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Article: A Speculative Political Allegory in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
- Article from:
- Comparative Drama
- Article date:
- December 22, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 www.wmich.edu/compdr. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Every so often commentators on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's ream quote Bottom's judgment on his own "most rare vision" of the Fairy Queen--"Man is but an ass if he go about to expound this dream" (4.1.203-4)--with tongue-in-cheek reference to their own interpretive efforts. (1) Given the frequency with which Bottom's words have been invoked for this purpose, one can be excused for believing that the utterance has lost most of its value as a beforehand deflector of criticism against the commentator's argument. Yet if ever a commentator on A Dream risked appearing an ass to his or her reader, it would be the interpreter presumptuous enough to offer a reading of a ...