potion, she hears a melodious song whereas Bottom's song is raucous. He sings flat. Besides, while she used to be a bossy Queen with Oberon who is a King, she is absolutely submissive with Bottom who is a craftsman with an ass-head. She treats him as a King. [...]

[...] This is a knavery of them to make me afeard” (line 94-95). Once again Bottom misunderstands what's happening to him. (Line 96- 97 Bottom thou art changed. What do I see on He even over-acts when he is facing a concrete situation: “I'm not afraid.” (line 102)in addition to he sings, so he keeps on behaving as if he were Pyramus. Intervention of magic Right from the very beginning Puck cannot wait to play a trick on The Mechanicals line 63-64: “I'll be an auditor, an actor too perhaps.” It guarantees further fun. [...]

[...] Her hearing is distorted: line 115 “mine ear is much enamored of thy note” + her vision = is mine eye enthralled to thy shape” 116. Her senses are upside-down since love is blind and governed by imagination. Her vision has been altered as she's spell-bound. Titania is becoming irrational. Titania's reaction account for love at first sight: line 118 the first view to say, to swear, I love this means that she is under passion. Shakespeare plays with the idea of blindness. Love makes you see the other person as if he were perfect. [...]

[...] Puck is using a series of various words model after his fickleness: / line 88; it conjures up different animals. Puck can take on the likeness of anything just as magic. Not only can he transform his self but he can also transform the others. II- Transformation generates unpredictable consequences Bottom All what previously happened in this excerpt was expectable. However, the impact of the association between magic and the Mechanicals and more precisely Bottom is unexpected. The fact that Bottom is transformed into an ass just confirms what he already is (referring to his name). [...]

[...] "Le Songe d'une nuit d'été", William Shakespeare (1595) - acte III, scène une situation inespérée Introduction This excerpt of the Act III, scene 1 taken from A Midsummer Night's Dream, a play written by W. Shakespeare in 1595, introduces us the major topics of the play: love, magic and trickery. The wood, the perfect place of interlude and magic The mechanicals Remembering their previous apparition, a comic and ridiculous situation is expected. Indeed, once again, it turns out that they are poor actors. [...]