Book Anatomy · A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream: Genre craft
15 lenses on genre craft for A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. Count lenses are exact for our text. AI lenses are our reading and cite only quotes that passed a word for word check.
Jump to: G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 G8 G9 G10 G11 G12 G13 G14 G15
G1. Genre and subgenre, and how well the book fits. AI
The book is a comedy and fantasy play. It fits the genre well, using magic, mistaken identity, and a happy ending with marriages and reconciliation.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 1, Scene 3, Scene 5, Scene 7, Scene 9
G2. The genre's must have scenes: present or missing? AI
Comedy must haves are present: mistaken identity (Puck anoints the wrong lover), a love triangle (both men pursuing Helena), and a happy ending with marriages.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 4, Scene 6, Scene 7, Scene 9
Not Hermia, but Helena I love. Who will not change a raven for a dove? (Ch 4, para 37)
Jack shall have Jill; Nought shall go ill; The man shall have his mare again, and all shall be well. (Ch 6, para 140)
G3. The genre's conventions: which are used? AI
Comedy conventions used: witty dialogue, physical comedy (Bottom's transformation), misunderstandings, and a resolution that restores order and pairs off lovers.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 2, Scene 5, Scene 6, Scene 9
Lord, what fools these mortals be! (Ch 6, para 31)
My Oberon, what visions have I seen! Methought I was enamour’d of an ass. (Ch 7, para 25)
G4. Mystery: clue list, red herrings, fair play test. AI
Not a clue mystery. See the full lens on the book page.
G5. Thriller: clocks, chases and set pieces. AI
Not enough in the text to answer this one yet.
G6. Romance: the meeting, the barriers, the grand gesture. AI
Not enough in the text to answer this one yet.
G7. Horror and gothic: how dread builds, when the monster is seen. AI
Not enough in the text to answer this one yet.
G8. Science fiction: the new idea and its rules. AI
Not enough in the text to answer this one yet.
G9. Fantasy: moments of wonder, and the cost of magic. AI
Fantasy moments of wonder include the magic flower, Titania's enchantment, and Bottom's transformation. The cost of magic is chaos and suffering for the lovers until it is undone.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 3, Scene 4, Scene 5, Scene 6, Scene 7
Fetch me that flower, the herb I showed thee once: The juice of it on sleeping eyelids laid Will make or man or woman madly dote Upon the next live creature that it sees. (Ch 3, para 24)
Squeezes the flower on Titania’s eyelids. (Ch 4, para 12)
Enter Puck and Bottom with an ass’s head. (Ch 5, para 41)
G10. Adventure: stages of the journey and physical trials. AI
Not enough in the text to answer this one yet.
G11. Literary: inner life and the moment of insight. AI
Not enough in the text to answer this one yet.
G12. Children's: age of the lead, level of peril, humour. AI
Not enough in the text to answer this one yet.
G13. Plays: entrances, exits and stage time per character. Count
Helena has the most stage talk, 12% of all spoken words.
| Character | Speeches | Words | Share | Scenes | First scene |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helena | 36 | 1802 | 12% | 5 | 1 |
| Theseus | 48 | 1605 | 11% | 3 | 1 |
| Bottom | 47 | 1589 | 10% | 5 | 2 |
| Oberon | 29 | 1473 | 10% | 5 | 3 |
| Lysander | 50 | 1396 | 9% | 5 | 1 |
| Puck | 33 | 1333 | 9% | 6 | 3 |
| Hermia | 48 | 1286 | 8% | 4 | 1 |
| Titania | 23 | 1099 | 7% | 5 | 3 |
| Demetrius | 48 | 1073 | 7% | 6 | 1 |
| Quince | 38 | 678 | 4% | 3 | 2 |
| Pyramus | 12 | 385 | 3% | 2 | 5 |
| Egeus | 7 | 297 | 2% | 2 | 1 |
| Hippolyta | 14 | 251 | 2% | 3 | 1 |
| Thisbe | 11 | 236 | 2% | 2 | 5 |
G14. Where the book bends or breaks its genre's rules. AI
The play bends comedy by making the lovers' suffering genuine and painful before resolution. The ending leaves ambiguity about whether the night was real or a dream.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 6, Scene 7, Scene 9
I have had a most rare vision. I have had a dream, past the wit of man to say what dream it was. (Ch 7, para 67)
If we shadows have offended, Think but this, and all is mended, That you have but slumber’d here While these visions did appear. (Ch 9, para 133)
G15. Tropes present, with where they appear. AI
Tropes present: love triangle (Helena, Lysander, Demetrius), magical interference (the flower), mistaken identity (Puck's error), and the wise mentor (Theseus overriding the law).
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 1, Scene 3, Scene 4, Scene 6, Scene 7
Fetch me that flower, the herb I showed thee once: The juice of it on sleeping eyelids laid Will make or man or woman madly dote Upon the next live creature that it sees. (Ch 3, para 24)
Not Hermia, but Helena I love. Who will not change a raven for a dove? (Ch 4, para 37)
Thou hast mistaken quite, And laid the love-juice on some true-love’s sight. (Ch 6, para 24)
Ask A Midsummer Night's Dream a question about its craft (free beta)
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