Shakespeare`s Midsummer Nights Dream

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A Midsummer Night 's Dream

Fusion of Contemporary Theater , Classical and Celtic Mythology

Mythology has exerted a pervasive influence on the arts in all parts of the world from the earliest times . It is no overdoing to say that art music , and literature throughout the world would be unimaginably different without the influence of mythology

Mythology is the body of legends or folklore of a particular culture and the study and interpretation of such legends . A myth may be broadly

defined as a narrative that through many retellings has become an accepted tradition in a society (Encarta , 2001

Myths are universal , taking place in almost all cultures . They naturally date from a time before the introduction of writing , when they were passed orally from one generation to the next . Myths deal with basic questions about the nature of the world and human experience , and because of their all-encompassing nature , myths can explain many aspects of a culture

Classic mythology usually refers to Greco-Roman mythology associated to polytheistic rituals and practices related to classical antiquity . On the other hand , British mythology or otherwise called Celtic mythology is a legend which included earth gods , various woodland spirits , and sun deities (Encarta , 2001

Although it is difficult to draw firm division among diverse types of traditional tales , people who study mythology find it useful to categorize them . The three most common types of tales are sagas legends , and folktales (Encarta , 2001

Folktales , the third variety of traditional tale , are usually simple narratives of adventure built around elements of character and plot , an example of this is William Shakespeare 's A Midsummer Night 's Dream Folktales may contain a moral or observation about life , but their chief purpose is entertainment

There is no attempt to disguise the fact that a theatrical performance is taking place to entertain , instruct audiences or both . Plays from ancient Greece and from the time of English playwright William Shakespeare are produced in this forthright manner , as are many modern experimental plays . In A Midsummer Night 's Dream , combination of the Classical and Celtic mythologies were incorporated in the play in such an interesting manner . There could be various reasons for Shakespeare 's incorporation of so many varied mythological traditions that one may be to simply appeal to the broadest audience possible

The use of characters in this play is unmistakably mythological in its sense . The changeling boy , taken by Titania upon the death of her friend , exists in many mythologies , including Celtic and Norse . A fairy child was exchanged secretly for a human infant . Sometimes the fairy child was somehow deformed , or particularly difficult (Act II Scene I

The play also used the image of Cupid , the Roman equivalent of the Greek Eros , the god of love . Only here , he is played by Puck , also known as Robin Goodfellow . His name is derived from English folklore (Bulfinch 80 . The spirit was not actually good by nature , but was called Goodfellow as...