Introduction
William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is renowned for its amusing, surreal tone. The manner in which Shakespeare resorts to speech significantly adds to the play’s cumulative effect, reinforcing the drama’s abundance of dramatic consequences. Shakespeare extensively uses one of his most notable literary devices, poetry, and prose, to achieve dramatic effects.
Tone and the Use of Speech
The characters’ speech frequently conveys their social standing, which reflects the reality and varieties of that time, which the language of a particular person could easily determine. For instance, the lower-class characters in the play talk in prose, while the royalty typically speak in verse. This difference is most clear in the conversations between Theseus and Hippolyta, the Duke and Duchess of Athens.
Iambic pentameter, a style of poetry popular during Shakespeare’s time, characters who converse in it to indicate nobility and societal standing. The play’s lower-class figures, like the “rude mechanicals,” converse in prose (Shakespeare, I.ii.5-25). This difference is especially noticeable when the mechanicals practice for their performance, and their speech is rife with typos and grammatical mistakes (Shakespeare, VI.ii.15-25). It also defines the characters’ personalities and motivations by establishing an obvious difference between the various social classes.
Sound Devices: Alliteration and Rhyme
In “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” alliteration is used frequently because Shakespeare employs this method to give the play more musicality and rhythm, which increases the audience’s enjoyment and engagement. Couplets make up the majority of the rhyming system, meaning two lines that follow one another rhyme. For instance, Puck states, “If we shadows have offended, / Think but this, and all is mended” (Shakespeare, II.i.440-445). Here, the tempo helps to highlight the significance of the phrases while the rhyme gives the language a sing-song aspect that contributes to making it more unforgettable.
Shakespeare also employs a variety of meters in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” mainly iambic pentameter, a cyclic arrangement of syllables with and without the stress that Shakespeare frequently employs in his plays. But he also uses prose, trochaic tetrameter, and iambic tetrameter in the drama, which gives the language a rich and dynamic quality. For instance, Theseus states, “Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour Draws on apace. Four happy days bring in Another moon” (Shakespeare, I.i.5-10).
Here, the iambic pentameter produces a steady rhythm that almost has a march-like feel, emphasizing the event’s grandeur. On the other hand, emphasizes the mechanicals’ working-class background and lack of complexity through prose in their conversation (I.ii.35-40). Throughout the play, the author uses various metaphors, which over time became one of the reasons for the uniqueness of his works and the worldwide recognition of his genius.
Metaphor and Mythological Imagery
Shakespeare also uses metaphors in his poetry as the fairies, particularly Titania and Oberon, are frequently depicted as strong creatures in charge of nature. For instance, Titania is called the “Queen of the Fairies,” who rules the seasons and natural forces. She frequently uses poetic and elaborate language, and her writing is chock-full of references to myths and nature. Similarly, Oberon, the King of the Fairies, is depicted as a wizard with the power to change reality to suit his purposes. He frequently speaks in a lighthearted and naughty manner and uses his supernatural abilities to control the play’s human characters.
Conclusion
Shakespeare’s use of speech in A Midsummer Night’s Dream greatly influences the play’s overall effect. By allocating various verse and prose genres to the play’s various social classes, Shakespeare clarifies how the protagonists and their motivations differ. Additionally, he employs a variety of verse structures, including rhymed couplets and blank rhyme, to produce a range of dramatic effects, including witty wordplay and tense conversation. Shakespeare’s command of English is apparent in this play, one of the many factors contributing to the play’s continued popularity as a piece of literature.
Work Cited
Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night’s Dream. New York: Signet Classic, 1998.