A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare is a journey through the three phases of a festive Shakespearean comedy. The audience is taken from unhappiness to confusion to the final reunion. Anything is possible in this story and the reader must engage in verisimilitude to fully enjoy this story. Verisimilitude is a willing suspension of disbelief. For example, in A Midsummer Night's Dream, fairies interact with humans on the same level. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The first phase of a Shakespearean festive comedy emits feelings of unhappiness and frustration. This can be caused by anything from separation of loved ones to unrequited love to control by cruel people. At the end of the first phase, a feeling of escape takes hold of the characters and the audience. It's time to get out of the cloud of unhappiness that has invaded the earth, sit back and enjoy yourself. In A Midsummer Night's Dream the opening act shows many signs of frustration and leaves the characters all upset, nervous and impatient. Helen experiences Demetrius' unrequited love, Titania does not grant Oberon's request, and Theseus grows increasingly impatient as he must wait to enjoy his future bride until their wedding in a couple of days. The transition that occurs begins after Elena chases Demetrius into the forest. While they are in the forest, Puck captures the young lovers and the journey enters its second phase. The second atmosphere that reigns in a festive Shakespearean comedy is confusion in a comical way. This is the point where readers need to have verisimilitude. Anything goes and anything is possible, including disguises, strange love triangles or pranks. At the end of the confusion you learn the real lessons and you get to a point where enough is enough. Things get taken too far and it stops being fun. In A Midsummer Night's Dream love potions are responsible for phase two. Puck, the fairy king's personal assistant, tries to make Demetrius fall in love with Helena, but instead splashes the love potion in the wrong man's eyes making "true love turned, and not a fake turned true". He makes a potion to Lysander who is actually in love with Hermia, but not after the potion. He also, at her request, makes Oberon's wife a potion since they are angry at each other, and makes her fall in love with a man whom Puck has turned into a donkey. At first, the whole scenario is quite funny as the audience watches Helena become more and more confused while Titania is cuddling Bottom's big furry ears. However, the tension rises quickly and the reader experiences an overwhelming feeling of sufficiency, much like "an excess of the sweetest things brings the deepest disgust to the stomach." It becomes too much of a good thing and the game has to progress into the third phase which will resolve all the madness. This point is mainly reached when Helena and Hermia turn on each other. The final phase of a Shakespearean festive comedy is one of relief and reckoning. There is the creation of a new and better world when the show is over. Things that happen in the third stage include reunions, a sense of healing, love fulfilled, or cruel people changing their minds or leaving. This is the best phase because the world is happier and everything is fine. This happens in A Midsummer Night's Dream when Puck corrects his mistake with the potion and restores true love between Hermia and Lysander. It also creates the love between Helen and Demetrius. Furthermore, at Oberon's request, he takes away the potion from Titania who is.