Mythological is an aspect used to create a magical imagination for its audience, which ends up triggering the need to understand what happens later. It described as the stories linked to legendary, fable, and traditional that are not real. It sometimes referred to as mythical stories that tend to explain the culture and the way of life for the ages long ago. Mythological stories are imaginary; there is no factual evidence that validates their existence. They are half-truth that individuals in the old age-associated with when it comes to their social settings. In such stories, certain characters must be present since they contribute to developing and bringing out the message the author wants to show. Characters such as the heroes, fanciful creatures, and magic are crucial components in such stories. Mythological aspect still poses as an essential component in plays because, through them, individual derive their heritage from them. Most stories related to imaginary mainly occurred in the old days where the community was associated. For instance, legendary stories tend to describe how kings emerged to be heroes lead their people in a victory against their enemies. Mythology is a vital component in a play because it helps in building up the curiosity of the reader, which helps in making storytelling more exciting and captivating (Jang, 2018).
In the Midsummer Night’s Dream story by Shakespeare, it outlines how the mythological aspect was crucial in bringing out the uniqueness of the storyline. Better yet, characters as Oberon known for magic helped him getting what he wanted. The role played by Oberon was significant, especially in his quest to help others who required the magic. In a mythological aspect, the character needs to show that they have supernatural powers that would be beneficial to society. In the case of Oberon, he was known as the magic man, especially when it comes to love matters. At one point, Oberon is seen to be offended by his wife Titania, who refuses to hand over the foster child to him. Due to this Oberon sprinkles love juice on Titania’s eyes where she ends falling in love with an ass. With this kind of acts portrayed by the character, it helps in building curiosity for the reader. It also interests the audience since its funny how a human can do certain things like in the case of Titanis fall in love with an ass. In this case, the mythological aspect helps in spicing the story, which becomes more interesting to watch as well as read. In the Midsummer Night Dream, mythological used to revolve around love potions where it used to make individual fall in love and also getting away with what anyone wanted. Shakespeare uses the mythological aspect to convey an understanding of the character traits on a deeper level.
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Literary analysis focuses on the more profound evaluation of the vital message that the author of a play wishes to deliver to its audience. In this scenario, it tends to analyze character represented, the social settings, and the culture of the individuals. Literary analyses base its work on the content of the play where it aims at matching the subplot and primary plot. By doing this, one can bring out the views that the author wanted to show. In the midsummer night dream by William Shakespeare, he tries to give a deeper meaning of love and how love can conquer all odds. Through fairy tales, magical romance, and power. According to Shakespeare, love chosen in the sense that one can decide who to love and who not love. Again, through the magical aspects, love can also be created. In the story, power seen to triumph over love and the magical powers associated with witchcraft. For instance, in the case of Lysander, love for Hermia is portrayed as bewitched, and her father strongly forbids the love they had. In this scenario, it gives the impression that true love can still exist, but it needs a lot of commitment and trust to win it over. Lysander and Hermia love is the only genuine love that is seen to have existed without the forces of fertility and lust. In the case of these two love birds, their love could not exist because there were just too many people against love (Boecker 2018).
Shakespeare also focuses on somewhat love that is seen to have existed between Oberon and Titania. On one side, Oberon is understood to have power over his wife, and through his magical power, he can get what he wants from his wife. With this kind of acts portrayed by Oberon, no love that existed between them; instead, the factors surrounding them pulled them together. Moderately love in this case showed that love was not close to perfect and that through magical powers, one can get the person they desire to have. Dalmaijer (2019) states that the union between Oberon and Titania connected by nature, and they needed to be together to ensure that the world is fertile and healthy. In this case, Shakespeare was trying to bring out the fact that specific forces can bring people together to ensure the betterment of others. Certain lines such as the springs, the chiding autumn, and bitter winter increased on the fact that Oberon and Titania were together. In the play by Shakespeare, he tries to communicate that love is not always blind, but other significant forces that surpasses its gravity. According to him, lust is also an aspect of love that can attribute to the supreme power of deciding a union. Besides, like the case of Egeus claimed Hermia belonged to him, and he had all the rights to have her. Hermia father, on the other hand, proclaimed that he would only give his daughter to the man worthy of her love. By stating this, it only showed that respect in that community setting was a matter of individuals deciding who will be married and to whom.
From the research above, it summers up that love according to midsummer night dream love could only exist if the lovers were only stronger than the forces around them. Again, factors associated with the culture of the people also contributed to determining how love works for them. According to Van (2019), Shakespeare story love was not powerless but believes that circumstances and other forces are responsible for deciding the union. He also actively all through the story shows that true love is never a smooth road like in the case of Lysander and Hermia who fought all through. Lastly, Shakespeare has shown that love can still exist even in the toughest challenges because it is the mind that decides on who to love.
References
Boecker, B. (2018). “Europe Speaks Shakespeare”: Karin Beier’s 1996 A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Multilingual Performance and the Myth of Shakespeare’s Linguistic Transcendence. In Local and Global Myths in Shakespearean Performance (pp. 25-39). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Van Es, B. (2019). Captive children: John Lyly, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and child impressment on the early modern stage. Renaissance Studies , 33 (2), 166-184.
Dalmaijer, E. (2019). A queer reading of A Midsummer Night's Dream (Bachelor's thesis).
Jang, J. U. (2018). Modified Mythological Figures, Theseus’ Character, and Patriarchal Power in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Shakespeare Review , 54 (3), 509-527.
