The rude mechanicals who put on a play speak in prose, a more casual style which is often used for commoners. These actors are supposedly plain people who speak in a simple and naturalistic manner. Prose can also be used to great effect in comedy because it is not restricted by rhythm. The lower class characters eventually perform Pyramus and Thisbe in verse. The play's poetry is predictable in rhyme and content (“Asleep, my love? / What, dead, my dove?”), making the play hilariously bad.
The upper class mortals usually speak in verse. Their language is less natural and more formal in presentation and uses similes and metaphors. For example, Egeus says, “Full of vexation come I, with complaint / Against my child, my daughter Hermia,” rather than more simply saying, “I come with complaint against my daughter Hermia.” Duke Theseus begins the play by waxing poetic about the moon and his impending wedding:
… O, methinks, how slow
This old moon wanes! she lingers my desires,
Like to a step-dame or a dowager
Long withering out a young man’s revenue.
The fairies also speak in verse, but theirs generally rhymes more and sounds more singsongy. They also actually sing numerous times. The shorter lines and different rhythms create a sense of mischief and magic. When Oberon puts love potion in Titania’s eyes, he chants a kind of spell:
What thou seest when thou dost wake,
Do it for thy true-love take,
Love and languish for his sake:
Be it ounce, or cat, or bear,
Pard, or boar with bristled hair,
In thy eye that shall appear
When thou wakest, it is thy dear:
Wake when some vile thing is near.
It is worth noting that the fairy royals Oberon and Titania speak more like the mortal rulers Theseus and Hippolyta, though the sprites use more nature references since they are of nature and not civilization. These distinct speaking styles help differentiate the three storylines and add texture to the characters, scenes, and metaphors.
No comments:
Post a Comment