Wednesday, March 9, 2016
A Midsummer Night's Dream 3.2
Select a short passage from this scene (maximum 10 lines). Indicate the passage you have chosen, then discuss its significance (e.g. effects of language, questions/issues raised, different meanings or interpretations, how it develops character or relationships, how it develops theme, dramatic effects, etc.). Try to weave some quotation into your writing. Don't hesitate to comment on other blog posts! Due by Wednesday, March 16th.
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I chose a passage from l.203 to l.214. I really like this passage because I find Shakespeare’s use of language particularly clever. Helena is blaming Hermia for having supposedly conspired against her. She reminds her of their happy shared childhood in order to enhance the feeling of betrayal that she experiences.
ReplyDeleteShe evokes lots of memories such as them “creat[ing] both one flower”, “both warbling of one song”. These memories are associated with a certain sweetness thanks to a specific diction. For instance, the words “flower”, “cushion”, or “cherry” appeals to the senses (touch, taste and smell) and convey pleasing sensations. I think that, as in a persuasive writing, Helena wants to arouse Hermia’s feelings and especially her guilt. This idea is backed up by the presence of argumentative words such as “So”.
Secondly, the passage is built upon an opposition between “both” and “one”. We discover in this passage how close the two friends were (at least from Helena’s point of view). Helena insists on the fact that despite being “two seeming bodies” they are “one heart”. Moreover, she states that “[their] hands, [their] sides, voices and minds ha[ve] been incorporate”. This gradation goes from physical to abstract elements and shows how deeply they are linked. She uses the simile of the “double cherry” to materialize their “union in partition”.
Finally, this passage develops Helena’s relationship with Hermia, even though we could easily think that she is being overdramatic to hurt Hermia. Furthermore, we can see that Helena speaks in blank verse. I think it adds more authenticity to her speech since the quarrel grow bitterer and she can't hold back her emotions anymore.
Interesting analysis! Sorry for having chosen the same extract yet I think it makes the analysis even more complete as I interpreted Helena's speech differently, highlighting its superficial and contradictory aspects. We both illustrated a different view on this scene so I think our two analyses complete each other fairly well and I invite you to read mine and maybe leave a comment.
DeleteMy chosen passage is part of the discussion between Oberon and Puck, from line 88 to line 95, when they realise that Puck has used the flower upon the wrong lover. I picked it because I think it brings us more subtle elements of Puck's character. Usually we are given humorous aspects of his personality, or notions of his powers of transformation, but here we learn a bit more about how he shapes the play as one of the main characters. Although Oberon's speech seems to imply that his enchanting of Lysander instead of Demetrius was certainly a mistake – we can see this through his repetition of the synonyms 'mistaken' and 'misprision', which reflect each other at once through their meaning and through their sounds – having kept at the back of our minds the idea that perhaps it was a voluntary move, we can understand here what might have motivated Puck. One of these being, namely, to mock mortal men, of whom he states that 'a million fail' to 'hold […] troth' ; but also, perhaps, to get his own way, to find some emancipation from Oberon's orders and to prove that his fairy master does not have unlimited control. This is connoted by the strong term 'fate', which implies that there is (according to Puck at least) a higher power even than his king (even if he only names this entity 'fate' because it suits his purposes). Thus Oberon's insistence that it is only error on Puck's part can be read as a kind of denial, or an attempt at restoring his authority with the mischievous spirit. This relationship of power is further developed by the fact that, after this jibe at Oberon on Puck's part, the former goes straight on to give the latter orders, without paying any attention to what he just said or directly replying. This is a pattern we see a lot with the two in this scene and gives us some indication that, while finding him useful, Oberon also feels somewhat threatened by Puck. And finally, Puck's influence on the mortal world is shown here in a particularly interesting way as the words 'oath on oath' are echoed by Helena only a little later on, at line 131, as 'oath with oath': we could perhaps interpret this as the fairy unconsciously influencing the humans' ways of thinking and acting, another power which we have not seen coming from either of the two fairy rulers.
ReplyDeleteI love those lines too, I find them very interesting and this dialogue between the two characters is funny and in the meantime raises this idea of fate as you pointed out. I really like your interpretation of this passgae, the fact that Oberon can feel threatened, something I haven't seen myself. Very insightful !
DeleteMy passage is from line 129 to line 134 when Lysander tries to convince Helena of his love for her for the second time. He tells Helena he swears he loves her and she answers "When truth kills truth, O devilish-holy fray!/These vows are Hermia's. Will you give her o'er?/ Weigh oath on oath, and you will nothing weigh/ Your vows to her and me, put in two scales, / Will even weigh, and both as light as tales.", to which Lysander replies "I had no judgement when to her I swore."
ReplyDeleteI found interesting how Helena conveys her ideas on broken vows; she uses the adjective "devilish-holy" made of an oxymoron to qualify Lysander's vows to show that he is using vows which are sacred to turn them both into lies, corrupting the nature of promises. Moreover, there is something paradoxical in Helena's metaphor with the opposition between 'nothing' and 'weigh' as she says that both of Lysander's oaths "will nothing weigh" then says they "will even weigh" and yet both phrases show and highlight the fact that swearing the same thing to two women cancels both oaths. Lysander's duplicity is also emphasised by the numerous repetitions of words such as "truth" and "weigh", and the results of it are also stressed by the comparison "as light as tales" which shows that he lied by promising. Finally, the fact that Lysander replies by saying he "had no judgement" when he swore to Hermia is dramatically ironic as the audience knows his love for Helena is due to juice on his eyelids and not a sudden reasonable realisation. It could also be interpreted as an indirect declaration that Lysander loves Hermia as his reply echoes to Helena's soliloquy in act 1 scene 1 "Nor hath love's mind of any judgement's taste" and thus creates again the effect of dramatic irony. This passage thus develops the 'theme of broken vows' especially since it follows Puck's statement, which was just before, "one man holding troth/ A million fail, confounding oath on oath" which itself echoes Helena's soliloquy in act 1 scene 1 when she says "showers of oaths did melt".
The passage I chose goes from l. 226 to l. 236, in which Helena deplores her situation to Hermia. I picked this passage because it seems to me to be a breaking point for Helena : there is a distinct crescendo in her tone. It is important in the plot, because it seems to be the moment the audience realizes she has had enough, and the moment that we feel she will change, having reached the summum of her self-pity and the summum of her confusion at the same time.
ReplyDeleteThe progression in her speech is shown by the enumeration of praising adjectives she uses, picking up on Demetrius and Lysander’s words, such as “goddess, nymph, divine and rare,” (l. 226), which are direct references to Demetrius’s words in that same scene, l. 137. She finishes this succession of adjectives on the next line, using an enjambment, as if she has too much to say. Her speech gets more hysterical as Shakespeare uses an alliteration in [h], l. 227-228, with the words “he”, “her”, and “hates”, making it seem like Helena is breathless with hysteria, or confusion. That confusion marks her speech, as she uses as many as three question marks and no rhymes in this passage, making her tirade look less orderly. Moreover, her speech is insistent, thanks to the repetition of the adverb “So” (l. 233), which emphasizes her distress. This insistence makes her speech all the more hyperbolic, as does the oxymoron on l. 234 between “love” and “unloved”, and on that same line, the use of the superlative “most” to accentuate the adjective “miserable” she uses to describe herself. This line shows the extreme confusion Helena is experiencing, and the extreme self-pity that accompanies it. At the end of this passage, she seems to be particularly spiteful, as she uses an consonance in [ð], with the words “This”, “rather” and “than”. Finally, this spiteful tirade directed towards Hermia is marked by a binary pattern, in which she alternates lines about herself and about Hermia, from l. 229 to the end of the passage : for example, l. 231 stresses Hermia’s fault in this, emphasized by the repetition of “by your”, and on the next line, Helena declares that she herself is “not so in grace as [Hermia]”. The line after that is spent praising Hermia’s fortune, and the pattern goes on.
Thus, this passage shows that Helena, having reached her breaking point, is too far gone to listen to reason, as every one of her feelings seems extreme, be it envy, confusion or self-pity. These too-intense feelings point to a radical change in Helena that is soon to come, as her many mentions of Hermia point to a growing animosity between the two girls, amongst the growing confusion of this scene.
I chose to focus on the lines 260 to 264. Though it is very short, I think this passage is very effective and significant in the scene.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, it is the moment when Hermia realises that Lysander has completely changed. Before, she thought like Helena that all of this was a joke. But now she begins to understand and it is shown through her questions and doubtful tone. Furthermore, Lysander's language is very evocative. He employs violent words to describe Hermia such as “cat”, “burr”, “vile thing” l.260, “loathed medicine” and “hated potion” l.264 emphasized by harsh sounds which show his disgust and disdain for the girl. According to me, the insult “hated potion” is a bit ironic because it made me think of the love juice that has been dropped on his eyes and it was as if he said unconsciously that he hated it. In addition to that, he describes her as a “tawny Tartar” l.263, reference to her dark colouring. Thus, he suggets that she is inferior to Helena and once more he uses sounds (here an alliteration in [t] ) to create a threatening atmosphere. This is underlined by the repitition of the word “out”. The two characters seem here very different. Lysander is careless and rude whereas Hermia seems innocent and lost. An example of this comes when she calls him “Sweet love” l.263 instead of insulting him as he did just before. This antithesis demonstrate their difference and create more confusion. Moreover, Hermia speaks in iambic pentameter ( l.262 ) whereas Lysander speaks naturally, without any particular rhythm as if he didn't care. He just wants to get rid off his former lover. The last thing I want to point out is the extremely quick rhythm of this passage and of the scene overall. We can notice some split lines from l.254 to l.265 that create a confused and hastened atmosphere.
In the film that we saw, I found the way it was staged very interesting. Everything was confusion, incomprehension and it reflects the play perfectly. I loved the moment when Hermia is on Lysander's back and doesn't want to release him and then he says “I will shake thee from me like a serpent” l.261. This simile is a reference to the dream of Hermia at the end of Act 2.2. It seems to me that this simile was ironic because in Hermia's nightmare, Lysander was supposed to save her from the serpent but now she is the serpent, the nightmare of Lysander. This passage also reveals the power of the juice and Shakespeare develops the recurent theme of true love against artificial love.
I totally agree with what you said about Hermia realizing that Lysander thinks that he really hates her. I had also picked out Hermia's questions which become more rhetorical questions than anything else. I think it really shows to what extent Hermia is lost now that she does not have Lysander's love anymore. I also like your interpretation of the line "I will shake thee from me like a serpent". I think you did a really good analysis by noticing the echo between Hermia's dream and Lysander's words.
DeleteI chose to focus on the lines 137 to 144, in which Demetrius, barely awake and struck by Puck’s spell, delivers a furiously mawkish love declaration to Helena. He begins by invoking her as « Helen », which reminds one of the famous myth of Helen of Troy, considered as the most beautiful woman in the world. Through this allusion, Helena is pictured as a source of conflict, and love is seen as a mere manifestation of masculine rivalry, as Demetrius and Lysander can be associated with the proud Menelaus and Paris. This rather shallow vision of love is carried on with the excessive praise of Helena’s physical appearance. Demetrius uses all the clichés of the traditional romantic rhetoric, stressing twice upon how white Helena’s whiteness is, fairness being a classical aesthetic canon. What is more, his rhetorical question l 138 echoes the famous opening of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18, with perhaps a little touch of irony and auto-derision from the writer, aware of the sometimes melodramatic outpourings of lyrical poetry. All these references give a very trite and impersonal tone to Demetrius’ declaration, which further develops the superficial nature of love that Shakespeare explores throughout his play. Demetrius’ extreme language also builds on this idea ; he calls Helena « goddess, nymph, perfect, divine ! », a very caricatural accumulation that is even reinforced by the exclamation. On top of that, his lingering rhymes in [əʊ] ending two successive rhyming couplets, as well as the recurring consonance in [w] - as in line 142, « Fanned with the eastern wind » - convey an utter and very unnatural admiration. His syntax seems uselessly sophisticated ; he reverses the usual order of the words « tempting grow » to appear more refined, yet it only gives a precious tone that further discredits the authenticity of his feelings. Thus, with an example of such an over-the-top display of feelings, the reader is encouraged to reconsider the previous demonstrations of love in the play. In II-2 for example, though he certainly uses language more convincingly than Demetrius, we can wonder what was the real motive for Lysander’s eagerness, as love is again portrayed as irrational and defying all moral principles.
ReplyDeleteThe extract I chose goes from line 208 to line 214, when Helena implores Hermia to remember their former collusion and thus not to make fun of her. She does so by appealing to Hermia's pity through the evocation of common memories and by mentioning the strong links that united them. The first thing we can notice is the use of blank verse in this part of Helena's speech which testifies a great sincerity and emotional weight while being seemingly devoid of superficiality. She moreover uses the natural imagery of the cherries to evoke the close union between the two of them for example when she says they « grew together/ Like to a double cherry ». This strong comparison shows that they know each other ever since they were born and have grown together united by friendship like two berries are linked by their stem. This sense of union is enforced by the homeoteleuton on line 210 : « But yet an union in partition » which, by making the words « union » and « partition » rhyme, reflects the complete connection between the two girls. Yet, the fact this line is shorter than the other (only a tetrameter) can betray an effort from Helena to make those similarities appear. It is the same for the « cherries » which always look alike while Helena and Hemia are constantly said to be physically different. This is empasized even more by the sense of duality that exists in this extract with many occurrences like « two » or « doube » contrasting with elements of unity like « one » repeated four times » or « union ». This illustrates a sort of contradiction in Helena's words which may only betray a persuasive effort. She goes even further with the imagery of the coat of arms when she admits they are « like coats of heraldry ». This is not something we necessarily think of while talking of friendship as it refers to what was shown on weapons during wars in the Middle Ages. It is thus a symbol of pride and possibly of violence. It is moreover almost ridiculous to consider a coat of arm on wich two joined parts would have the same color (see footnotes page 102) as it is rather uncommon and useless. Thus, Helena is trying to appeal to Hermia's pity to convince her but we might wonder if she is sincere or not provided the many evidence we have given that could totally be emphasized by Helena's tone or in the way she declaims her speech on stage.
ReplyDeleteThe passage I selected is a part of Demetrius and Hermia's quarrel at the very beginning of the scene : it begins on line 50 and ends on line 57. It is more specifically the moment when Hermia, clinging on to her trust and love for Lysander claims he would have never abandonned her in the woods and accuses Demtrius of murdering him.
ReplyDeleteHer diction and the imageries she uses really stroke me. First she associates the sun and truth adding on to the positive, ordered associations we have with the day and she furthermore compares Lysander to the day's truthfulness. It creates a strong dramatic irony considering that the audience knows he abandonned her for Helena. The rhethorical question ensuing and the hyperbolic conditions that would make her doubt Lysander's qualities enhence this ironic effect. She depicts a major cosmic disorder to weigh her statement : the earth, moon and sun along « with th'Antipodes » should be entirely disarrayed before she believes otherwise as pointed out by negatively connotated words as « bored », « creep » or « displease ». This recurrent imagery in the play is extremely effective and even slightly too strong : it creates a desperate and self-convincing tone developped in the end of my passage. Her speech is rushed by the several enjambments betraying her utter panic. Moreover very convinced, strong verbs as « cannot » or « should » along with the hammering repetition of the words « so » and « murdered »/ « murderer » livened up with visual appeals in the adjectives « dead » and « grim » give the impression that Hermia is seeking for a logical, rational explanation. She desperatly tries so rely on her senses like sight and her beliefs. As she cannot fathom Lysander's betrayal and trusts him completely, she falls back on Demetrius's guilt.
As Demetrius pleads his innocence Hermia's doubt thicken and the audience knows for sure she will soon be confronted with the bare, magic-manipulated truth...
You and your classmates are doing a great job Julie! I want to correct a mistake you made since it's one that I see quite often: struck is the past tense of strike (strike/struck/struck or stricken depending on the context), not stroke. Stroke is a regular verb (stroke/stroked/stroked) that means to pass the hand or an instrument over (something or somebody) lightly or with little pressure; rub gently, as in soothing or caressing. Hope that helps!
ReplyDelete(and when I say it's a mistake I see quite often, I mean many students make this same mistake, not just you!)
DeleteThe passage I decided to study in more detail starts at line 366 and ends at line 371, which is in my opinion the most important part of the dialogue between Puck and Oberon because of its significance on the overall scene, act and play as a whole. This is the moment they realize Puck has messed up and Oberon decides to save the day with a new plan. Shakespeare has made many references to the eye, vision and appeals many times to the sense of sight in the play,. In these lines, the "eye", the "sight", the "vision" are emphasized by being the last words of the line they are on, insisting on the fact that the origin of all of this love confusion is the juice that has been squeezed in the"eyeballs" of the different lovers. Also, the references to sight show the material view that men have of women in this play, as their choice is more based on the physical aspect of the woman. Oberon states that once Puck has squeezed the juice of the new flower, "[The events of the night] shall seem a dream and fruitless vision". Oberon has summed up almost the whole play in a few words, he makes references to sight as seen previously, to the world of imagination trough the "dream" and the irrelevance of all of these twists and changes in the lovers' lives. Shakespeare also repeats the sound "w" through lines 369 and 370 which is a very deep and breathtaking sound, giving a quicker pace and a more serious tone to these two lines. After these lines, the audience guesses that the play and all of the trouble that happened in one night is ending and it can either bring a feeling of relief that all of this love tangle is over with but also deception because even though some parts of the play were more sad or solemn or even violent, the audience wants more.
ReplyDeleteThe passage I chose is extracted from Helena's lines, going from line 237 to line 244. I found it quite interesting as it well conveyed the strength of Helena's paranoia and also how far it went.
ReplyDeleteThis is shown from the beginning of her speech. With the assonance in [s], heard in "Persever/Sad/Looks" (l.237), the audience hears this heavy and threatening atmosphere, as Helena feels it. We then see she focuses a lot on body language and body signs, such as the "mouths" and "winks" from the other characters, mocking her behind "[her] back". Emphasized by the alliteration in "Make mouths", we clearly get the sense of a conspiration against Helena, conspiration even more vicious and wicked as it is indirect and hidden, though quite obvious. Helena even speaks ironically by calling this a "sport", and admitting it is "well carried" which again strengthens this idea of conspiracy, and stresses Helena's overly exaggerated mistrust. What is quite striking here, is that there is a turn in her speech. Being, more or less angry in the first few lines, she then starts to claim for pity and admit she has her faults too. What is interesting is the gradation starting from "pity", followed by "grace" and ending with "manners". Helena starts asking for "pity", which implies some humanity and some compassionate feelings, then for "grace", which is more something dealing with an image of oneself one wants to convey at least not implying feelings, and finally demanding "manners", which eradicates any type of feeling, and even implying a sense of duty and obligation. The use of the short sentence "But, fare ye well" might signify Helena abandoning the fight, by lassitude perhaps.? Finally, the last sentence of Helena's speech adopts a menacing tone, as though she wanted to cut short this "sport" and to do so, tragically or violently. After partly admitting her faults, it is as if she wanted suddenly to put an end to this fuss she is responsible for (by exaggerating it herself).
The passage I selected is the dialogue between Puck and Oberon especially Puck's speech from line 378 to 387. It is the moment when Oberon tells him that he failed what he had to do and he now unveil another plan to get the Indian boy.
ReplyDeletePuck seems to agree because he is urged to organize it which is shown by the word "haste". Moreover, there is a sentiment of urgency in the first lines: indeed, there is a references to "swift dragons" which go "fast" also bring this idea of rapidity. In addition the dragons make reference to the chariot of Cynthia, goddess of the moon. We know in this play that the moon is omnipresent and is often a metaphor for the time (as we can notice in the first lines of the play). So this speech of Puck accords a lot of importance to time and the rapidity of the events, that we know happen in only one night, but also shows that he is urged to do what his lord asks.
Though Oberon is supposed to make things better and get what he wants since the beginning, Puck's words are quite ambiguous. Indeed, we can notice references to "Damnèd spirits", "burial", "churchyards"... That convey a dark and sad feeling to the audience. Those "ghosts" that Puck talks about could be the previous characters (Hermia, Helena...). Indeed, the "Damnèd spirits" are related to people who had committed suicide and we're not buried in the churchyard (cf. footnotes), which could be applied to Hermia for example that wanted to find either Lysander or death. Moreover, the reference to "exile" would maybe be related to the runaway of Lysander and Hermia further before in the play. Those references to other elements of the play create a sort of tragic irony concerning what would happen next.
We could imagine that it is not what Puck would say at this point, which really develops the complexity of his character. Indeed, Puck seemed to be gentle at the beginning but throughout the different events we understand that he is more mischievous and evil. What he has done, his control over humans' life seem to amuse him and make him laugh.
Thus we notice that those lines are interesting in term of plot because it create some suspense for the next but also in the development of Puck's character because it shows once more his will to cause mischief.
I chose the passage l.222 to line 232, when Helena is telling Hermia how she feels, thinking that she set her up with Lysander and Demetrius in a fake love triangle.
ReplyDeleteIn this passsage, Helena feels set up by Demetrius, Lysander and Hermia and she doesn't understand why Hermia would do such a thing. Her incomprehension is highlighted with the antithesis of Demetrius being Hermia's "other love" but who now "hates (her)". Moroever, these 10 lines are composed of three rhetorical questions, almost accusing Hermia of everything that has happened and showing incomprehension of the situation.
Helena is getting angrier and angrier and it feels like she is accumulating everything with the parallelic structure "To follow me" and "To call me (...)". This accumulation is also emphasized with the repetition of "and" or "so" which help her adding these ideas. Helena also shows her disaproval by accusing Hermia with the repetition of "you" or "your", to implicate her in her speech and denounce what Helena thinks was planned by Hermia.
At this point, Helena is getting is getting very mad after Hermia and this only begins their quarrel. Only the audience and the fairies are aware of Hermia's innocence since the two men are under the spell.
The passage I chose is from line 448 to line 457, at the end of act III scene 2, when Puck is ready to apply the flower's juice on Lysander's eyes. I chose this extract because of its odd structure and interesting diction.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, at the first sight, the structure of this passage stands out from the rest because of the shortness of the lines. Though normally we would expect iambic pentameter to be the usual form, here we find two quitains containing both respectively a trimeter, dimeter, trimeter, trimeter and a heptameter. So, apart of the last line of each imaginary stanza, the meter scheme is definitely shorter. Yet, even though it is normal the lines are shorter when Oberon or Puck apply the flower's juice on some mortal's eyes, these lines are even shorter: since Puck is not really motivated to redeem his mistake but is obliged because of his master's order, this may hint at Puck's desire to get it over with as quickly as possible. Furthermore, most of the emphasis is laid on the fifth lines of each quintain due to its length (a heptameter) and of the fact the ultimate word doesn't rhyme with any other while the rhyming scheme throughout the passage is plain AABB. Hence, it is possible Shakespeare wanted emphasise the meaning of the words in these two lines.
Secondly, although there aren't many words in my chosen extract, Shakespeare employs a theme-revealing diction. Puck states Lysander is “Sleep sound” l.449, hence he can apply the juice on his “eye” l.451, and he foretells that when Lysander “wak'st” l.453 he'll take “True delight/In the sight/Of (his) former lady's eye” l.455-457. First of all, the question of illusion versus reality is again raised. Illusion is connoted by the references to dream with the verbs “Sleep” and 'wak'st” while reality is present through the references to vision with the repetition of “eye”. Moreover, the falseness of dreams is emphasised by the fact it will be “True delight” after Lysander has woken up Lysander: this suggests everything related to dreams is most likely untrue and misleading, and it is only when you are awake you truly perceive your surroundings. It may also refer to the effect of the love potion which troubled Lysander's desires, meaning him loving Helena isn't real since his love is false and his vision hence reason troubled by the potion. Furthermore, it is legit to admit love is oftenly accompanied by illness. Indeed, Puck claims the flower's juice is the “remedy” l.452 of Lysander, meaning he actually was ill instead of in love.
To conclude, the passage I've chosen is rich in language by the use of a peculiar structure containing shorter lines than we've seen before in A Midsummer Night's Dream and by the use of a simple yet thought-deserving diction. And, when sung, the audience would be as enchanted as Lysander.
A small question to everyone who would like to meditate on it: why did Puck speaks to Lysander by “your” before he has applied the juice on his eyes, and by “thou” after?
The passage I chose is from l 378 to 383 when Puck is speaking to Oberon. This passage is an important point in the plot since Puck is stating that he will repair his mistake. The change in the plot that will occur is foreshadowed by the numerous elements in his speech. First, Puck opposes "night" with "Aurora's harbinger" a metaphor for the morning star and day. This opposition could also show the haste and rush of Puck that needs to repair his mistake before day. Moreover, the presence of 2 of the 4 element simultaneity: "floods" (water) and "clouds" (air), emphasize this idea of contrasts and oppositions representing the differences between the fairy world and the human world. Moreover, the vocabulary of death : "ghosts", "damned spirits", "burial" represent the end of Puck's mistake as well as the end of the act. Furthermore, the significant presence of Nature (elements), the supernatural presences of "ghosts" and "damned spirits", the celestial vocabulary and references create a mystic atmosphere proper to the fairy world and especially Puck. Finally, the imagery of the dragons is very effective, they symbolize the goddess of the moon Cynthia, according to greek mythology they drew her chariot across the sky. The moon is recurrent in the book and represent important events.
ReplyDeleteThe passage I chose is from lines 52 to 61 on page 97 (from scene 2 of the third act) when Hermia accuses Demetrius of killing Lysander. I chose this passage because I found that Shakespeare uses here various narrative techniques which are all very interesting.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, after Hermia says “So should the murderer look” to Demetrius, accusing him of murder, he imitates her way of speaking by replying “So should the murdered look”. Demetrius, by cleverly using her language, he tries to come through to Hermia and convince her he didn't murder Lysander. This also made me think of the passage when Helena accuses Hermia of plotting against her because Hermia imitated Helena's way of speaking to try to make her understand she isn't plotting against her. We can interpret this imitation of the same murder imagery by the creation of some sort of link between Demetrius and Hermia which reinforces their relationship.
Second of all, Demetrius compares Hermia to “yonder Venus in her glimmering sphere”. This celestial comparison highlights Hermia's power and enchanting beauty even if she is depicted as the “murderer” who “Pierced through [his] heart': Demetrius is under her spell and is only capable of praising her. As a consequence, Demetrius is seen as weaker and less powerful than Hermia and she is divinised. Furthermore, once more images of cosmic disorder are present in this passage. Indeed, “the moon (..) [may] displease [the sun's noon-tide] with th'Antipodes”: this shows how unnatural it is for Lysander and Hermia to be separated (which extends even to a celestial degree) and emphasizes the improbability of Lysander's flight and increases the likelihood that Demetrius killed Lysander. As a consequence, this cosmic disorder strengthens Hermia's relationship with Lysander.
Finally, the antithesis of love and hate (through “murder”) underlines Demetrius's love for Hermia and Hermia's hate for him.
To conclude, this passage is important and interesting because in different ways it develops the characters of Hermia, Demetrius and Lysander, and it develops their relationships.
I chose an extract from the dialogue between Puck and Oberon when they realize Puck has mistaken the Athenian couple. The extract I chose begins line 388 and ends line 395. In this passage, indeed, they realize the mistake end decide that something has to be done the quickest possible since Puck warned Oberon it has to be don’t by night, and this night is fading away.
ReplyDeleteWhat struck me in this short extract is how Oberon through his speech expresses his power and the one of the fairies in general and thus contrast with the vision of light-headed characters as implied by Puck’s mistake, exactly has he did in [2.1.155-174] when he expressed his power through the reference to the Leviathan, as an example. The diction in this paragraph is very evocative. Indeed, the preceding lines were characterized by a vocabulary and references associated with darkness to show the fact that fairies cannot act by day. Oberon uses many references to colours like in the metaphor of the sunrise “western gate, all fiery red” or the description of the colour transformation of the sea by the sun rays in the line “Turn into yellow gold his salt green streams” where once again the precise and vivid colour references contrast with the preceding lines and show the power of the fairies through this evocation. This is also shown by the use of adverb “even” which shows that he is powerful enough to act by day. Another sentence that I found peculiarly interesting was “I with the morning’s love oft made sport” where a personal is evoked by Oberon, giving him full rights to act by day. However, it seems like it is a very sensual event, shown by the use of the work “love”. The notes indicated that it can imply that he has made love to Aurora or been haunted by Cephalus (Aurora’s love) which seems a very possible interpretation. Oberon moreover seems to be willing to assert his power by the first line “But we are spirits of another sort” where the clear comparison with the spectres previously evoked show their power. Oberon compares himself by a simile to a “forester”. The forester is the one in charge of the monitoring and control of the forest, and once again he puts himself in a dominant position. Some particular vocabulary use are also meant to show his power like the “fiery red” where the association to fire as well as the colour symbol evoke power. However, by the end we understand that all what Oberon boasted was not completely true since, even with the power he told Puck he has, he still wishes to “effect this business yet ere day”.
Lines 389 to 395
ReplyDeleteI chose this passage because I feel as if I could analyse only the first line: Oberon states that he and Puck are “spirits of another sort”, which is easily believable since they are always apart from the other fairies, and have much darker and more mischievous personalities. It is especially true since at the end of the play we learn that Puck is not a fairy at all, but a being between a human and a sprite, meaning that this line foreshadows this reveal. The rest of the passage is equally interesting because it is the first time so many colors are evoked, and that light is present, especially with these two characters as Oberon is “the King of the Night”. They are not only mentioned, they are praised as “fair blessèd beams” and “yellow gold”. All this colorful imagery makes me think of Titania and her fairies when they sing of the animals and flowers, and of the beauty of the woods. I think this could mean that Oberon is finally coming to his senses and is willing to go back to Titania. In fact he almost proves this by then telling Puck to “make no delay” and finish his business before daytime, perhaps to speed his return to Titania after fixing Puck’s blunder. I thoroughly enjoyed the reference to the roman god Neptune and “his salt green streams”, as it reminds the reader that the play takes place in Ancient Greece (which I had honestly forgotten with all the drama).
"These vows are Hermia's. Will you give her o'er?
ReplyDeleteWeigh oath with oath,and you will nothing weigh;
Your vows to her and me,put in two scales,
Will even weigh,and both as light as tales."
Act 3, Scene 2, lines 130-134
This passage comes from Helena after Lysander offers his love to her ( obviously poisoned by the fairy elixir).
She is very confused and therefore loses her calm.
She explaines to Lysander and the reader, through this extended metaphor how she feels about the love Lysander talks about.
First,she shows how artificial his love is.
Moreover she shows that too much love or unsincere love is worthless as she "weighs" the love Lysander gives to Hermia and the love he gives her for the total of love being none.
Basically, the promisses Lysander makes cancel themselves.
I also though that Helena talking about the weight of love was interesting since she shows love almost like a burden ( while she wanted to be loved at first)
I just thought it was a clever way from Shakespeare of showing something simple in a clear and concise way.
The passage I chose goes from line 43 to line 49, when Hermia blames Demetrius for having killed Lysander, as she doesn't want to believe in the possibility that Lysander left her alone in the woods. It begins with Demetrius' words, who doesn't understand Hermia's anger and asks "why [she] rebukes him that loves [her] so". What is interesting in his speech is that he uses the third person of the singular to refer to himself, which conveys a more general sense to his sayings and could show that he is giving Hermia a lesson. This idea is even emphasized by his use of the imperative tense in the next line with the word "Lay" put at the beginning of the verse, which really gives the reader the feeling that Demetrius is almost giving orders to Hermia, and teaching her a life lesson. On Hermia's side, she expresses her powerful feelings through a play with sounds. The alliteration in [k] on line 46 with the words "cause" and "curse", or "kill" line 49, demonstrates violent emotions such as anger and bitterness. The sibilance on line 47, when she accuses Demetrius of having "slain Lysander in his sleep", as well as the alliteration in [sh] with the words "chide", "should" or "shoes", could allude to what she feels about Demetrius' mischievous and vicious actions. Moreover, Hermia uses a vocabulary of violence that is shown by the words "slain", "blood", "curse" or "kill", which can reflect the images she must be imagining about this scene of murder, being almost convinced that Demetrius killed Lysander. What strikes the reader and the audience in Hermia's speech is the presence of a very short verse on line 49 that doesn't rime with any another verses, and thus creates a contrast while emphasizing her declaration that Demetrius should "kill [her] too" if he's killed her lover. This really shows Hermia's passion at this moment and the extreme feelings she has by not knowing where Lysander is if he is alive, and develops the dramatic atmosphere of this part of the play.
ReplyDeleteThe passage I chose goes from line 370 to line 377. It is the end of the speech in which Oberon tells Puck to “cure” Lysander from the potion.
ReplyDeleteI found this extract interesting because it reflects main themes of the play, while putting forward new elements as well.
The first thing we can notice are the many terms referring to sight, or rather the traitorous aspect of sight. For example, we can see “fruitless vision” on line 371, or “monster’s view” on line 377. This theme of superficial sight takes a rather big place in the play. We can also pick out a sibilance on the lines 370 and 371, which might emphasise the untrue aspect of vision.
The second thing that we can notice is the presence of words relating the darkness that Oberon uses when he talks about the lovers, such as “death” on line 373. We can also find terms such as “black” and “night” in the previous part of Oberon’s speech. What’s interesting the note here is that all those terms work in opposition with the words Oberon uses later on when he talks about how his role as a solution to the situation. Indeed, he then uses a lot of imagery which appeal to the senses, with lots of colours and lights. For example, “fiery-red”, “yellow gold”, or “green streams” are used. This is an interesting way to show what Oberon thinks about each social group: he views the four lovers as relating to darkness, which means in a rather negative way, whereas he thinks of the fairies in a more positive way, using colours and imagery.
lines 458-463
ReplyDeletePuck eventually makes things right by squeezing juice in Lysander's eyes. After doing so, he speaks in a manner than he wants comforting, using proverbs and concluding by "And all should be well." I chose this quotation because of a question that was asked in class about the authenticity of his words. On one hand, it could be considered as something that Puck doesn't really mean. In the footnote, it is mentioned that the real proverb is "All shall be well and Jack shall have Jill." According to me, the fact that he doesn't use the right order of the words can make us wonder if he is legitimately wishing good upon the mortals or if he wants to keep having fun with them through the use of magic. "All shall be well" can seem comforting at first, but it might sound a little superficial.
On the other hand, the audience can finally sigh and relax about the way things are going to turn, because Puck has some control over the events and this last phrase, depending on the tone it is pronounced with, just seems like a problem solver/a magic formula that will solve every thing. Overall, I believe this passage can be ambiguous depending on the tone it is said with.
I chose the passage in Act 3 scene 2 from lines 162 to line 173, where Lysander and Demetrius are arguing about who should leave Hermia and who should love Helena. This part has a strong comical effect because the two men are fighting like children over their newest toy and getting rid of the old one that they had enough of. Moreover, the two pretenders are playing on their former love for Hermia to convince the other to "yield [him] up [his] part". Even Helena, who is watching their conflict, finds their arguments ridiculous, she calls them "mockers" (as she still thinks their oaths of love are fake and they are tricking her) who are "wasting more idle breath". At this point , the two lovers do not even stop their quarrel, emphasizing their stubborness and their immature behaviour. This pathetic argument underlines the irrationality of the four young Athenians' love affairs and brings out the comical aspect of the play.
ReplyDeleteI also chose to explore the passage between line 388 and line 395, it is a part of the dialogue between Oberon and Puck. I chose it because it brings up contrast between Oberon and Puck but also within the natural world and because it enlightens us on the impact and power of the fairy world.
ReplyDeleteFirst we have a contrast between Puck who is quite naive about the extent of Oberon's power and his own world and Oberon who is presented as all powerful. Indeed Puck is in a hurry because daylight is coming but Oberon reassures him : they "are spirit of another sort". This is accentuating their differences with other fays, but also the fact that Oberon knows about it and not Puck, emphasising his superiority upon him. It is also quite obvious from the beginning that they both are different from the other as they only act secretly with just the two of them, having some prankish and mischievous thoughts. However we mostly learn about the immensity of the power of the fairies. To begin with we have lots of appeals to the sense of sight with dark and lights imagery opposing the "black-browed night" and the "light", those to terms are rhyming in a couplet rhyme from Puck linking them, besides the night is personified into a dark face with black brows (or a mask face depends on the definition we take) that makes echo to Puck's words about Oberon, "the King of Shadows" highlighting once again his supremacy. Oberon uses bright and colourful imageries to contrast with those shadows, his speak about the change in the colour of the ocean at dawn "eastern gate, all fiery-red" so passing from blue to red-orange and continues with it transformation from "salt green" into "yellow gold" at noon. This conveys the idea that Oberon knows day as well as night by contrasting cold colours with warm ones. The fearless behaviour of Oberon towards the day is mostly conveyed thanks to a line that struck me "I with the morning's love have oft made sport", implying a sensual relation between Oberon and Aurora (has it is explain in the notes down the page), fully developing the extent of Oberon's dominion over the world. This is reinforced by the role of adventurer he gives himself, calling himself "forester" but mostly by the references to Neptune one of the planet of our galaxy. Indeed it gives to the fairy world a dimension, that so far was inexistent, the one of omnipresence throughout the whole universe. Still even if Oberon sovereignty seems incontestable, he orders Puck to "haste" and "make no delay" for they have to "effet this business yet ere day" showing that all powers come to an end when facing the longevity of time that contrast with the shortness of their period : even Oberon can not control Time.
I chose lines 151 to 159, in which Helena complains about how the men are making fun of her. This part is extremely interesting and serves the story effectively, as Helena uses sound and diction to complain about how she’s treated, but also to show the duality and the falseness of the situation – which, more than expressing Helena’s anger, reminds the reader that both men are only acting in this way because of the influence of Oberon’s potion. Sibilance, on line 153, evokes the deceit she thinks she’s facing, and on the next line, an alliteration in [h] brings out the opposition between “hate” and “hearts”, again referring to this duplicity in Demetrius and Lysander’s actions. Helena naturally opposes her sex with the male one, by associating negative or harsh words such as “rivals” and “manly” with the men, and by portraying herself as being victimised and fragile with words like “lady”, “maid” and “poor”. I also found that her first two lines, when she says that “If you were men, as men you are in show, // You would not use a gentle lady so” reminded me a lot of Act 1 scene 1, in which she says that “sickness is catching. O, were favour so, // Yours would I catch, far Hermia, ere I go”, and I think this does not only mock Helena for her constant complaints; it also shows a certain evolution in her interests, from wanting to seize beauty to, two acts later, begging the men to reason to stop their ‘mockery’. But the duality present in this extract also brings the reader to think about the context of which Helena is not aware – that of the love potion. Thus, when Helena imagines what the situation would be like “If [they] were men, as men [they] are in show”, she uses chiasmus to oppose the men that they “were” and the men that they “are”, hinting at the change they have undergone because of the potion. Parallelism between lines 155 and 156 also brings together the words “love” and “mock”, which shows the actions of the men before and after the potion, and “Hermia” and “Helena”, which has the same effect. Lastly, the fairy world is directly alluded to at the end of the extract in the chosen vocabulary, as Helena speaks of “conjur[ing]” and “derision”, which both have other connotations, especially in this context of night-time in the woods, in which we have already heard of Puck’s mockery and the fairies’ magic.
ReplyDeleteThe passage I chose
ReplyDeleteIn this extract, Helena uses language in order to show her close relationship with Hermia, I saw Chloe's post and thought the same as her, I still wanted to chose this passage but I will try to analyze it differently than I initially planned. Firstly, when she says "all schoolday's friendship" she uses a flashback in order to show that they built a solid and longue friendship. Then, we have echos to other parts of the play. The opposition between "both" and "one" reminds us of Lysander in Act 2 scene 2 while he is trying to convince Hermia to sleep with him. Besides the reference to a "song" that they would be "warbling" together, echos the relationship between Titania and her servant in Act 2 scene 1. These references to other parts of the text made me think of another aspect of the book. Indeed, I realized that in "A midsummer Night's Dream", true friendships seem to characterize women. Thus, it could add to the unity of these characters; their feminity, soft and maternal side. What we notice however is that this softness is replaced by violence when in contact with men, as we can see through Titania and Oberon's fight, as well as Helena and Hermia's but also, at the beginning of the play in Act 1 scene 1 when Hermia stands up to her father and say "I don't know by which power I am made bold". The answer here seems to be the power of love, but I feel like under Shakespeare's plum it has a pejorative connotation, as if men corrupted women and the relationships between men and women were more dangerous than anything.