“Be not afraid of Greatness.
Some are born great and others have greatness thrust upon
them.”
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare, a man of Greatness, was the second most quoted English writer after
the writers of the bible. His emergence took place during the Elizabethan and Jacobean ages
of British theatre. He was a prolific writer and a renowned English poet, play wright and an
actor. He produced 37 plays and wrote 154 sonnets with two epic poems. He composed his
plays during the reigns of Elizabeth 1 and king James 1. King James 1 sponsored
Shakespeare's theatre company, and renamed it as the King's Men. With this royal
patronage, the rewards, demand and the reputation he received began to ascend. His well -
renowned series of comedies such as the comedy of errors, as you like it, measure for
measure, Midsummer Night’s dream, etc. And great tragedies such as Hamlet, Othello, King
Lear, Macbeth etc. All of his work were well recognized all around the world with hundreds
of editions including translations in many languages. Many scholars started writing books
about his plots, themes, characters and the language.
Colin McGinn, author of ‘Shakespeare and Philosophy’ puts it, Shakespeare’s work presents
life like a theatre, as a fiction, and the task of the individual is to live that illusive life in light
of that realization. (Simon, Ed, (2016) What was Shakespeare’s central philosophy?. Literary
Hub.) William Hazlitt claimed that “Shakespeare was as a good philosopher.” (Simon, Ed,
(2016) What was Shakespeare’s central philosophy?. Literary Hub.) His knowledge about
human behaviour portrays through variety of characters in his plays. He used to explore
human behaviour and motivations through vivid dramatic situations. He was a genius in
selecting right words to convince both actors and audience with a real experience at the
theatre. He invented thousands of words that would be familiar enough for the audience to
understand the meaning with context clues. Through his plays, poems he brought up living,
breathing human beings with vices and virtues and made the audience feel the connection
between themselves and the character. He was neither an optimist nor a pessimist. He
follows the mid-way and present what is true and real (the plain truth) for his readers and
the audience.
Nelson Mandela, speaking about the works of William Shakespeare, once said
“Shakespeare always seems to have something to say to us.” His works are universal and are
for all people and all time. (McCrum,R, (2016) Ten ways in which Shakespeare changed the
world, The Guardian.)
His comedy, is not what is expected commonly by the modern audience. The essence that
creates laughter in Shakespeare’s comedy is not necessarily the funny jokes but very
dramatic story lines.
In Midsummer Night’s Dream, a light-hearted tone is used to evoke fun through the love in
turmoil. When Helena loves Demetrius, Demetrius loves Hermia and Hermia loves not
Demetrius but Lysander, it evokes not only humour but also the emotions of the audience
towards the disparity between relationships. Anyhow, Shakespeare has accomplished in
distancing the audience from the serious emotions of the characters, when Lysander says
“the course of true love never did run smooth”, the audience feel so sure that the things will
end happily between the lovers, and never feel a tension about an undefined outcome.
It gets more confirmed when Lysander and Hermia run away and encounter in the
enchanted woods, and the comical story begins from there onwards. He is making fun of the
idea of love and falling in love. Shakespeare makes the audience laugh at the blind love of
Demetrius who couldn’t see the unshaken pure love Helena had towards him and was
chasing after Hermia’s love which was just a mirage. The idyllic setting Shakespeare has used
in the drama is another common feature. The enchanted woods outside the city of Athens,
where the fairies, Oberon and Titania, together with their fellow fairies being lodged in the
woods before attending the royal wedding, takes the audience to a paradise, far away from
real life disputes. But the use of magic (love tricks) by Oberon poke the audience to laugh at
the fact that, misfortunes happen even in the seemingly perfect fairy worlds.
Mischief and confused puck put the love potion in Lysander’s eyes instead of Demetrius’s,
leads the drama towards the depth of humour. Fools just as Puck in Shakespeare’s comedies
play an important character and is the mouthpiece of Shakespeare. The mistaken identity is
another significant feature that blends the drama with a humorous taste. The sprinkling of
the love juice on wrong people, the way they fall in love with wrong people, the way they
chase each other in the wood are dramatized in a far more humorous manner. The way true
love becomes false and false love become true and how human becomes a play thing in the
hands of the magic plays a significant role in Shakespeare’s comedies. With the correction of
the mischiefs done by the Puck, separation of the couples ended up with reconciliation.
Multiple weddings happened on the Royal wedding date. The couples could find their
soulmates and that was a happy ending to all, which was another common feature in
Shakespearean comedies.
Arising humour using insult can also be recognized, when Lysander says that Demetrius can
receive Egeus’s love and says “let me have Hermia and do you marry him?” the use of
disguise and gender in the act presented by the workers in the latter part of the drama
rejoice the audience with laughter even at the last minutes of the drama. The mistakes done
by the labourers and their misunderstandings sharpen the comic perspective of the play in
larger scale.
