Essay --

IntroductionConsidered to be the greatest break awaywright to perpetually have lived, William Shakespeares works continue to fascinate and entrance audiences close to the world. Imbued with imagery, his comedy A Midsummer Nights Dream is maybe one of his more fantastic but none the less conf employ plays. Presiding over the proceedings, the bootleg is the uniting feature of the play. With its multi-layered signism it is the thread that connects the varied characters and weaves the tale together.1. The Keeper of TimeUpon its first mention the stagnate is used as a marker for the passage of time. In the opening lines of the play Theseus, the duke of A accordinglys, laments to his fiance Hippolyta that time is passing too slow and blames this on the lunar monthTHESEUS Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hourDraws on apace four happy days bring inAnother moon but, O, methinks, how slowThis hoary moon wanes She lingers my desires,Like to a step-dame or a dowagerLong devastating out a young mans revenue.(1.1.1-4 (Shakespeare and Brooks))The old moon keeps Theseus waiting for his wedding night with Hippolyta, on the new moon. Theseus compares the old moon to an older woman, which stepmothers or a dowager usually are, and accuses her of keeping from him what is his to have, Hippolyta and their wedding night, want old widows might keep an inheritance from a young man. 2. The corn liquor GoddessUnlike the impatient Theseus, who mourns the dark moon, Hippolyta sees the moon as a symbol of Cupid and his arrows, which unite loversHIPPOLYTA four nights will quickly steep themselves in nightFour nights will quickly dream away the timeAnd then the moon, like a silver bowNew bent in heaven, shall behold the nightOf our solemnity. (1.1.6-11 (Shakespeare and ... ...moon, therefore creating the image of the Man in the moon aroundSTARVELING This lantern doth the horned moon presentMyself the Man ith mope do seem to be.(5.1.235-236 (Shakespeare and Brooks))Thus the moon takes on another more comical and amusing role in contrast to the darker, more heartbreaking roles it holds towards the other groups. ConclusionReturning to the introduction, the moon is not only constantly present, it actively influences the proceedings without the play, not only connecting characters, but to a fault giving them agency for their actions. Shakespeare once again displays his dexterity with imagery through his manifold portrayals of the moon one moment merely the indicator of time, the attached a symbol of the goddess Diana, at once a symbol of dedicate and chaos, of happiness and discord, fertility and chastity, it encompasses all that transpires on the stage.