Paper Summary:

This paper describes William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream as preposterous, and arsy-versy. The author points out that, by using the rude mechanicals, Shakespeare seems to be arguing that arsy-versy can turn even the most lamentable tragedy into a roaring comedy. The paper relates that an example of arsy-versy of one of the rude mechanicals is called Snug the Joiner, whose rhetoric is so slow and disjointed that he asks for his lines written in advance. The author also then discusses Titania as an example of preposterousnous, explaining that she is the fairy goddess who falls deeply in love with Bottom despite his having an ass for a head of which he is unaware. The paper concludes that the backwards reaction to the events of the play-within-the-play points to Shakespeare's message that people are insensitive to their own follies and yet are very perceptive of the same follies found in others.

From the Paper:

"As the play begins, the preposterousness of the presentation is immediately shown in the prologue, which the rude mechanicals took great care to write so as not to offend the court. Peter Quince's delivery of the prologue presents a message opposite from the intended one. "If we offend, it is with our good will," he says, unfortunately telling the court that his intent is to offend. "All for your delight," he later says, "we are not here". The players then continue to present their play in a rather backwards manner; by making it crystal clear to the court that what they see in front of them isn't real."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Barton, Anne. Foreword. "A Midsummer Night's Dream." The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans et al. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1997.
• Oxford English Dictionary Online. 2nd ed. 1989. Concordia University Lib., Montreal, QC. <http://dictionary.oed.com>.
• Shakespeare, William. "A Midsummer Night's Dream." The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans et al. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1997.

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