Book Anatomy · A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream: Prose style
17 lenses on prose style 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: H1 H2 H3 H4 H5 H6 H7 H8 H9 H10 H11 H12 H13 H14 H15 H16 H17
H1. Readability score per chapter. Count
Flesch reading ease for the whole book is about 87 (higher is easier; 60 to 70 is plain English).
Reading ease per chapter, chapter by chapter
H2. Vocabulary range. Count
3,002 different words. On average 51 in every 100 words are new within a 500 word stretch. 1,700 words appear only once.
H3. Signature words: what this author uses far more than others. Count
thou, helena, bottom, love, thee. See the full lens on the book page.
H4. Adverb and adjective rates. Count
About 4.26 words ending in 'ly' and 6.01 likely adjectives per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
'ly' words per 1,000, chapter by chapter
H5. Share of weak verbs such as "was" and "had". Count
'Was', 'were', 'had', 'is' and 'are' make up 1.9% of all words.
H6. Passive voice rate. Count
About 1.4% of sentences use a passive form such as 'was taken'. (rough estimate from word lists)
H7. Variety of sentence openings. Count
The five most common first words start 17% of sentences: i, lysander, demetrius, and, enter.
| First word | Sentences |
|---|---|
| i | 90 |
| lysander | 60 |
| demetrius | 56 |
| and | 52 |
| enter | 50 |
| hermia | 49 |
| o | 49 |
| theseus | 48 |
| bottom | 48 |
| quince | 38 |
H8. Rhythm: how much sentence length varies. Count
Sentence length varies by 1.17 of its mean on average (higher means a more varied rhythm).
Variation per chapter, chapter by chapter
H9. Similes and metaphors: how many, and of what kind. Both
22 likely similes ('like a', 'as ... as'): 1.28 per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
Ch 1, para 58: HELENA. How happy some o’er other some can be! Through Athens I am thought as fair as she. But what of that? Demetrius thinks not so; He will …
Ch 2, para 22: QUINCE. That’s all one. You shall play it in a mask, and you may speak as small as you will.
Ch 2, para 36: BOTTOM. I grant you, friends, if you should fright the ladies out of their wits, they would have no more discretion but to hang us. But I will …
Ch 4, para 34: HELENA. O, I am out of breath in this fond chase! The more my prayer, the lesser is my grace. Happy is Hermia, wheresoe’er she lies, For she …
Ch 5, para 38: THISBE. Most radiant Pyramus, most lily-white of hue, Of colour like the red rose on triumphant brier, Most brisky juvenal, and eke most lovely Jew, As true as …
Ch 5, para 60: TITANIA. Thou art as wise as thou art beautiful.
The play uses similes and metaphors extensively, especially comparing love to madness, magic to transformation, and the wood to a dreamscape. Examples include 'raven for a dove' (c4), 'girdle round the earth' (c3), and 'hempen homespuns' (c5).
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 3, Scene 4, Scene 5, Scene 6
I’ll put a girdle round about the earth In forty minutes. (Ch 3, para 25)
Not Hermia, but Helena I love. Who will not change a raven for a dove? (Ch 4, para 37)
What hempen homespuns have we swaggering here, So near the cradle of the Fairy Queen? (Ch 5, para 28)
H10. Senses used: sight, sound, smell, touch, taste. Both
Share of sense words. sight 40%, taste 27%, sound 26%, touch 7%, smell 0%. (rough estimate from word lists)
| Sense | Words |
|---|---|
| sight | 105 |
| taste | 70 |
| sound | 68 |
| touch | 17 |
| smell | 1 |
All five senses appear. Sight dominates (eyes, flowers, visions). Sound features in music and the moon's 'iron tongue'. Touch in physical comedy. Smell and taste are minimal but present in fairy attendants' names.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 1, Scene 3, Scene 4, Scene 5, Scene 7, Scene 9
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)
What angel wakes me from my flowery bed? (Ch 5, para 56)
The iron tongue of midnight hath told twelve. Lovers, to bed; ’tis almost fairy time. (Ch 9, para 123)
H11. Repetition, lists of three and other patterns. Both
45 lists of three in the pattern 'a, b and c': 2.62 per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
Lists of three appear frequently: three choices for Hermia (death, nunhood, obedience), three couples, three craftsmen groups. Repetition of 'love' and 'magic' drives the plot. Puck's actions repeat with variation.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 1, Scene 3, Scene 4, Scene 6, Scene 9
Either to die the death, or to abjure For ever the society of men. (Ch 1, para 17)
Jack shall have Jill; Nought shall go ill; The man shall have his mare again, and all shall be well. (Ch 6, para 140)
H12. Old words that may trip modern readers. Count
Old forms that may trip a modern reader: thou, thy, thee, hath, doth, art.
| Word | Times |
|---|---|
| thou | 116 |
| thy | 65 |
| thee | 64 |
| hath | 38 |
| doth | 31 |
| art | 16 |
| ere | 13 |
| methinks | 9 |
| nay | 9 |
| shalt | 7 |
H13. Showing against telling, with examples. AI
The play shows rather than tells emotion through action. Hermia's panic when she wakes alone (c4) shows her love better than words. The craftsmen's earnest but clumsy performance (c9) shows their devotion without explanation.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 4, Scene 5, Scene 6, Scene 9
Help me, Lysander, help me! Do thy best To pluck this crawling serpent from my breast! (Ch 4, para 42)
I will hear that play; For never anything can be amiss When simpleness and duty tender it. (Ch 9, para 19)
H14. How much description comes before action. Both
Description is minimal and woven into action. The wood is described through the lovers' movement through it, not in static passages. Titania's enchantment is shown through her actions, not narrated.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 3, Scene 4, Scene 5, Scene 6, Scene 7
H15. Filter words such as "saw", "felt", "heard". Count
Filter words ('saw', 'felt', 'heard' and so on): 1.17 per 1,000 words.
| Word | Times |
|---|---|
| heard | 10 |
| thought | 4 |
| saw | 4 |
| felt | 1 |
| knew | 1 |
H16. Shifts in tone. AI
Tone shifts from formal court law (c1) to romantic escape (c1 to 2) to magical chaos (c3 to 6) to resolution and comedy (c7 to 9). The craftsmen's earnest play contrasts with the lovers' confusion.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 1, Scene 2, Scene 3, Scene 6, Scene 7, Scene 9
Either to die the death, or to abjure For ever the society of men. (Ch 1, para 17)
Lord, what fools these mortals be! (Ch 6, para 31)
I will hear that play; For never anything can be amiss When simpleness and duty tender it. (Ch 9, para 19)
H17. How the comedy works. AI
Comedy works through mistaken identity (Puck anoints wrong lover), physical transformation (Bottom's ass head), and absurd situations (both men pursuing one woman). The craftsmen's bad acting provides comic relief in c9.
Scenes (numbered through the play): Scene 4, Scene 5, Scene 6, Scene 9
What hempen homespuns have we swaggering here, So near the cradle of the Fairy Queen? (Ch 5, para 28)
Enter Puck and Bottom with an ass’s head. (Ch 5, para 41)
Lord, what fools these mortals be! (Ch 6, para 31)
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