Question

What are the supernatural elements found in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream?

Accepted Answer

The most notable supernatural element in A Midsummer Night's Dream is magic. For instance, Puck has a magic potion that he mistakenly puts on Lysander's eyes, making him fall in love with Helena when he wakes up. Puck also uses magic to change Bottom's head into that of a donkey as part of a mischievous prank.

Answer

Of all Shakespeare's plays, A Midsummer Night's Dream is the most magical. Magic is an element of the supernatural, as it's traditionally believed to come from outside the natural world. In other words, magic is not of this world but can certainly be used in it by those with special powers.
The mischievous fairy Puck has such powers. He uses his magic powers on numerous occasions throughout the play to startling effect. For instance, we see him sprinkle a love potion on the sleeping Lysander's eyes. Puck is supposed to have work his magic on Demetrius, but he gets him mixed-up with Lysander and ended up sprinkling his love potion on the wrong man. As a consequence, it is Lysander and not Demetrius, as Oberon had originally planned, who falls head over heels in love with Helena when he wakes up.
Puck's magic is also on display when he turns Bottom's head into that of a donkey. Unlike the episode with Lysander, Puck isn't acting at the behest of Oberon this time. He's using his magic purely for the purposes of entertainment. And besides, there's something appropriate about a man called Bottom being turned into an ass.
However, magic can also be used to much nicer effect, such as when Puck restores all the lovers to their rightful partners, thus ensuring a happy ending. And in this happy ending, we can observe an amicable reconciliation between the natural and the supernatural.

Answer

The most obvious supernatural elements in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream are the fairies. Oberon and Titania clearly rule over the fairy world, paralleling the political positions occupied by Theseus and Hippolyta. The conflict between Oberon and Titania over the changeling boy parallels the war Theseus waged against the Amazons, both bringing disruption to their respective worlds. The spilling over of the fairy conflict affects the natural world, where weather is disturbed and crops fail. Restoring peace to the supernatural world seemingly will restore health to the natural world, and further grant blessings to the political world.
Puck's ability to circle the globe and return with the love-in-idleness potion is a supernatural analog to "love at first sight," such as occurs in plays like Romeo and Juliet, where love itself takes on the language of religion.
Similarly, Puck's transformation of Bottom into an ass and back again depend on magic, yet the effect on Bottom is to produce a dream, Bottom's Dream." Many have noted that Bottom's language when he returns to his natural self is filled with a jumbled version of St. Paul's "Eye hath not seen" passage (1 Corinthians 2:9), which brings us to the supernatural realm.
All these elements point the characters and the audience to a supernatural world outside their narrow political and natural one. As in many of Shakespeare's romantic comedies, this world is based on a type of self-giving love, such as Paul refers to as agape.
The supernatural world of English fairies, pagan deities, and Shakespeare's Christian world suffuse the audience in a sense of wonder and magic.

Answer

The supernatural can be defined as anything that is not normal. The supernatural is beyond what is natural and is abnormal. When we talk about the supernatural, we can refer to ghosts and goblins, anything magical, or even anything related to the divine. Some of the supernatural elements that we find in A Midsummer Night's Dream are references to fairies, magic, and even references to gods.Fairies play a central role in A Midsummer Night's Dream. They both create the conflict of the play and also the resolution. We see them creating the play's conflict when Puck mistakenly enchants Lysander into falling in love with Helena instead of Demetrius. The conflict is further enhanced when Oberon and Puck enchant Demetrius into falling in love with Helena as well. Now, both men are in love with Helena when previously they were both in love with Hermia. Not only that, Helena believes that all three are conspiring to mock her, as we see in her lines accusing Hermia of joining forces with both men:

Lo, she[Hermia] is one of this confederacy!Now I perceive they have conjoin'd all threeTo fashion this false sport, in spite of me. (III.ii.195-197)

We see the fairies create the play's resolution when we see Puck and Oberon properly unite Lysander with Hermia and Demetrius with Helena, whom Demetrius was engaged to before.We also see the supernatural in the play through the use of magic. The flower Oberon tells Puck to bring him has been hit by Cupid's arrow and now serves as a love potion. Oberon explains to Puck about the magical powers of the flower in the lines:

The juice of it on sleeping eye-lids laidWill make or man or woman madly doteUpon the next live creature that it sees. (II.i.173-175)

Not only do we see magic being used as a supernatural reference in this play, but since the magic comes from Cupid, who is the god of love, Cupid also becomes another supernatural element in the play.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

What are the supernatural elements found in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream?

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