Shakespearean Comedy: Trust us, it's funny

Passage Analysis
Pyramus
O wherefore, Nature, didst thou lions frame?Since lion vile hath here deflower'd my dear:
Which is--no, no--which was the fairest dame
That lived, that loved, that liked, that look'dwith cheer.
Come, tears, confound;Out, sword, and wound
The pap of Pyramus;
Ay, that left pap,
Where heart doth hop:
(Stabs himself)
Thus die I, thus, thus, thus.
Now am I dead,Now am I fled;
My soul is in the sky:Tongue, lose thy light;Moon take thy flight:
Now die, die, die, die, die.

In this passage a company of "actors" performs at the kingdom of Theseus the tragedy of Pyramus and Thisbe. This passage exemplifies the "comedy" Mr. Klimas assured us existed in Midsummer Night's Dream. Peter Quince, a ridiculously conceited over-actor, essentially takes a paragraph to die. The line "Now I am dead," accompanied by the repetition of "Thus" and "die" is the primary cause for humor in this passage. Attempting to capture the intensity of the moment(and convey what he perceives as his immense talent), Quince transforms what should be a tragic and dramatic moment into a ridiculous ending.

Commentary on the genre:
Four people are miserable. Hermia and Lysander are forbidden to be together because Hermia is promised to Demetrius, who is turn loves Hermia. Helena, who is hopelessly obsessed with Demetrius, finds herself distraught over his adamant refusal to return her love. Sounds hilarious right? Well, leave it to Shakespeare to turn a situation which has the potential for tragedy, into a lofty, light-hearted comedy. Shakespeare is able to take a situation which doesn't necessarily scream hilarity(the play begins with Hermia's life being threatened if she does not yield to custom) into one of his greatest comedies. He accomplishes this through his incorporation of fairies and Bottom's troop of actors, who introduce nonsense and trickery to lighten the atmosphere and solve the lovers' problems in a simple(although completely unrealistic) manner. Shakespeare includes the performance of Pyramus and Thisbe and has the troop of actors make a mockery of it in order to lighten the serious nature of the lovers' problems. It seems as though this play serves as Shakespeare's attempt to turn the drama and day-to-day trials of life into trivial, humorous predicaments that can be just as easily solved as if fairies carried them away.

Personal Response:

I have seen this play performed countless times and loved it. However, when I read the play I was somewhat disappointed. When I saw it performed, I was able to experience the comedy and dream-like atmosphere intended by Shakespeare. I did not experience the same atmosphere, however, when reading it. I instead became aware of how ridiculous the premise of the play is. The main idea embodied by the play is that arranged marriages are wrong and love should be the guiding force in life. The ending is seemingly the perfect happy ending, with Hermia and Lysander, Demetrius and Helena riding off into the sunset. However, Demetrius is bewitched into loving Helena, creating the very situation of forced affection that the play spoke against. How can this be a true happy ending for Demetrius? What about Helena? Sure she has Demetrius' love, but it isn't authentic. This sort of sours the warm and fuzzy feeling expected. Perhaps Shakespeare intended to negate his entire play with this all too perfect ending, asserting that you must seize control of your problems and that absolute happiness does not exist. Whether or not this was his intention, having seen and then read the play, I am bothered by the ending.