In Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, it is during Act IV that the four "lovers" wake up along the edge of the woods where they have spent the previous evening and attempt to explain and understand the events of the previous night. This particular moment in the show exemplifies a transcendental moment, where we as an audience observe young people trying to make sense of their experiences despite their senseless nature. It is in this process that the four characters make comments that lead us to further consider why Shakespeare juxtaposed the two worlds, what their meaning is in relation to each other, why they appear so drastically "distant" (yet physically bordering with each other). , and why he chose to unite them the way he did: throwing the young men and women of Athens into chaos due to the magic of otherworldly fairies. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Because this game works in such a divisive way, it stands to reason that to capture the lovers' true, natural reactions, they must physically straddle both worlds. They also do this on a mental level, as they awaken to what they perceive as reality, but remain perplexed about the events that have occurred in the last few hours in the night world. For example, Demetrius was awake and bloodthirsty due to his lust, but wakes up transformed, claiming to have found the reason, but not knowing how. He says: "My good lord, I know not by what power - / But by some power it is - my love for Hermia, / Melted as snow, seems to me now / As the memory of an idle gad" (IV. i.167 -170). Demetrius' attempt to clearly explain himself fails through Athenian reason, yet he speaks perfectly rationally as far as we, the audience, know. He doesn't know the power that changed him, and the explanation that it was the fairies who did it wouldn't be useful to him anyway because it makes no logical sense. We are also faced with a series of comments that imply a character who is half awake and half asleep. (or semi-dreaming) consciousness. Hermia says, “I seem to see things with half-closed eyes, / When all seems double” (IV.i.191-192). Helen's response is: "And I found Demetrius as a jewel, / Mine and not mine" (IV.i.193-194). Demetrius then concludes this with “Are you sure we're awake? It seems to me / That nevertheless we sleep, we dream” (195-196). Earlier, Lysander uses the phrase “Half sleep, half wakefulness” (IV.i.150). In these statements, the lovers share an experience of uncertainty and double consciousness. They simultaneously understand, somehow, that they have just encountered a strange sequence of events, but also that they are awake in the "real world" that does not allow any of those events to occur. So they descend into rationalization - that these events were just a dream - and return to the castle. Here, the lovers do not exercise the wisdom we saw Demetrius channel when he admitted ignorance of why he felt this way about Helen. The only character who does this regarding the night world is Bottom, later. The “split” they encounter directly parallels the divide between the two worlds and the inability to bridge them, yet at this moment in the play they are as close as human beings can get to doing so. The shared nature of this experience is further notable. The characters in this short part of the scene all point out that they feel the same way about what happened, but they can't work together enough to get to the truth. We will talk about it again, but perhaps this is how there will be no discussion or collaboration, as Demetrius will later suggest upon his return.
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