The Role of Magic in a Midsummer Night's Dream

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lacking a certain level of entertainment and decides to join in the acting himself. By using his magical talents, he transforms Bottom’s head into a donkey’s ass. This is apparent through Quince’s excited state when Bottom returns to the stage after the transformation. Quince excitedly proclaims, “Oh, monstrous! Oh, strange! We are haunted. Pray, masters! Help!” (3. 1. 99). Being Puck was a trickster and a servant to Oberon, he was happy to let him know of just how his trickery had unfolded. Puck informed Oberon that Titania had a new love, in fact that when she awoke that she was immediately in love with an “ass” (3.2.34). As only Shakespeare could envision, Puck’s trickery had to be reversed. He had placed the magic elixir in the wrong person’s eyes causing a major mix up in the love lives of four individuals.

Love is an area where Shakespeare chooses to show magic and what better way. For centuries, love and magic/fantasy have been known to go together. Demetrius and Lysander are both in love with the same girl, Hermia. However, it seems one of the two had the blessing of her father, Egeus. Demetrius was favored by her father, yet Hermia was in love with Lysander (Rogers, 2010). During Puck’s trickery, he uses the magical love elixir on both Demetrius and Lysander causing a major mix up in the world of love. Due to this, Shakespeare created a great plot for Puck’s magic to become involved on an even deeper level. So once again, Puck puts on the magic hat and by transforming his voice into that of both Demetrius and Lysander, he tricks each of them into seclusion. Through his magic, Puck sets the wheels in motion to make everything as it originally was.

Through the play and the magic within, Titania had fallen into a deep spell. This allowed Oberon to succeed in his ultimate goal. He had managed to finally take the Indian boy from Titania. After this success, he felt the need use magic to rid her of the original magic spell. “And now that I have the boy, I will undo this hateful imperfection of her eyes” (4. 1. 61-62); this was how Oberon felt he needed to proceed. The magic that he would use for this task was none other than the elixir from the magic flower. He stated, “But first I will release the fairy queen” (4, 1, 69) as he squeezed the liquid into Titania’s eyes. By reversing the spell, Oberon shows a side of compassion for Titania and the situation that she had endured.

By the conclusion of the play, there should be little doubt that the play will end with magic and fantasy abounding. The reader is lead to a closing speech where Puck is addressing the audience. Throughout his speech magic can not only be viewed, but it can almost be envisioned by the reader. Yet, it is through his statements that one can truly grasp the level of mystical fantasy that is apparent. When he states, “while these visions did appear, and this weak and idle theme, no more yielding but a dream” (5. 1. 423), he is letting the audience now wander the path of deciding was the play a reality or all a dream. This is a common theme throughout the play, and there is no doubt that Shakespeare planned to end the play in this fashion from the beginning. To conclude the play with a trickster that was essential to the main plot and story line of the play is a brilliant work of literary art in itself.  

References:

Conroy, J. C., & Davis, R. A. (2002). Transgression, Transformation and Enlightenment: the

Trickster as poet and teacher. Educational Philosophy & Theory, 34(3), 255-272.

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Fischer, S. K. (2010). A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Masterplots, Fourth Edition, 1-3.

Gaines, B. (2011). Biography of William Shakespeare. Critical Insights: King Lear, 18-24.

Rogers, J. (2010). Review of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (directed by David Thacker) at the

Octagon Theatre, Bolton, 6 February 2010. Shakespeare (1745-0918), 6(4), 483-486.

doi:10.1080/17450918.2010.527439

Shakespeare, W., & Bevington, D. M. (2005). A Midsummer’s Night Dream. In The Necessary

Shakespeare (4th ed.). Retrieved September 1, 2015, from

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