Nick Bottom is one of the mechanicals: a group of workers from Athens (Quince, Snug, Bottom, Flute, Snout and Starveling). They are keen to gain respect by performing at the duke’s wedding and earning “the six pence a day” they will be paid if their play is chosen.
The name and occupation of each worker establish the character.
The kind of play the mechanicals are going to perform is an interlude called “The most lamentable comedy and most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisbe”. And the kind of acting they are use to is “play into the play”.
When they meet to allocate the parts for the play, we have the first description of Bottom given by Quince because the name and trade of each mechanical establish the character. Pyramus is “a lover that kills himself, most gallant for love”. Quince sees Pyramus as Bottom’s character, face…However, Bottom prefers to play a tyrant more than a lover because of his humor which he says fits more with a tyrant. “This is Ercles’ vein, a tyrant’s vein” (Bottom is describing himself and associates the classical Hercules with a tyrant).
Bottom prefers to play Thisbe (the lady Pyramus must love) or a lion, rather than play Pyramus “a lover”. Quince refuses to grant Bottom´s pleas on the basis of his looks as he says:
“You can play no part but Pyramus; is a sweet-faced man, a proper man as one shall see in a summer´s day, a most lovely, gentleman like man: therefore you must needs play Pyramus”.
Just before Shakespeare wrote the play, a lion was excluded from celebrations in the Scottish court because “it might have brought some fear”.
The mechanicals seem to think that if Bottom played the lion´s part he would frighten the women in the audience. That is the reason the mechanicals fear bringing a lion because they could be hanged, if Bottom represents it with his voice and scares the audience.
What the
other mechanicals think about Bottom?
His work-mates do not appear to resent him, and call him “sweet bully Bottom”. The mechanicals feel nervous and disturbed when he goes missing and cannot conceive of how they could perform their play without him. They said : “he hath simply the best wit of any handicraft man in Athens”.
I think, there is always one Bottom in a group of friends,…
Bottom is one of the most popular characters of Shakespeare, despite being so completely over the top as the comedian, he is magically transformed into an ass and the queen of the fairies falls in love with him.
The humor that made us laugh at him and sometimes laugh with him, is in consequence of the situations Bottom finds himself in with an ass’s head and his lack of self-awareness.
He is pretentious and showy because he wants to perform the two roles:
“Let me play Thisbe too. I’ll speak in a monstruous little voice”.
“Let me play the lion too.”
Although Quince is the director, Bottom has a tendency to tell him what he has to do. On one hand, Bottom tells Quince to call them man by man and tell the master to spread themselves. On the other hand, Bottom tells Quince how he has to do the work.
Bottom: “
First, good Peter Quince, say what the pray treats on,,, then read the names of
the actors,, and so grow to a point” Act 1 Scene 2, Line 7-8.
Bottom: “ Now, good Peter Quince call forth your actors by the scroll” Act 1 Scene 2, Line 12
In the film, Bottom was presented as a character who feels superior to his colleagues. And part of his behaviour is because he is fully involved in their play and its rehearsal. He is very enthusiastic and has much self-belief. I think that Bottom is very human.
Bottom is always full of suggestions and ideas. He suggested changes in the play to make it less frightening and he is always giving advice on how to do the work.
We can see in Bottom Shakespeare’s life. What happens to Bottom is exactly what happens to Shakespeare; he was enthusiastic as Bottom was, he also was accustomed to give orders and advice to their workers and how to perform in order to win “the 6 pence a day” … Shakespeare´s habitual use of a prologue is reflected in Bottom´s use of a prologue in order to say that “the lion” is not a real lion but a character.
Shakespeare had included the mechanicals in order to introduce himself as Bottom and to introduce the mechanicals as ordinary people in contrast with the court of Athens. So everybody could be reflected in the play ie. different social classes.
The most important role of the fools in Shakespeare comedies is that, fools behave as a mask for Shakespeare to criticize aspects of their own society, because only fools are allowed to speak out when others must be silent. They are allowed to tell the truth, and therefore fools became the most influential characters in the play. We can observe it in Bottom in A Midsummer Night´s Dream. Shakespeare is disguising himself as the character “Bottom” to criticize his own society in the voice of one of his characters so he can discussthe issues of his society without people realizing.
The fools in Shakespeare provide a contrast between themselves and the other characters of the play. Shakespeare is comparing us with the characters of his plays. Shakespeare is reflecting on the shared similarities between the characters and us, such as living life boasting about our successes feeling that we are in control of the circumstances when in fact life disappoints us frequently and upsets us. We are not so different from these foolish characters.
The language of fools:
Bottom´s language
Bottom´s language is full of contradictions, mistakes and odd things as in Act 1, Scene 2:
· To tear a cat in: to rant and rave.
· Contradiction: “You were best to call them generally, man by man” (generally-man by man).
· Bible reference: Bottom´s speech has similarities with this passage in the Bible; “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, which God hath prepared for them that love him” Act 4 Scene 1, Lines 205-208.
· “This is Ercles´s vein, a tyrant´s vein”. Bottom would like to imitate Hercules´ style (reference to Classics; Greek and Roman mythology).
· Bottom´s overuse of alliteration: “gracious, golden, glittering gleams” Act 5 Scene 1, Line 258
· Bottom´s speech is full of repetitions of words, sounds and ideas in order to increase the comedy; the use of “O” that make him a tragic hero; rhymes (he uses all kind of rhymes). “O grim-looked night, O night with hue so black/ O night which ever art when day is not! / O night, O night, alack, alack, alack…Act 5 Scene 1, Lines 167-173.
A Midsummer Night´s Dream is written in blank verse:
unrhymed verse with a five-beat rhythm (iambic pentameter). The court and the
fairies use this verse, but the Mechanical´s speeches and Bottom are in prose
(except Pyramus and Thisbe play).
All the fools in Shakespeare use a different
language to contrast with the court or the high social classes. Fools or low
social classes speak in prose, and the court or high social classes speak in
verse. However the fools don´t always speak in prose, sometimes they switch to
verse with a purpose: as in the play into the play, when they performed in verse
opposite the court, imitating the voice kings,…..
Fools love language but sometimes the use of
some words and actions are ridiculous. For example; Bottom uses a language that
is comedic; his problem with pronunciation and his mixing up of sentences and
words. The fools use to appear in scenes where the play reached a shock or
dramatic moment. These scenes help the audience to prepare for what follows
next. If we look at the role of a fool closely, we notice how clever they are.
Those who can not see the cleverness of the fools, are fools
themselves.
Dromio of Ephesus and his twin brother made
situations confused. Dromio with his master makes jokes and makes the audience
laughed about his master loss temper and anger.
Bottom’s
dream
Bottom morphed an ass´s head courtesy of
Puck´s magic. Puck´s feet became Bottom´s ass´s ears. Bottom thinks that the
mechanicals are teasing him as they wanted to make a fool of
him.
“I see their knavery. This is to make an ass
of me, to fright me, if they could” Act 3 Scene 1, Line
99-100.
A dream could be a subconscious fear or
preoccupation or a desire. There are three dreams in the play, one of them is
Bottom´s dream. Bottom´s dream of being turned into an ass could be seen as a
nightmare rather than a dream. But, the fact that the fairy queen fell in love
with him, expresses clearly that it is a dream (the dream of every man). I
think, in some dreams of the play, we could replace the title of the play as
“Midsummer Night´s Nightmare”.
When Bottom woke up, he made a reflection on
“the dream” he had experienced;
“I have had a most rare vision. I have had a
dream, / past the wit of man to say what dream it was. Man is but an ass if he
go about to expound this dream” Act 4 Scene 1, Lines
197-211.
Bottom tells us not only what he thinks
happened, but also what he had learned. Bottom appears to be very philosophical
when he wake up. He had learned about love, life and himself. The dream taught
him that if he related his dream to any man, he would be a fool due to the
content of the dream.
The lovers and Bottom have experienced what
they think are dreams. Puck suggests the whole plays is “but a dream” for the
audience. But with Bottom´s dream, we can identify with Shakespeare´s dream, as
it could be the dream of Shakespeare to marry with a beautiful lady such as
Titania or to marry Elizabeth.
Themes
The presence of fools in Shakespeare´s comedies made a great contribution to the plays. They are defined as humorous characters with the main purpose of making people laugh. But they are not as simple as they seem.
Fools are clever and observant and have many other purposes than just making people laugh. However, we have to pay attention on them carefully in order to realize the purpose and the meanings of his words. Fools in Shakespeare are multi-faced. Shakespeare used the fools for humor and also for a better understanding of the play. For example: Bottom. This character is used by Shakespeare to create a contrast between him and the other characters and to explain issues of his society to the audience.
Fools guide us through the play, they behave as commentators of the other characters in the play. The role of Bottom in A Midsummer Night´s Dream is
“Love makes fool of us all”. Bottom focuses
on love and we can observe that the action of the main characters are foolish as
a consequence of love.
The relationship between reason and love is one of the themes of the play, and Bottom stresses how far they are apart. Bottom shows how love makes people act very irrationally.
“reason and love keep little company together nowadays”
Act 3 Scene 1, Line 120-121
The actions and words of the foolish
characters (Puck, Bottom) are very important to understand and contrast the
foolish actions of the others.
At that time, marriage was not allowed
between different social classes. However, we can see that Titania (the queen of
the fairies) fell in love with “a fool”.
Also, in Twelfth Night we can observe in the case
of Malvolio how love made him act
very irrationally.
Malvolio in Twelfth
Night
Malvolio is Olivia´s steward. Malvolio became
a fool but in this case he imagined that Olivia was in love with him, as a
consequence of a letter written by Maria. They made Malvolio a fool. Malvolio
dreamt of marrying his madam Olivia. It is just a dream, but that dream;
marriage between different social classes was unthinkable. Malvolio was put in
this dream by Sir Toby, Fabian, Maria and Feste (Maria disguise Olivia´s
handwriting in the letter), when he wakes up from the dream and discovers the
truth and the deception, he is going to be mad.
Malvolio is loves himself and he feels
superior to the other characters as Bottom does in A midsummer´s night dream and as
Dogberry in Much Ado about
Nothing
This is the reason why nobody in the play
loves Malvolio, as his name suggests. However, despite Bottom being similar to
Malvolio, Bottom is loved by all the mechanicals.
Malvolio as Bottom defend the law and order.
And both of them tell the other characters what they have to do. Also Dogberry
outlines the duties of the Watch in maintaining law and order. He advises them
to avoid getting involved with criminals and
troublemakers.
Sir Andrew, Sir Toby and Maria are going to
transform Malvolio into an ass in Twelfth
Night, as Puck in A midsummer´s night
dream transforms Bottom into an ass, and Dogberry in Much Ado about Nothing said that it
should be recorded in writing that he has been called an ass. All of them are
fools or asses, but the only real transformation occurred with Bottom in A midsummer´s night
dream.
Fools´
songs
Most of the songs in Shakespeare plays are
sung by the fools and all of the songs have a purpose. Bottom sings to show he
is unafraid and he responds with natural imagery;
“The ousel cock so black of hue,
With orange-tawny bill,
The throstle with his note so
true,
The wren with little quill,”
Act 3 Scene 1,
Line103-106
Shakespeare gives the fools the final word in
some plays. For example: Puck is saying the last word of the play in A Midsummer Night´s dream. He is telling
the audience that we are also dreaming. Although he has been mischievous and
negative about humans in the play: “Lord, what fools these mortals be”. The fact
that the fools had the last word shows how important they are and how important
they were to Shakespeare.
Feste
(Olivia´s jester) has the last word in Twelfth Night. Feste sang a
song;
“When that I was and a little tiny boy,
With hey-ho, the wind and the rain;
A foolish thing was but a toy,
For the rain it raineth every
day.
But when I cam to man´s
estate,
With hey-ho, the wind and the
rain;
“Gainst Knaves and thieves men shut their
gate,
For the rain it raineth every
day….”
Songs in all Shakespeare´s plays have an important role during all the play. (especially in Twelfth Night). We can compare the fools who are clever, such as Feste in Twelfth Night who we have to pay more attention on his humor and intelligence in order to understand what the fool is saying or singing and
That they are capable of developing deep human traits; and those fools that we laugh at who do not need clever wit to be funny, for example: Dogberry in Much Ado about nothing. He is a foolish fool and he is used by Shakespeare to contrast the dark scenes by bringing light upon them, such as the betrayal of Don John.
En esta cancion esta adelantado el amor de
Olivia y viola, y Feste is giving an advice to Olivia what she should
do.
“O, mistress mine! Where are you
roaming?
O, stay and hear: your true love´s
coming,
That can sing both high and
low.
Trip no further, pretty
sweeting;
Journeys end in lovers
meetings,
Every wise man´s son doth
know.”
In another song, Feste is saying that love is
for the moment, and not in the future as beauty is temporary, so the present
should be enjoyed.
What is love?´Tis not
hereafter;
Present mirth hath present
laugher,
What´s to come is still
unsure.
In delay there lies no
plenty—
Then come kiss me, sweet and twenty,
Youth´s a stuff will not
endure
The word “fool” is used 58 times in Twelfth
Night, and words related such as “foolery”, “fooling” and “foolish” are used 22
times.
Feste said:
Fools are made to entertain kings and queens
in the court
“The lady Olivia has no folly. She will keep
no fool, sir, she till be married, and fools are as like husbands as pilchers
are to herrings; the husband the bigger. I am indeed not her fool, but her
corrupter of words”
“Foolery, sir, does walk about the orb like
the sun, it shines everywhere”
Act 3 Scene 1, Lines
33-44
Olivia not only
asked Malvolio´s opinion about Feste, but she also protects
him.
In Much Ado about nothing, we can observe
that Dogberry tells the king of the arrest of Borachio and Conrade, and
Dogberry takes the responsibility to conduct the trial (responsibility given by
Leonato).
Olivia:What think you of this fool, Malvolio?
Doth he not mend?
Olivia: How say you to that, Malvolio?
Olivia “Let some of my people have a special
care of him. I would not have him miscarry for the half of my
dowry”.
Fools are essential to Shakespearian
comedies, due to their humanity. They make great contributions to the plays; in
producing humor and confusion, such as Feste in Twelfth Nigh who controls the comedy and
whose humor guides us through the play.
BILIOGRAPHY
·
Shakespeare,
William. A Midsummer Night´s Dream. Cambridge School Shakespeare:
Cambridge University Press, Linda Buckle, 2005
·
Shakespeare,
William. Much Ado about Nothing. Cambridge School Shakespeare: Cambridge
University Press, Mary Berry and Michael Clamp,
2005.
·
Shakespeare,
William. Twelfht Night. Catedra
Letras Universales, Manuel Angel Conejero Dionís-Bayer,
2006.