We are looking at "Q and A" studies of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

By Ginny Ruadh (Secondary/KS3)--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A website (which you can join for free to view the full answers) whichhas a couple of questions relating to this Shakespearean play ishttp://www.enotes.com/midsummer-nights-dream/q-and-a/discuss-

fairies-midsummer-nights-dream-278239

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------One of these questions we looked at was the use of fairies in AMidsummer Night’s Dream.

When we look at the use of “fairies” in the play, A Midsummer Night’sDream, one of the first things that comes to mind is that the play is setin Athens, Greece.

Whilst fairies are of, distinctly Celtic/English (UK) origin....

There are those that suggest that in the play, A Midsummer Night’sDream, Shakespeare did not do his homework regarding fairies/Greekfairies. I tend to agree with sentiment. However, it may be that if he hadonly used Greek references, then his audience may not have understoodor identified with the play as much as though his use of the character ofPuck. Puck was well known to English audiences.

Personally, I feel that Greek “fairies” would be been more realisticconsidering the scene is set in Athens,Greece and I have looked at thisoption, below.

Examples of mythical beings, that maybe considered Greek fairies are:

Sylvans (Group)SatyrsSeleni (Sylens)Fauns

OtherNymphs (Wood and Water)SirensMaenads

These are mentioned in early times such as writings by Homer - Iliad,Odyssey.

Throughout the culture of the world, we find many good and bad spiritbeings in the ancient myths. Though known by various names, we cansee by their character traits that they are all part of the extendedworldwide fairy family.

"In ancient Greece, .... Porphyry (c. 232-c. 305 A.D.) wrote that the air wasinhabited by good and bad spirits with fluid bodies of no fixed shape,creatures who change their form at will. These were certainly faeries" suchas Puck.

another early reference to fairies is:

"Where round the bed, whence Achelous springs,That wat'ry Fairies dance in mazy rings."Homer (Iliad, B. xxiv. 617.)

Looking at Greek mythology and fairy folk, Pan is a character that comesto mind.

The son of Hermes and a nymph, Pan was half goat, half man and lived inthe forests of Arcadia, surrounded by satyrs and maenads. Pan hadinvented the flute (pan-pipes). Some of Pan's attributes when usedby Christianity when creating the image of the Devil.(http://www.in2greece.com/english/historymyth/mythology/names/pan.

htm, http://www.theoi.com/Georgikos/Pan.html)

An suggested image of PAN - mountzion144.ning.com

Puck is also referred to in several texts as being compared with the devil.H is also said to play the flute and enchant with his magical musical

playing.

Whilst Shakespeare uses the character of Puck, (probably due tohis UK heritage and familiarity with Celtic mythology) we can see a fewsimilarities between Puck and Pan (Greek).

Puck is also known in various texts to have sported horns much like asatyr (half man, half goat).

Some sites that discuss Greek fairies are:http://www.bellaterreno.com/art/greek/greekfairies.aspx,

This site discuss the character of Puck in detail and is worth reading -http://www.boldoutlaw.com/puckrobin/puckages.html

Puck, in the play, fulfilled his traditional mischievous role and Oberon(the fairy king) resorted to magical means to achieve his ends. Hisinstructions to Puck, resulted in interference in both the fairy and humanworld and lead to confusion and distress to the humans. These arecommon themes when one reads about the interactions between fairiesand humans.

It should be noted that Oberon and Titania are notmythical Celtic characters, although in UK mythology there is a fairyqueen and king they do not generally go by name - certainly not Oberonand Titania. These were names used by Shakespeare for his play.

Puck is described in "Act II, Scene 1, when he is addressed by a fairy as“that shrewd and knavish sprite/ Robin Goodfellow.” These Englishconnections are reinforced by the character his is described ashaving/tricks he is described as playing: hiding in ale cups, frighteningmaidens, hindering butter-churning and leading horses astray. These areall English imagery and would have appealed to his English audience. Sohe introduces a foreign theme with English connections to make the playeasy to understand and identify with by his audience.

Read more at Suite101: Fairies in Midsummer Night's Dream: Puck,Oberon and Titania |Suite101.com http://jembloomfield.suite101.com/fairies-in-midsummer-nights-dream-a28663#ixzz1Yg32HZtP

Puck was also known as a demon though this use was not highlighted inthe play A Midsummer Night’s Dream...."Puck is in fact an ancient word,found both in Germanic and in Celtic languages, for a demon, goblin, ortroublesome fairy."

Puck is known by other names such as "The Welsh called him Pwca, whichis pronounced the same as his Irish incarnation Phouka, Pooka or Puca.These are far from his only names." Others are puca in Old English, puki inOld Norse, puke in Swedish, puge in Danish, puks in LowGerman, pukis in Latvia and Lithuania -- mostly with the original meaningof a demon, devil or evil and malignant spirit ...

"Because of this similarity, it is uncertain whether the original puca sprangfrom the imaginative minds of the Scandinavians, the Germans or theIrish". -Gillian Edwards, Hobgoblin and Sweet Puck p.143

"But Shakespeare's Puck is only a mischievous trickster who boasts ofshape-changing and leading travellers astray; like a helpfuldomestic brownie he arrives at the end of the play, broom in hand, tosweep the house so that the fairies may bless it."

It is interesting to note that "the Phouka was sometimes pictured as afrightening creature with the head of an ass" which is the themeShakespeare used in the play,A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but not forPuck himself. Instead in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Puck, showshis mischievous side and decides to humiliate Nick Bottom for what hesee as the characteristics of an ass/donkey: stubbornness, stupidity andloud braying (Boasting). To do this, as a relatively harmless prank, hechanged Bottoms head into the head of an ass/donkey. It was this 'face'that Titania falls in-love with after being enchanted with the wild pansyjuice - "Love in idleness" flower, that forms a main theme in the play, AMidsummer Night’s Dream.

The prank is said to be mischievous and not demonic because it istemporary and is soon put right at Oberon's instance. Here Oberonshows a sensible side in putting things right that have gone wrong,despite him being a fairy (king) and "cause" of the wrongness.

Titania's character in the play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is of aharmless fairy queen, and she does no wrong, that is highlighted. Sheprotects her charge/squire and does not show anydemonic characteristics.

This is unusual as Fairy Queens, usually get up to/are the cause of somemischief.

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/puck-mischievous-sprite-in-english-folklore#ixzz1YfvAvN6Vhttp://www.fairiesworld.com/famous-fairies/puck.shtmlhttp://www.boldoutlaw.com/puckrobin/puckages.html

In general, the use of fairies in this play, is slightly confused. For example- their physical size differs from place to place in the text but this canbe attributed to their shape-shifting ability.

In Act II, Scene I Puck is chatting to a fairy and he refers to her as a spirit:"How now, spirit! whither wander you?"

The fairy replies: "Over hill, over dale, thorough bush, thorough brier,over park, over pale, thorough flood, thorough fire," - these referencesindividually indicate size as both small (bush/brier) and then huge(flood/fire) respectively.

Later in Act II, Scene I, Puck mentions elves creeping into acorn cups tohide there. This indicates that they are exceedingly small.

The fairy then correctly identifies Puck as Robin Goodfellow, when shesays " Either I mistake your shape and making quite, or else you are thatshrewd and knavish sprite call'd Robin Goodfellow" She goes on tomention his traits of frightening the maidens of the village, misleadingtravellers and conversely doing work and giving good-luck Mistaking hisshape confirms his reputation and ability to shape-shift. The referenceto the description of a Sprite (creature), indicates legendary creaturessuch as elves, fairies and pixies. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprite).

In another place in Act II, Scene I Puck states that "I'll puta girdle round the earth in forty minutes". This indicates both giganticsize and speed beyond comprehension. (As in thelegendary 7 league boots that allowed great distance to be travelled).

If we look at the play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, there are those thatcompare the fairies with night-time and dream and the humans, in thiscase, traditional "royalty" (Theseus/Hippolyta and their court) with day-time and reality.

It should be noted that Theseus/Hippolyta are not the main charactersand they have very little prime "playtime" compared to the fairycourt inthis play. Even the title of the play, A Midsummer Night’sDream, indicates a theme of fairies.

Definitely, in Northern Europe, where Shakespeare is from, Midsummerwas a well-known pagan festival. In the UK it is know as the time wherethe faeries came out of the fairy mound to play. (See further explanationbelow). However this festival is not known in Greece.

"Midsummer’s Eve celebrates the longest day of the year in the NorthernHemisphere, the summer solstice (June 21). Many people believed that

mid-summer plants, especially Calendula, had miraculous healing powersand they therefore picked them on this night. Bonfires were lit to protectagainst evil spirits which were believed to roam freely when the sun wasturning southwards again."

"Midsummers Eve was also the time of the fairy mound in the UK:

The fairy mound/sídh is a round, flat-topped mound, barrow, or hillock ofancient origin apparently intended to bury or commemorate a mortal kingor ruler. From long-standing oral tradition the fairy mounds/sídhe werethought to mark places where the fled underground ....

In oral tradition the story of the ..... migration underground became...people of the fairy mound... invisible to most mortals at most times -Samain and Midsummer's Eve being the chief exceptions.

Humans favoured with second sight could perceive them. On occasionpersons from this hidden world might intrude into the realm of mortals,such as the woman of the sídh [Ir. bean sídhe] or banshee who calls out inthe night to foretell death. The sídh was not to be disturbed by grazingcattle, and most farmers would avoid both the (Fairy mound) sídh andperceived paths to and from it."

It is noted therefore that the title of the play also marks a magical time inthe year when fairies come out into the human world.

Ref: :http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/381655/Midsummers-Eve,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midsummer

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O70-sdh.html

Other fairy characters that appear the play, A Midsummer Night’sDream, are Peasebottom, Cobweb, Moth and Mustardseed. Thesecharacters are, like Oberon and Titantia NOT of mythological origin.They are creations of Shakespeare. These names are innocent and aptly

describe the characters of these fairy folk. Small, fragile, delicate andtiny. They wait on the queen and are her servants but they do no wrongin the play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, not even ofthe mischievous type.

What is interesting to note is the use of the name Nick. Nick Bottom, theactor who was magically altered. This aligns with the term, OldNick which was a name for the devil. The altered parrallel between Puck,as the devil and his victim, as the devil with a ass's head. It is a minglingof characteristics and may be due, either intentionally or again by nothaving done his homework, (by Shakespeare).

At a final glance, the fairies in the play do form a bridge between thenight-time dream world of humans and, in this case, the mythical eventof Midsummers Night, which traditionally involved the fairies coming tothe surface and celebrating the time of year.

Whilst use of Celtic faeries, is not culturally accurate for Greece, the playdoes have entertainment value as has been shown over the centuriesand even today this play has appeal to wide audiences and is bothunderstood by and entertaining for many.

Words: approx 1979