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In William Shakespeare's play, A Midsummer Night's Dream, the mood could be tragic, but instead ends up being lighthearted and even humorous. The fact that it doesn’t end disastrously allows for all of the readers expectations to be fulfilled. The reader in all of us secretly want the more appealing girl and guy to get together, and the other sort of second stage couple to unite. We are also reminded of the heartbreaking potential this play has from time to time throughout its entirety. In the beginning we are shown how if a wrong turn is taken that this could have a gruesome outcome. Our mind’s eye cannot yet see the comedy at this point. There seems to be only one direction that it can go when Hermia’s father tells her she should be sentenced to die if she doesn’t choose to marry whom he says to. There is nothing funny in that. Also you can almost picture a duel in the woods between Lysander and Demetrius when Helena tells Demetrius that Lysander and Hermia plan to meet in the woods that night, and Demetrius chooses to follow them. So the mood at this point is very serious and distressing. The fun doesn’t begin until the couples are in the woods. It is very unusual that Helena is so smitten with Demetrius that she tells him of Lysander and Hermia’s plans just to gain some sort of praise from him. Then she does the opposite of what a lady should do by following him into the woods and all but flailing herself at him. Traditionally the man is supposed to seek the affections of the woman, and this was probably more prominent in the age that this play was supposed to be set. Our expectation of a happy ending really gets tried when the couples are in the woods.
Approximate Word count = 1196
Approximate Pages = 4.8
(250 words per page double spaced)
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