ENG303 ENG/303 ENG 303 Week 1 Discussion 1/DQ 1 Shakespeare and Comic Relief ((latest))
The centerpiece of comic relief is the fool, an iconic Shakespearean role. Shakespeare’s fools are usually ordinary working class people who frequently serve as servants for the nobler characters. Rather than engaging in physical clowning such as juggling or prat falls, the fool provides witty, insightful, and subversive commentary on the main dramatic events. InA Midsummer Night’s Dream, however, Bottom is a different sort of fool. He is genuinely foolish, providing the centerpiece for Oberon’s joke and revenge on Titania.
Bottom is the only character to bridge all three worlds of the play; he interacts with the royal court, the fairy realm, and the lower-class world of the mechanicals. In some respects, it is his foolish nature that allows him to do so; however, it is through Bottom that Shakespeare comments on transformation and theater.
In this forum, please address one of the options below in your post. When answering the posts of your classmates, please focus on those that address the option you did not select:
Option A: Transformation
What is Bottom’s reaction to Oberon’s magic? What could Shakespeare be saying about the nature and power of transformation, as well as the different reactions to it? Who or what is transformed by the end of the play?
Option B: Theater
Bottom is one of the main players in the play-within-a-play. How would you characterize him as an actor? What could Shakespeare be saying about the transformative abilities of drama in his day?
Your initial post should be at least 200 words in length, excluding any quotes from the play you may use. However, please be sure to support your claims with examples from the required material(s) and/or other scholarly resources, and properly cite any references according to APA style. Respond to at least two of your classmates posts by Day 7.
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