Who Is Bottom In A Midsummer Night's Dream

The works of William Shakespeare are grouped into three different categories: comedies, histories, and tragedies. Shakespeare’s comedy has quite a different meaning compared to modern comedy. He utilizes many literary devices such as puns and comic relief. This is best expressed in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a classis comedy which portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and Hippolyta (“Midsummer Night’s Dream Scene by Scene”). These include the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of six amateur actors, who are controlled and manipulated by the fairies that inhabit the forest in which most of the play is set. This play is one of Shakespeare's most popular works for the stage and is widely performed across the world.
Nick Bottom is one of the major characters who provides comic relief throughout the play, and is famously known for getting his head transformed into a donkey. He is part of the group of wannabe actors. During Act III Scene I, Bottom reenters into the scene with the head of a donkey (“Midsummer Night’s Dream”). As soon as his fellow actors see him, they flee with fear. Then, Bottom says, “‘I see their knavery. This is to make an ass of me, to fright me, if they could, (“Midsummer Night’s Dream”).’” Of course, when Bottom accuses his friends of trying to “make an ass” of him, it's funny because it is obvious that Bottom doesn’t know something– he literally has been made into a donkey (“Journal of Shakespeare”). This also makes his name extremely fitting as the play progresses. A second pun can be found in Quince's line, “‘Bless thee, Bottom, bless thee! Though art translated (“Midsummer Night’s Dream”)’”. The word “translated” means to change in form or nature, showing that Quince is recognizing that Bottom has indeed been