”A Midsummer Night’s Dream” Compare Contrast

Shakespeare’s ​ A Midsummer Night’s Dream ​ has been made into four different movies. One of  the movies, is Michael Hoffman’s 1999 ​ A Midsummer Night’s Dream​. Even though the Shakespeare’s original play is different from Hoffman’s film, the main idea that true love is not easy is still presented. The characters, plot, and audience’s experience displays the differences between the movie and the play.

The characters in Shakespeare’s play were different from the characters in the movie in many ways. First of all, Hippolyta was an Amazon queen, who was to marry Theseus because he defeated her in battle in the movie. On the other hand, in the film, Hippolyta was a feminine woman who was marrying Theseus for other reasons. In the play, Theseus talked about how he wooed Hippolyta during battle, but since Theseus and Hippolyta never combated in the movie, this part was omitted. In addition, another character who differed in the movie than the play, was Bottom. He was a man who had no doubts about himself.

However, in the film, his dignity was diminished by two children who emptied a bottle of wine on him. Bottom’s ego plays a large part in this story because it adds humor to a love story. Similarly, Flute was a different man in the play than the movie. He played Thisbe, and was an awful actor throughout the play. Meanwhile, in the film, Thisbe’s acting evolved during the play, into something beautiful that no one expected because he was laughed at. His embarrassment helped convert his bad acting into credible acting in the end. Thusly, the characters in the play contrast with the characters in the movie.

Not only were the characters discrepant, but the plots were different as well. According to the play, there was only one purple magical flower hit by Cupid’s arrow. In contrast, the movie displayed a field of purple magical flowers struck by Cupid’s arrow. The fact that there was only one magical flower in the play demonstrated its significance. Because there were multiple magical flowers in the film, the significance of the flower was diminished. Speaking of the  magical flower, the scene when Oberon dropped the nectar into Titania’s eyes was different in the play than the movie. In the play, when Oberon was about to put the nectar in Titania’s eyes, they were alone and she was asleep on the ground.