Doth the Moon Shine that Night?: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Abstract

Among the early comedies A Midsummer Night’s Dream stands apart in its unusual smoothness of articulation. Considering the number of plot elements that go to make up the action of this play and the intricacy of their interdependence this is little short of miraculous. Some unconformities there are, but they are mainly to be found in the more atmospheric aspects of the play and do not greatly affect our sense of coherent movement and nicely dovetailed parts. The wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta, announced in the first act, is more than a framing device, since it is given as a reason both for Oberon’s and Titania’s presence in the Athens woodland and for the artisans’ efforts to present an entertainment; and since it draws together all the loving couples in a joint celebration of marriage at the end, heralding a future in which we may see all the marriages as things of ‘great constancy’. Oberon and Titania mirror Theseus and Hippolyta on the fairy level. The tragedy of Pyramus and Thisbe mirrors the comedy of Lysander and Hermia. Both the latter couples woo in secret and elope to escape the tyranny of parents. Lysander and Hermia are simply more fortunate than their counterparts, though they are haunted at the start by the fear of a tragic outcome to the course of true love.