An interesting question. Shakespeare uses contrast in characters and atmosphere in many ways. He uses contrast between how characters are in one location (the town) with how they are in another (the forest) to advance the plot. He contrasts how they act in love versus how they act when not in love (Titania, Bottom). He contrasts how they act when under magical spells with how they are normally (the young lovers), and how they act when themselves versus when playing a part (the rude mechanicals in the play). What comes through is that there is often an entertaining shift in action, but an underlying continuity of character. Often the contrast is superficial, as when Titania and Oberon clash; they are as willful and imperious when clashing as when not.
The difference in atmosphere is more subtle, and is driven by these coarser changes in character, and is communicated by...
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changes in language. It emphasizes plot shifts, and establishes meaning.
Discuss contrasting characters in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
As far as contrast goes, I'm with janeyb here--the most noticable thing is not the contrasting details in most of the characters as much as how interchangable the main characters are. If there is contrast, it would be in the "exemplary" characters--the Duke and his intended, the fairy king and queen and (ok not exactly exemplary...) Pyramus and Thisbe. Titania and Oberon, as faerie royalty, might be expected to peacably woo, but their marriage is fraught with power struggles and strife. When they finally do make peace, it is not out of absolute free will, but as a result of Oberon's trickery. In contrast are the "happy" couple Hippolyta and Theseus who met in battle (Hippolyta was an Amazon Queen before Theseus conquered her people and "won" her). She may be engaged to him but, nonetheless, she remains a spoil of battle.
Finally, Pyramus and Thisbe are the staged representation of lovers who love truly for the time they have but end tragically. And, as the players are wont to point out, they are not real.
These exemplars of mature love, together, form a strange frame for the young lovers, for not one of the loves is free from violence--be it beginning, middle, or end.
Although Midsummer is clearly a comedy, the other loves leave the audience with a growing awareness of the unfairytale-like reality of love.
Contrast is one of the major techniques that Shakespeare uses to accentuate the characters of the play. The technique contributes to the surrealism and comedy of the play by accentuating each contrasting characteristic. An ugly person is never so ugly as in the presence as one who is beautiful.
The play is full of contrasts. Helena is tall, Hermia is short; Puck plays pranks, Bottom is the object of pranks. Titania is beautiful, Bottom is ugly. The fairies are delicate and graceful; the craftsmen are stout and clumsy. One of the most memorable scenes of the play is the beautiful Titania weaving flowers in the hair of the grotesque Bottom. Such extrordinary contrasts are present in every scene making contrast one, if not the central, motif of the play.
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