A question some Shakespeare scholars pose in response to A Midsummer Night's Dream Act V is, "Was that really necessary?". When we last left our couples and characters in Act IV, most of the problems that initiated this whimsical play were resolved; the youths were paired off with their rightful mates, Oberon and Titania's feud produced Oberon victor, Bottom restored, and Theseus and Hippolyta's wedding is underway.
Don't roll down the curtains just yet- there are a number of subtle and significant themes continued in Act V that are worth your observation.
Echoing the title, dreams play an importance throughout the play and Act V served as a cincher to this motif. Puck wrapped up the theme of dreams by heralding Hippolyta and Theseus' later conversation of the lovers' "dreams" with this Epilogue, 'If we shadows have offended,/Think but this, and all is mended;That you have but slumbered here." (895, Lines 1-4) At this point, many of the characters presume that the proceedings of the night before were merely reverie and Puck's address to the audience fashions the play into a whimsical dream the crowd has enjoyed.
But besides repeating pre-existing themes, Act V gave a unique and silent version of AMND's leading ladies, Hermia and Helena. For the first time, these otherwise opinionated women have nothing to say in Act V. The previously unstoppable Helena and outspoken Hermia who defied "the ancient privilege of Athens" (850) seem to have nothing to say now that they have acquired the objects of their affection. This change in character insinuates marriage as the ultimate social achievement for women in this society, while the males can expect to go on to other things (and provide commentary to crude plays).
Act V served as a vehicle to tie the loose ends of themes, such as gender. Hippolyta, the symbolically conquered Amazon queen, is finally married to Theseus in this Act preceded by the play the "rude mechanicals" so laboriously put together. Compared to where we saw them last stating their wishes to rise up from their blue-collar post, their production of 'Pyramus and Thisbe' does not live up to their expectations and they unknowingly suffer harsh critique from their audience, "Hard-handed men that work Athens here, Which never laboured in their minds till now", is what Egeus refers to the players as. They bumble through the tragic love story- which eerily echoed the plot of Romeo and Juliet, though I've heard forbidden romances that end with everyone dying is a classic story arc (Tristan and Isolde, anyone?).
At first I thought such a play was an odd choice to entertain wedding guests with, but the theme of hardships and love seemed to shadow the trials faced by everyone in the woods prior. This reflection in 'Pyramus and Thisbe' to me added to the dreamlike mystique of the Acts that took place in the forest.
Overall, I do not feel AMND would be the same without Act V to really nail all those motifs on the head once and for all.
I would also like to add the pleasure I took in Theseus' reaction to Bottom offering an epilogue or rustic bergamask dance at the conclusion of the play, "No epilogue, I pray you; for your play needs no excuse...Marry, if he that writ it had played Pyramus and hanged himself in Thisbe's garter it would have been a fine tragedy...But come, your bergamask. Let the epilogue alone." (893)
It made me laugh. That is the best and most disparaging rejection to a shabby play!
2 comments:
I agree that Act V was necessary to tie everything together neatly in A Midsummer Night's Dream, especially with the dramatic and on the verge of tragic scenes that happened earlier in act III. We get a chance to see the rude mechanicals perform the play they had been working and talking about all through out AMND, and we see everyone coupled up and content. If the play had been over after act IV, I would have felt like there was something missing with out seeing the rude mechanicals perform what they had been working so "hard" on.
In my opinion, Act V is Shakespeare putting in the "'ol college try" in tying up the loose ends of the story. However, instead of some Gordian knot that preserves everything tightly, the ends are tied in an almost rushed fashion. The desire to see the artisan play was achieved, but everything else surrounding it (the King's standing, the surprising return to normalcy for the women) seemed like a mediocre cha-cha circle, with people ebbing out of formation. It is true that Act V is a vital part of the play, but it's vitality is put at risk by questionable handling of the plot's conclusion.
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