by Heather A. Fowler

Created on: September 11, 2011   Last Updated: September 12, 2011

On the surface, magic is simply the natural power by which the faeries get things done in Shakespeare’s 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream.'  Indeed, magic is almost its own character in the play, with a plant called love-in-idleness that is requested by King Oberon of the Faeries and wielded by his mischievous jester Puck being the central device that drives the action of the plot. The mistake of magic-induced infatuation with love is contrasted with the true love characters share, making magic an influence that can be amusing in some instances, and less so in others. But magic runs thematically deeper than that in the play, and adds a number of rich layers to the telling of the story.

A fundamental way that magic weaves through the foundation of the play is as the very basis within which this fictional world takes place. After all, as far as we know, the Athens of our world doesn’t have any enchanted forests populated by fairies in it. In 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream,' however, magic is as common as any plant, as common – and fickle - as mortal love. While mortals may not be aware of this world right next to theirs, they are still deeply affected by it. Fairies, their intrigues and mischief, have an influence on at least the momentary fates of all the characters. Obviously, it doesn’t take belief in magic to feel its profound effects. Meanwhile, the magical characters carry on as if they and their powers are a natural part of things – which they are, to them. It’s simply unfortunate that those actions can wreak such havoc on unsuspecting mortals.

Another thematic use of magic in the play is as a source and symbol of power. It allows Puck – at the command of King Oberon - to send the lives of both faeries and mortals into chaos, and even give a human being the head of an ass. The power itself is amoral; it is the use to which that power is put that determines its character. There is nothing particularly dark about Puck’s magic, although it has less-than-pleasant repercussions to characters such as Helena, who believes all of her friends are making fun of her when both Lysander and Demetrius insist that they’re in love with her, or even the faerie Queen Titania, who is manipulated into falling in love with the ass-headed Bottom.

Magic as love, as a false belief of love, or as a demonstration of how fickle feelings or the soul (through the eye) can be, is the third way magic is used as a theme in 'A Midsummer

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