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    Essay On Illusion and Reality

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    Lee Shu Qing
    The document analyzes how Shakespeare blurs the lines between illusion and reality in A Midsummer Night's Dream. It discusses two key incidents: 1) Hermia's dream, which foreshadows Lysander rejecting her for Helena, blurring the lines between dreams and reality. 2) When the young lovers wake in Athens, they feel between dreaming and waking, continuing the dream-like state and making the audience question if the events were real. By blurring reality and illusion, Shakespeare makes the audience more receptive to the play's themes and existence of the fairy realm.

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    Essay On Illusion and Reality

    Uploaded by

    Lee Shu Qing
    99 views2 pages
    The document analyzes how Shakespeare blurs the lines between illusion and reality in A Midsummer Night's Dream. It discusses two key incidents: 1) Hermia's dream, which foreshadows Lysander rejecting her for Helena, blurring the lines between dreams and reality. 2) When the young lovers wake in Athens, they feel between dreaming and waking, continuing the dream-like state and making the audience question if the events were real. By blurring reality and illusion, Shakespeare makes the audience more receptive to the play's themes and existence of the fairy realm.

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    Essay on Illusion and Reality

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    The document analyzes how Shakespeare blurs the lines between illusion and reality in A Midsummer Night's Dream. It discusses two key incidents: 1) Hermia's dream, which foreshadows Lysander rejecting her for Helena, blurring the lines between dreams and reality. 2) When the young lovers wake in Athens, they feel between dreaming and waking, continuing the dream-like state and making the audience question if the events were real. By blurring reality and illusion, Shakespeare makes the audience more receptive to the play's themes and existence of the fairy realm.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    99 views2 pages

    Essay On Illusion and Reality

    Uploaded by

    Lee Shu Qing
    The document analyzes how Shakespeare blurs the lines between illusion and reality in A Midsummer Night's Dream. It discusses two key incidents: 1) Hermia's dream, which foreshadows Lysander rejecting her for Helena, blurring the lines between dreams and reality. 2) When the young lovers wake in Athens, they feel between dreaming and waking, continuing the dream-like state and making the audience question if the events were real. By blurring reality and illusion, Shakespeare makes the audience more receptive to the play's themes and existence of the fairy realm.

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    of 2

    ESSAY ON THE THEME: ILLUSION VS REALITY, DREAMING VS WAKING.

    i.e. It is said that the distinction between reality and dream is deliberately blurred in the
    play. Suggest how this contributes to your appreciation of the play. Support your answer
    with close reference to two incidents in the play.

    INTRODUCTION

    Illusion and reality are central both to the play’s action and themes. The distinction between
    reality and dreaming is often blurred in the play, causing the characters as well as the
    audience to question the reality of their experiences.

    POINT 1: HERMIA’S NIGHTMARE

    One instance in which reality and dream seem to flow over and impact the other is Hermia’s
    dream. Hermia’s dream is vividly described and she wakes up from it exclaiming, “me
    thoughts a serpent ate my heart away” and that Lysander “watched smiling at his cruel
    prey”. The timing of the dream is such that Lysander, just moments before, confessed his
    love for Helena claiming that “The will of man is by his reason sway'd; And reason says you
    are the worthier maid.” The dream foreshadows Lysander’s rejection of her, indicating how
    her dreams will become reality, hinting at the prophetic nature of dreams. Eventually
    because of the love potion, Lysander whom Hermia was to elope with, chose Helena
    instead. Hermia is scorned and threatened by Lysander and Demetrius who call her
    “ethiope”, “bead” and “acron”, insulting her. This blurs the line between dreams and reality
    by introducing the idea that dreams can reflect reality thus leaving the audience is left
    wondering if dreams, in fact are mirrors of reality and can predict what is to happen.

    This incident also highlights how dreams can be more real, meaningful and revealing than
    reality. This is whoen by Hermia’s immediate understanding of the metaphor of Lysander’s
    cruelty in her dream as compared to her confusion and bewilderment when awake of
    Lysander’s open and undeniable rejection and hatred.

    Hermia’s dream, additionally adds suspense to the moment and foreshadows the
    happenings. The audience is thus warned of the happenings to fallow and curious about
    whether the dream will eventually prove true and so painful to Hermia. The blurring of the
    lines thus acts as a dramatic technique and serves to lead the play into its climax. The
    audience fears for Hermia and they themselves know such a thing will happen due to the
    application of the love juice. They thus wait in apprehension for the moment the lovers
    meet, expecting disastrous consequences. This allows the audience to appreciate the play
    more and is clearly employed to create tension.

    Dreams seem to lead into reality and reality seems to affect ones dream and because they
    are so similar, they seem to be indistinguishable. The blurring of the lines between dream
    and reality leaf the audience to question the happenings in the play and whether the night
    in the woods has indeed just been a dream. The audience is then led to question it any of
    the things seen in the play might be realistic such as the characteristics of love while
    growing them to form their own consciousness. Additionally, the blurring of the line
    between illusion and reality seems to make the audience more receptive of the fairy realm.
    By making the play and the forest seem so surreal and mysterious, a place one would
    venture into in a dream perhaps, the audience is less resistant to the idea of fairies and this
    in turn lulls the audience into believing in the existence and subsequent activity of the
    fairies and the effect of their love potions.

    POINT 2: WAKING OF THE YOUNG LOVERS

    Another incident that blurs reality and dream is the waking of the young lovers. When the
    young lovers wake, they feel “half awake” and “half asleep” and everything seems “small
    and indistinguishable”, “like far off mountains turned into clouds”. This dream life after
    effect of the night in the woods serve to make the audience themselves question if perhaps
    everything was a dream. This further leads them on to probe into the world of the fairies,
    causing them to question if the fairy realm, dos afterall exist. The lovers themselves cannot
    distinguish between reality and dreams any longer. Additionally, in this incident, Helena
    comments that “I have found Demetrius like a jewel ,Mine own, and not mine own.”. this
    reminds the audience that Demetrius, is in fact still seemingly in a dream as he himself
    cannot explain his change of affections, instead likening it to a recovery from an illness. This
    further blurs the lines between reality and dreams because although Demetrius has
    returned to Athens, a place where order and stability rule, he is still seemingly living in the
    after effects of the love potion. This leads the reader to question the “happily ever after”
    ending of the entire play and causes them to sympathisize with Helena who appears to have
    Demetrius love, however only because he is under the effects of the love juice. This spilling
    over of dreams into reality also serves to remind audience that dreams and reality are in
    fact intertwined in the realm of Theseus and the mortals, magic and the fairies still ever
    present and leave the ending of the play as an open one, posing a question to the audience
    to consider the outcome of the entire incident and question if Oberon’s actions did right the
    wrongs that were made. The audience thus appreciates the play and its messages on a
    higher level as it pumps thought ad careful consideration even after the play has concluded.

    CONCLUSION

    In conclusion, the thin line between dreams and reality is constantly being blurred
    throughout the play. The play itself is aptly titled, “a Midsummer Night’s Dream”, alluding to
    the fact that everything is a dream. Mentions of dreams also end the play as Hippolyta
    comments, “four nights will quietly fall away into dreams” and Puck concludes by telling the
    audience that they “have but slumbered here” and “this wake and idle theme is no more
    yielding than a dream”. Shakespeare relies on the concept of dreams and imagination to
    create and justify the fairy realm and such occurrences there.

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