Blog Post #2 Scene IV-V

The point of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is to demonstrate the irrationality of love and its role in how we live. Through the character’s wild love square, the fight between Oberon and Titania, and Titania’s love for her child, the audience is subject to several different forms of love. We see new love, marital love, and love for one’s child. We see how those forms of love can make one act wild or insane for no other reason. Though a comedy, the play still does a thorough job of driving home the moral that love is something that is uncontrollable, blind, and crazy.

In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Nick Bottom is an overconfident, self-centered, loud actor who performs in front of Theseus’s wedding party. If Bottom were self aware of his role in Shakespeare’s play, he would assume that he was the leading role. His values are juxtaposed to the values of royalty in Athens; in that Theseus and Egeus believe in a strict following of law and standard customs. Bottom sticks out in particular because he is so different than the other characters of the play. The other members of his company are all very humble, while the Athenians all maintain some air of chivalry or honor. His overlap with other characters comes when Titania falls in love with him because of the potion. When she falls in love with him, Bottom relishes in the attention much like other characters in the play do when they are infatuated by another. The difference however, is that Bottom does not reciprocate his love for Titania in the same way that other characters do.

(Lines 22-34)

BOTTOM

Nothing, good monsieur, but to help Cavalery

Cobweb to scratch. I must to the barber’s, monsieur,

 for methinks I am marvelous hairy about the face.

And I am such a tender ass, if my hair do but tickle

me, I must scratch.

TITANIA

What, wilt thou hear some music, my sweet love?

BOTTOM

I have a reasonable good ear in music.

Let’s have the tongs and the bones.

TITANIA

Or say, sweet love, what thou desirest to eat.
BOTTOM

Truly, a peck of provender. I could munch your good

dry oats. Methinks I have a great desire to a bottle of

hay. Good hay, sweet hay, hath no fellow.

This passage is crucial to understanding Bottom because it shows both his character and his role in love. While Titania dotes on him and tries to satisfy him in anyway, Bottom does not even try to reciprocate, rather he takes advantage of her love by getting her to get him things. While she complements and serves him with her fairies, Bottom sits back and enjoys it. Where other characters’ love is reciprocated, Bottom displays a much more selfish love. Though frowned upon, Bottom's selfish love demonstrates yet another form of love and its irrationality to add to the many forms that are shown elsewhere in the play.