Puck: Heart and soul of the Midsummer Madness

After reading Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream, one of the characters that immediately caught my attention was Puck (also known as Robin Goodfellow), basically because he, a mischievous sprite and Oberon’s servant, is one of the most enjoyable and influential characters of this play.

In Elizabethan Folklore, Puck is a household fairy who likes to play annoying tricks on people, or, depending on his mood, helps them out with their chores (Shmoop Editorial Team, 2008).

Both, the original and the mythological one are known for being mischievous. However, in a Midsummer's Night Dream he is way more than a simple jester fairy. Puck is not as ethereal as the other fairies in the play (who seem to live only for themselves in a constant illusion). He is susceptible to misadventure and more similar to a goblin than to a fairy.  Actually, one of the fairies describes Puck as a “hobgoblin” in Act 2, Scene 1.

As his “hobgoblin” reputation suggests, Puck is fun-loving and thanks to this mischievous nature, he sets in motion many of the play’s most memorable events, becoming a really influential character in terms of the plot development and outcomes of the play.

Puck can be considered the soul of the play because he is the responsible of the Midsummer madness. He turns the young lovers’ world upside down, sending them into chaos; but he is also the one that helps restore the order and set things as they were supposed to be (Hermia and Lysander, and Helena and Demetrius together in love). And, for this same reason, he is the only character we can trust because he is the only one with the credibility to tell us that he knows everything in the play is a dream. He even promises that, if we did not like the play, he can help us think it was all a dream:

“If we shadows have offended,

Think but this, and all is mended:

That you have slumbered here

While these visions did appear;

And this weak and idle theme,

No more yielding but a dream,

Gentles, do not reprehend;

If you pardon, we will mend.”

(Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Act 5, Scene 1)

So, what do you think? How can a secondary character, that is not present in most of the play, be regarded as the most important one? In my opinion, he is the most important character of the play because without his mistakes and tricks, the plot will be lost, senseless, and boring. Without him and his influence on every situation of this play, A Midsummer’s Night Dream would not be a comedy (it would have been more like a tragedy). Puck is the only one that can use magic to tie and untie, deform and create as he pleases, and because of him, everything that happened was magical as well. He is the one who restores the love balance between the two couples: without him, the “happy ending” would have been impossible.

References:

Jamieson, Lee. "Character Analysis – Puck, 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'" About Education. Web. 9 Oct. 2014.

Markham, Samantha. "The Role of Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream." Suite. Web. 9 Oct. 2014.

Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer's Night Dream. Ed. R.A. Foakes. Cambridge UP, 2003. Print.

Shmoop Editorial Team. "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Shmoop.com . Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 8 Oct. 2014.