Mistaken Identity in Shakespearean Plays

Introduction

Many examples of mistaken identity can be found in the literature of Shakespeare. In Shakespeare's comedy, mistaken identity is the sole story line of plays like The Tempest, twelfth night, and the midsummer night dream. The idea of asking how one really knows who one is introduced, but the problems that will occur between appearance and reality are not totally realized (Lamb p. 19). As Shakespeare begins to write more about mistaken identity, his comic style using this ploy begins to develop more and more. Shakespeare's use of mistaken identity is only a suggestion of everything else he wrote about in his literature. It is an element within his works that reoccur and help in furthering the plot within the story. William Shakespeare wrote with many different approaches and about many different subjects (Epstein p. 187). The devices he used within his literature are only an addition to the words Shakespeare wrote so beautifully. This paper explores the element of mistaken identity in the Shakespearean plays.

Discussion

The play "A Midsummer Night's Dream" has three intersecting and interconnected plot lines that move around the Duke of Athens, Theseus and the Amazon queen Hippolyta. Two young men, Demetrius and Lysander, sought the hand of one of the most beautiful girls in Athens, Germany. Hermia loves Lysander, but her father forbids her to marry him, and so the lovers decide to flee from Athens to marry at a place where they will not be able to find. Hermias's had a friend named Helen (Shakespeare p. 36). Helen was in love with Demetrius, so she gives him a fugitive. Enraged Demetrius rushes after them, Helen rushes after him. In the twilight of the forest and the maze of their romantic relationships there are themes of confusion. A magic potion causes them to randomly love the things they see.

At the same time the king of fairies Oberon and Titania, his wife, are at odds, arrive in the same forest near Athens to attend the wedding ceremony of Theseus and Hippolyta. A group of Athenian craftsmen prepare a wedding celebration marking the unrequited love of Thisbe and Pyramus. The play is full of fantasy, dreams and realities, love and magic in which several strands intertwine focused respectively on two pairs of noble lovers, Lysander and Hermia, and Demetrius and Helena. They all suffer and enjoy because of their love in a carefree group of comedians, and a series of characters from the fairy kingdom, among which are Puck, King Oberon and Queen Titania. The common background is in the celebrations for the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta (Shakespeare p. 48). A midsummer night's dream is a comedy set in ancient Athens. In folklore, midsummer night is associated with fairy celebrations. While many obstacles (problems) threaten the safety and happiness of the characters, all is resolved a the end: hence the play is categorised as comedy. The plot of this play is complicated, full of twists and turns, mistaken identities and changes in ...