Jordan MullinsNailAcd. English II08 December 2017 PuckPuck is one of the most interesting characters in Shakespeare’s play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Puck is a servant and a jester to the Fairy King Oberon.Also, Puck is not as fanciful as the other fairies. As Oberon’s jester, Puck has a unique taste of humor, which leads him to transform Bottom’s head into an asshead just for a laugh. Puck can be analyzed in three different ways. The first way to analyze Puck is through his own eyes. A second way to view Puck is a kind of cupid character.
And the third way is as a narrator.A fairy may be the simplest way to describe Puck, but he is more of a creature that causes chaos. Puck is prone to misadventure and cruel but good-hearted tricks.
When Oberon sends Puck to Titania and Bottom, it easy to tell before Puck gets there that something bad is going to happen. Here Puck turned Bottom’s head into an asshead (Shakespeare 3.1). Also, Puck changed into many harassing forms and chased the men around for his own pleasure (Shakespeare 3.1). Puck’s mischievous behavior is his greatest strength.
A second way to view Puck is a kind of cupid character. Although the idea of the love spell was Oberon’s, he delegates the task to Puck. After receiving the love potion, Puck sets off to apply it but his mischievous nature takes over. As he saw Lysander sleeping, Puck confuses him for Demetrius (3.2). Creating chaos rather than love, when the everyone wakes up Puck realizes what he has done and amused to see where this will go, he doesn’t rush to fix it.
Even after turning the young lover’s world upside down, Puck who is sent to fix everything he’s messed up. In many of Shakespeare’s play, there is a character whose main purpose is to act as a narrator to the play. This is the third way to view Puck’s character More often than not, a twist ending is what the audience usually comes to accept. As the narrator, Puck not only directs the drama of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but brings the audience along with him. He keeps them updated on what has happened and what is happening throughout the play.
