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A Midsummer Night’s Dream | Bottom
J.B. Priestly, in this excerpt, identifies Bottom as "the most substantial figure" in A Midsummer Night's Dream, describing him as earthy, quick-witted, and emphasizing his ability to laugh at the inhabitants of the fairy world.
J. B. Priestley
[Priestley identifies Bottom as "the most substantial figure" in A Midsummer Night's Dream, describing him as earthy, quick-witted, and emphasizing his ability to laugh at the inhabitants of the fairy world. Bottom's humor, Priestley asserts, is not fully conscious; rather, he symbolizes a peculiarly English variety of a man of the people: ignorant, uncouth, but a brilliantly perceptive and profound humorist, ever ready to castigate the foibles of his fellow human beings, or, for that matter, supernatural creatures. Bottom, the critic remarks, is...
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- A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Introduction
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- A Midsummer Night’s Dream: William Shakespeare Biography
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Summary and Analysis
- Act I, Scene 1: Summary and Analysis
- Act I, Scene 2: Summary and Analysis
- Act II, Scene 1: Summary and Analysis
- Act II, Scene 2: Summary and Analysis
- Act III, Scene 1: Summary and Analysis
- Act III, Scene 2: Summary and Analysis
- Act IV, Scene 1: Summary and Analysis
- Act IV, Scene 2: Summary and Analysis
- Act V, Scene 1: Summary and Analysis
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Critical Commentary
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Quizzes
- Act I, Scene 1: Questions and Answers
- Act I, Scene 2: Questions and Answers
- Act II, Scene 1: Questions and Answers
- Act II, Scene 2: Questions and Answers
- Act III, Scene 1: Questions and Answers
- Act III, Scene 2: Questions and Answers
- Act IV, Scene 1: Questions and Answers
- Act IV, Scene 2: Questions and Answers
- Act V, Scene 1: Questions and Answers
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Essential Passages
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Character Analysis
- Note on the Character Analysis
- Bottom (Character Analysis)
- Demetrius (Character Analysis)
- Helena (Character Analysis)
- Hermia (Character Analysis)
- Hippolyta (Character Analysis)
- Lysander (Character Analysis)
- Oberon (Character Analysis)
- Puck (Character Analysis)
- Theseus (Character Analysis)
- Other Characters (Descriptions)
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Principal Topics
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- A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Criticism
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