ehhhh...

I don't like it. The pictures, the text, everything seems to be making fun of Shakespeare's creation. I think William Shakespeare wrote beautiful plays that we're meant to be challenging to understand and funny to the audience. When Gaiman's text says
"Now, fait Hippolyta our nuptial hour draws on apace; FOUR happy days bring in another moon: but OHH, methinks how SLOW the old moon wanes!"
The language in Shakespeare is hard to understand but the wait Gaiman says "methinks" destroys the language presented in Shakespeare's plays. I dislike the introduction of some alien type people. It seems like they are there to kind of explain whats going on in the panels to come but they used an audience of aliens to do it. That completely degrades Shakespeares work! Gaiman might be trying to be funny to the readers but I find it quite obnoxious. Once again the word "methinks" was put into a phrase said by the alien, it's irritating. After the alien is done talking the story line comes right back into play picking up where Helena and Hermia are having a conversation about Demetrius. A lot of content was skipped over due to the annoying aliens, and I feel that content is needed to understand why Helena is so persistent on having Demetrious. I do not enjoy the way the play is set up. I get very confused with the random alien creatures and the story lines keep jumbling together. Part of the play seems to be a play put on for people and creatures and the other half is actually happening...it's just confusing and awkward.

A Midsummer Night's Dream: Helena Soliloquy

How happy some o'er other some can be!
Through Athens I am thought as fair as she.
But what of that? Demetrius thinks not so;
He will not know what all but he do know:
And as he errs, doting on Hermia's eyes,
So I, admiring of his qualities:
Things base and vile, folding no quantity,
Love can transpose to form and dignity:

At this part of Helena's soliloquy she is saying that she is just as good as Hermia and Demetrius does not see that. He does not know that Helena still loves him but he knows that he is in love with Hermia. He focuses on Hermias beauty when Helena knows that she is an ugly person inside. This is when Helena questions cupid...

Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind;
And therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind:
Nor hath Love's mind of any judgement taste;
Wings and no eyes figure unheedy haste:
And therefore is Love said to be a child,
Because in choice he is so oft beguiled.
As waggish boys in game themselves forswear,
So the boy Love is perjured every where:

Helena is questioning why Demetrius is looking only with his eyes and not his mind because he just see's the beauty on the outside of Hermia. Helena feels that Demetrius is being rash with his decision to marry Hermia.

For ere Demetrius look'd on Hermia's eyne,
He hail'd down oaths that he was only mine;
And when this hail some heat from Hermia felt,
So he dissolved, and showers of oaths did melt.

This section talks about how when Helena and Demetrius were together he looked onto Hermia and instantly he gave up every promise, or oath, that he had with Helena and that he was hers. So when he was with Hermia all of his promises melted away and meant nothing.

I will go tell him of fair Hermia's flight:
Then to the wood will he to-morrow night
Pursue her; and for this intelligence
If I have thanks, it is a dear expense:
But herein mean I to enrich my pain,
To have his sight thither and back again.

Here is when Helena decides that she will tell Demetrius about her running off to marry Lysander at his Aunt's house. He will then go into the woods to find her. Helena hopes that Demetrius then will fall in love with her if she follows him into the woods.

Shakespeare

Along with many others in the class, I did not understand the play very much. The language was extremely hard to follow and the large amount of characters and plots did not help very much. The relationship I tried to look into was between Oberon and Puck. Oberon obviously over rules Puck in any situations, Puck follows Oberon's requests. Oberon and Puck try to make everything right by using the potion from a flower.
Yet mark'd I where the bolt of Cupid fell:
It fell upon a little western flower,
Before milk-white, now purple with love's wound,
And maidens call it love-in-idleness.
Fetch me that flower; the herb I shew'd thee once:
The juice of it on sleeping eye-lids laid
Will make or man or woman madly dote
Upon the next live creature that it sees.

This potion is the basis for a lot of the plays conflicts. Puck accidentally puts the potion on the wrong person's eyes, Titania falls in love with Bottom who has a donkey head. I find it odd that the play ended by just being a dream but that also helps with the ridiculous events that took place. Thats really all that I got from the play. It was very confusing to read through and I lost track of who was who a lot.

I'm trying to decide what topic to focus on, I have a couple of ideas. Self image and influence of religion are two topics I'm looking at. A thesis for self image would be...

Over the course of time the popular media has distorted the definition of "beautiful".

A thesis for religion would be...

Christian fundamentalism breaks down relationships in a family because of the overindulgence and obsession with being holy and pure in God's eyes.

If anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear them. I'm stuck.