A Midsummer Night's Dream Puck Character Analysis

Puck’s Dream: A Closer Look at Shakespeare’s Ambiguous Protagonist A Midsummer Night’s Dream reveals the story of four Athenian lovers on the path finding true love. As this play involves many characters and personalities, it can be misleading as to which of these lovebirds or mythical creatures represents the protagonist. However, A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare is dominated by the comedy and spirit of the protagonist, Puck. To begin, Puck’s role as protagonist may seem overshadowed by other strong personalities in this play. For instance, Bottom provides comedy too much of the play. However, the roles of comedic relief are what set Puck apart as the protagonist. While Bottom portrays a victim of the tricks played on the
To begin, Puck’s comedy is of his own creation. He takes pleasure out of his tricks and only performs them to please himself or his master, Oberon. In his first appearance in the play, he admits his shenanigans to an inquiring fairy when he boasts, “I am that merry wanderer of the night. I jest to Oberon and make him smile” (II.i.29-30). This line foreshadows Puck’s trickery later on which dictates the rest of the plot. In contrast, the comedy of Bottom results from his constant need for attention. While the reader laughs with Puck, they deride Bottom for his ignorance and self destruction. For these reasons, the comedy of Puck deems him a more worthy protagonist compared to Bottom. The character of Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream represents the protagonist with his comedic presence and role in driving the plot of the play. Without Puck, the conflict in the story would never have arisen. In the end, he is the one who ultimately decides the fate of the mortal characters. Even when compared to other characters in this play, none carry the same vitality of Puck. When comparing his dominating role, spirit, and role in the comedy, there is no question in declaring Puck as the protagonist of A Midsummer Night’s