"A Midsummer Night's Dream": Letter

July 17, 1600 

London Post 

1 Broadway, Westminster
London, England SW1H 0AX, UK

Holla Smedley Cavendish,

          I strongly disagreeth with thee that the play within a play hast nay purpose. Thou artless,clay-brained, barnacle is unable to grasp the true meaning behind mine own genius. Therefore, alloweth me to inform thee ofsuch importance.

          Thou warped, half-faced, pignut only considered the comic relief provided by the play’s ‘tragical mirth’,rather than questioning the nature of creativity and loveth within. Towards the audience, Puck claims,“If we shadows have offended,” in order to portray the actors shadows those gents may have envisioned upon a slumber. Similar to the theme regarding dreams and visions in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Plato’s Allegory of the Cave suggests that individuals unable to perceive reality can beest compared to prisoners chained in a cave. Furthermore, St. Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians declares that our vision is of a dim mirror until our liberation from Earth, at which our vision becomes cleareth. The mechanicals who perform before Theseus, Hippolyta, and the nobles reflect upon the difficulties of seeing reality through shadows of the truth since they believe the audience shall not beest able to recognize fiction from reality. Satirically, Pyramus and Thisbe are lovers facing parental opposition who runneth away together, much like Hermia and Lysander. This fact results in the audience’s realization of the Athenian’s absurdity, while Theseus and the lovers maketh excitement of the ridiculous performance. Oberon and Puck manipulate the Athenians thoughts,resulting in their loss of the real world. Due to the constant speak of dreams and visions, the entire audience may only see a glimpse,“no more yielding but a dream”(419).

          I desire thou vain, flap-mouthed, boar-pig to understand mine own pointeth of view and stand ho with thy villainous, fool-born remarks.

Sinc’rely,

William Shakespeare

          I chose the insult, “Thou artless, clay-brained, barnacle,” because Smedley Cavendish was unable to see the true art behind the play within a play. Another insult I chose was, “Thou warped, half-faced, pignut,” since Cavendish was not able to see Shakespeare’s intentions for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, only half of it. “Thou vain, flap-mouthed, boar-pig,” was chosen because Cavendish expressed his opinion in a rude manner and deserved to be insulted. Lastly, I chose, “thy villainous, fool-born remarks,” due to the hurtful and foolish comments Cavendish directed to Shakespeare.