Lovers, madmen and poets - Midsummer posting #5
This is the 5th and final posting for A Midsummer Night's Dream and is due before the end of the day on Friday, April 10.
This will be a longer, more formal answer so make sure it's written with minimal errors and you fully answer all parts of the prompt.
In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare presents us with an unusual and fantastic series of events as fairies and mortals mix in the mysterious woods just outside Athens. The four lovers and Nick Bottom each undergo their own experience with the fairy world. However, different characters provide varying takes on the night's strange happenings. Consider the following three reactions/explanations by different characters:
- Nick Bottom awakes from his dream, his "most rare vision," and offers one explanation at the end of Act IV, scene 1.
- At the beginning Act V, Duke Theseus explains to Hippolyta what he thinks of the situation in the woods.
- And finally, Puck re-appears with his own suggestion for the audience in the closing lines of Act V.
Of the three reactions/explanations, choose one that you believe the most significant or closest to how you might try to explain what happened in the woods. Whom do you believe the most? Bottom, Theseus, or Puck? What is it about their explanation that makes sense to you? Why? Point to specific lines from the play to help make your point.
22 comments:
Out of the three reactions i beleive that Puck's explanation is the most signifigant. I say this because if i were to try and explain this i would have a hard time so to just say it was all a " manifestation of the subconcious" works for me. Techinically it is , this all happend because of peoples' mindset on love and who they were in love with, it was all in the four lovers heads. This makes sense to me because this whole play is based on confusion , love triangles and irony. To say that it is a " suboncious manifestation" explains it very well , it was an occurance between four people and their minds played tricks on them. Love simply got in the way of their clear thinking wich turned their conciousness into mush.
SARAHH :)
Period 2.
The one explanation of the lovers' trials in the woods that I find to be the most significant is Theseus's explanation. This is the closest to how I would explain it because he sets the stage to the four lovers' personalities all combined. He does this bye saying "The lunatic, the lover, and the poet...Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven" (Act 5, scene i, lines 7-13) He also explains that he himself probably would never believe the story, which is something I feel I would say or feel as well. Another thing Theseus's explanation that makes sense to me is how he explains the minds of people in love, and the whole entire set up of how each person feels for each other, "Lovers and madmen have such seething brains...more than cool reason ever comprehends" (Act 5, scene i, lines 4-6)In general, Theseus's explanation just makes more sense to me in the way he explained the lovers' minds and how they act, he uses explanations (though in old English) that I would use if I were to explain this story.
Margaret P5
One of the reactions is the one that the Duke was trying to figure the situation out of them. I think that it is a good one because it has all the lovers try to explain what happened. I would beleve Theseus because he is the one that was in there at the end and he is the duke. The line is when he first goes into the woods.
Steven W.
P.6
I believe Theseus's explianation of the whole thing was hte most accurate, he basically said that they were all lunatics. He is saying that they are crazy to move about from loving one person to the next overnight. I think this might allow for a sort of submliminal comedey, having 4 people fall in and out of love with some one overnight. Shakespear is pointing out how human emotions can be very serious at one point and then become sort of silly and parodic. That is why i agree most with The Dukes theroy of them all being completly insane and how it is almost impossible to fall in and out of love with some one in a matter of hours over night.
Donovan Steinke
-Period 6-
I would choose Nick Bottom's way of explaning because his way tells what really happened but because it is told as a fictional story no one thinks that he is crazy. I believe that Duke Theseus's explanation of what happened in the woods the most believable. His explanation is logical and it doesn't involve fairies and magic. Fairies don't exist so Duke Theseus seems like the only one with their head still screwed on. Lines 4-6 show that Duke Theseus has a logical explanation of what happened in the woods.
Kevin S. P.6
I would believe Nick Bottom's explanation when he awakes in the woods. If something like that were to happen to me, I would describe it as a dream also. People are always having crazy dreams, and especially ones that wouldn't be able to happen in real life, so naturally the best way to discribe it would be a dream. Someone like Nick Bottom wouldn't be able to get a lady/fairy such as Titania so it'd be easy for him to say it was a dream, and as for the "head of an ass", that would be hard to explain also.
Jessica p.6
I think Pucks explanation at the end of the play is the best."If we shadows have offeneded,Think but this, and all is mended,That you have but slumb'red here while these visions did appear. And this weak and idle theme no more yielding but a dream,Gentles, do not reprehend." This quote is saying his vision in the woods and that normal people cant reprehend.
Nick.L
Per.6
I think Theseus's explanation is the most significant because he talks about the situation. He says the type of person they each are. He also talks about how the lover's mind thinks. Theseus also says how he wouldn't believe a story like this would be true because of how bizzare it is. I think I would explain it like him because talks about the lovers and what they are doing. It also makes the most sense because he is right when he says whats happening is hard to believe.
Fardin
Per 6
The person that i would believe for this story is Puck. I would believe him because at the end of the story he says that its hard to explain what happened in the woods. This is showing that he is telling the truth but he cant explain it in a way that would make sense to other people. And there is no way to pretend something like this when somebody says something like that.
I think Theseus had the best explanation of what happened in the woods. He makes the most sence and descibes about how the lover the lunatic and the poet are all the same, and i agree. He also explains how it does seem like a dream, but things like this really do happen sometimes in love. He knows it seems like a dream, like bottom had said, but he better understands the deeper meaning behind it. Theseus understands love and the crazy things people sometimes do for it.
KRISTY PERIOD 6 .
reaaally late sorry.
(:
I thought Theseus had the best explanation of what happened in the woods. To me, it makes sense and describes how each are the same. He's explaining the things that people go through when they're in love. They don't realize it because they are so caught up in it. Theseus is right because most people wouldn't believe anyone if someone were to tell them what really happened in the woods. And Theseus realizes that so he tells them that he knows what he's saying is crazy, but it's true.
Michaela p.6 I thought Theseus had the best explanation of what happened in the woods. To me, it makes sense and describes how each are the same. He's explaining the things that people go through when they're in love. They don't realize it because they are so caught up in it. Theseus is right because most people wouldn't believe anyone if someone were to tell them what really happened in the woods. And Theseus realizes that so he tells them that he knows what he's saying is crazy, but it's true.
...that one was mine i forgot to put my name :]
I think that pucks reaction was the most significant. He says that it is hard to explain what happened in the woods. he says it is just a dream and only they all had the same dream. Also that nick bottom was dreaming too about him having a head of a donkey. also puck saying this shows that puck is telling the truth at the end of the play but he can't say it in away other people will understand it.
Andrew p5
I think Puck's reaction was the most significant. Puck says to the audience that if the play offended them to pretend that they just fell asleep and that it was a dream. Puck says: "If we shadows have offended think but this... that you have but slumbered here..." Puck is apologizing for the fact that some people might get offended by the action of the play. He tells the audience that it was "no more yielding but a dream..." He doesn't want the audience to hiss (boo) like a "serpent's tongue." He wants the audience to "give me your hands..." (which means to clap.) Puck's explanation makes the most sense to me because in the play the lovers problems are all fixed while they're sleeping. He's telling the audience if they don't like the play to think of it as a dream and everything will be all right just like it was for the lovers.
Ian F. p.5
Even though i am not too sure how to write this assignment; I agree on how Nick Bottom explained his experience.All the event that went on were very crazy and telling someone what happened they would think you are crazy too.But saying it was a dream makes it much more believable,like him getting a donkey head. Anything can happen in a dream and people always have crazy dream so this isn't too out of the ordinary. It was a really good idea to tell everyone it was a dream so they wouldn't think he was going crazy or lying and so that they believe in what he told them.
roryyyyyyyy
..sorry mill
The one I think is most significant to what happened in the woods is Theseus's becuase that explains the entire thing useing refrences like Four lovers and stage. His also makes the most sense to me or the reader. -Ian p.2
I think explanations number two most explains what happen in the wood. I believe Theseus the most because he is the one who actually saw them in the woods. He is a person who looks like he can be trusted because he is the king. The other two are either low in class or a trickster. I think when he says in the message about the lover and the pouet makes sense. It shows that he knows what he is talking about and what they stand for in a relationship. He seems the smartest out of them three. I would trust him before the others anyday. He is the only one to me that makes sense.
jovanny p5
I would have to say that the one character that I found the most significant with explaining what went on in the woods would have to be Theseus's explianation. He literally explained how they were all lunatics. He says this because he thinks that they are crazy for loving one person one night and then loving someone different for the next. Shakespear is showing how someones emotions can be very strong at one point and then become very weak and silly the next. This is why I agree with this explaination.
Taylor M. Period 2
I think that Bottoms explanation was what i would think what happened, i would also say that it is just a dream. But i think that Theseus' explanation was the most logical. He basically said that they were all crazy and acting foolish. He does not think that it is possible to be in-love with someone one night, and another person the next morning. To me, Bottom and Theremus bothe had similar explanations, in a way. They both did not believe that it could happen. Overall, i think that theremus had the most logical explanation.
Randy
p2
Out of the three explanations given for the happenings in the woods, Nick Bottom’s ironically makes to most sense to me. Bottom is so simple and for that reason I think his explanation is the most comprehensible and realistic. He says that it was a strange dream basically, and that he will not try to make true sense of it with others because he will be thought of as crazy. He says that he will tell his dream as a play. I think his reaction makes the most sense because its what most people do when presented with a situation they cannot make heads or tails of. It is easy to dismiss it as a dream, no matter how real things may seem. Also, the way he explains it with his fumbling and mistakes makes the explanation seem that much more realistic. He states” The eye of man hath not heard, the ear of man hath not seen, man’s hand not able to taste, his tongue to conceive , not his heart to report what my dream was.” He explains it only as a dream, and that no one would understand him. Explaining it as a dream is easy in my mind because most people use it as a defense mechanism like Bottom. He didn’t know how to characterize it so it must be a dream; in dreams anything is possible and having a donkey head doesn’t seem so strange if its your subconscious. His fumbling adds to what happened in the wood that mid-summer night. I think anyone would have been a little shaken up at the events that seemingly passed. Bottom unknowingly makes the events seem so simple and easy to understand.
Ella B. Period 6
I think Bottom's explanation was the most significant, and it is how I would try to explain it if the same thing happened to me. His solution is probably the simpliest of them all and therefore easiest to explain. His explanation also makes the most sense: that it all was a dream. Puck had the same idea as Bottom, but he portrayed it in a more difficult way. I believe Bottom the most because the things that happened in the "dream" could not actually happen in real life. Fairies do not really exist and people could never actually have a donkey's head instead of their own. He also states that man is "but a patch'd fool" and this is true. Love makes people do crazy, foolish things, that are not always believeable. Others might think they are fools because of what they do, but they are oblivious to how they are acting. When he goes to tell his dream, everyone else would believe that it was a dream, and would have no idea that it was actually reality.
-Tory S. Period 6
The person that I thought had the best explaination of what happened in the woods is Theseus. He is explaining each individual character. Not them as a whole but how they are on their own. It shows how different they from eachother. Theseus explained how they all fell in love with eachother in no time at all. After one night.
Jill Per. 6
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