Baring Bottom: Shakespeare and the Chaucerian Dream Vision
Kathryn L Lynch
Reading Dreams May 20, 1999 DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780198183631.003.0005 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that although A Midsummer Night's Dream contains only one actual dream, Hermia's nightmare of a serpent devouring her heart, the play's dreamlike frame can be partly explained by the midsummer midnight frolic in the woods and by the characters' own interpretations of their experiences. |
Abstract
Abstract: A Midsummer Night’s Dream contains only a single actual dream, at the end of the second act: Hermia’s nightmare vision of the crawling serpent devouring her heart. Why, then, is the play titled as though the entire framework were structured as a dream? A partial answer to this question emerges from the quality of the midsummer and midnight frolic in the woods and from the characters’ own interpretations of what has happened to them.