Submitted by: Submitted by IDFC
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Category: Literature
Date Submitted: 06/16/2016 02:53 AM
Shakespeare writing assignment
Creative license comparing multiple versions of the same text
In the play
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, when comparing the movie version and the
book version, there is a stark contrast that is immediately noticed in the first act, where the
movie omits an important part where Lysander and Hermia are talking about when and where
they are going to go run away. “Tomorrow night, when Phoebe doth behold (While the moon is
out)… and in the wood, where often you and i, Upon faint primrose beds were wont to lie…
There my Lysander and myself shall meet”. The movie omitted it because the director felt that it
was insignificant when in reality, its a key set up for the later acts in the play that take place
largely in the same wood that Lysander and Hermia ran away to. It is rather odd how directors
choose what to cut out and what to keep and emphasize. It is only noticed by those who have
read the original text form and watch the movie or vice versa. If a director chooses the wrong
part to cut out or keep, it could completely discredit and ruin the essence of the original intention
of the author. Even though it is often said the one thing Hollywood hates more than anything is
authors, it could really use some advice on what should actually be shown or not showed in the
allotted time of the movie.
Another difference in the play
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, between the movie and the
text, is the Fairy Queen Titania’s conversation with the Fairy King Oberon. This is another
instance where the movie omits a part but this one is much more understandable. In the
conversation between Oberon and Titania, she ends up having a long winded speech about
how because the are fighting, there is unnatural upheaval in the world. Nature is crumbling,
crops dying, animals getting diseases. Even though it is an interesting tidbit of information about ...