Puck changed Nick Bottom's head into a donkey's head in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream for pure mischief and amusement, turning the clumsy mortal into a literal "ass," which serves as the ultimate comedic prank and triggers the fairy queen Titania to fall in love with him, fulfilling his chaotic desires and creating comical chaos.
Lesson Summary
His capricious humor, miscreant spirit, and use of magic all set the events of the play in motion. He gives the actor Nick Bottom the head of an ass so that Titania will fall in love with him when she wakes up and so that she will be distracted from her changeling prince.
Puck uses magic to turn Bottom's head into a Donkey head, while he is rehearsing in the forest. Titania sees Bottom when she wakes up and she falls in love with him.
Nick Bottom is a character in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream who provides comic relief throughout the play. A weaver by trade, he is famously known for getting his head transformed into that of a donkey by the elusive Puck.
Seizing an opportunity, Puck magically transforms the head of the tradesman, Bottom, into an 'ass' (a donkey), so when Titania awakes Bottom is the first thing she sees, and so she falls in love with a man with a donkey's head.
Even without knowing that he has the head of a donkey, Bottom has enough self-awareness to recognize the absurdity of the situation. Hence his gentle dismissal of Titania's words, and his surprisingly spot-on reflection that there is “little reason” for her oath of love.
While he's waiting he overhears Demetrius and Helena arguing and decides to help her by using the juice on Demetrius. He puts some juice in Titania's eye and she falls in love with Bottom while he has an ass' head. By the end of the play Oberon has undone all the magic and made peace with Titania.
Titania and her attendants pamper Bottom, who falls asleep with her. Oberon, watching them, tells Robin that Titania has given him the Indian boy and thus they can now remove the spells from Titania and Bottom. Reunited, Titania and Oberon use music to charm Bottom and the four lovers into a deep sleep, and then exit.
Wayne and Karey Kirkpatrick have never written a musical before. Neither have Nick and Nigel Bottom. At Broadway's St. James Theatre, both have finally done it—the only difference being that the Kirkpatricks are real and the Bottoms, to be sure, are not.
While in the forest for rehearsal, Puck casts a spell on Bottom. He transforms Bottom into a man with an ass's head. Even though his head is turned into that of an ass, the fairy queen, Titania, who is also affected by magic, temporarily becomes Bottom's love interest.
One of Puck's most famous quotes comes from Act 3 of the play: ''Lord, what fools these mortals be!'' He says this line to King Oberon when they are watching the mortals' foolish actions.
In the Act 2 scene 2 Puck mistakes Lysander for Demetrius and wrongly applies the potion to him. Hermia is not with him when he wakes but Helena is. . Act 3 Sc 2. Oberon sees that Puck has mistakenly used the potion on Lysander so he applies the potion to Demetrius himself.
In medieval English folklore, a malicious fairy or demon. In Elizabethan lore he was a mischievous, brownielike fairy also called Robin Goodfellow, or Hobgoblin.
It follows the lives of 54-year-old Daniel Pagenstecher, visiting translators Paul Jacobi and his wife Wilma, and their 16-year-old daughter Franziska. The story is concerned with the problems of translating Edgar Allan Poe into German and with exploring the themes he conveys, especially regarding sexuality.
What is ironic about Bottom's transformation? From the beginning of the play he has acted like an ass. It is a visual pun. It is dramatic irony, the audience knows of his transformation, but he does not.
Puck decides to play a trick, giving Bottom the head of an ass (a donkey). This frightens the other tradespeople so much they flee, leaving Bottom all alone.
This show is not historically or literarily accurate
Let's just say that there are many, many, many, many musical theater references in this production that may or may not make sense in the context of a show that is allegedly about Shakespeare.
In the middle of rehearsal, a fairy named Puck enters and decides to turn Bottom's head into the head of a donkey. Bottom's friends flee from him in fright, but poor Bottom has no idea why. He cannot see his donkey's head, nor can any of us (except rarely) see our own absurdities.
The musical adaptation of Carrie is perhaps the most infamous failure in Broadway history. The show was such a failure that books have been written about just how terrible Carrie was. The musical was adapted from Steven King's homonymous novel, and the classic horror film that followed.
Demetrius was originally Helena's suitor but he abandoned her when he was given the chance to marry her friend Hermia. Helena's love for Demetrius is steadfast throughout the play. He, however, requires the intervention of magic to rekindle his love.
Oberon demands the boy from Titania so he can become an attendant in Oberon's court. He doesn't see this as a large request, saying 'I do but beg a little changeling boy. ' But, Titania will have none of it. She has been taking care of the boy in memory of her friend, who died birthing him.
Nick Bottom Quotes
at the end of the play (spoilers), Lysander and Hermia, and Helena and Demetrius are wed.
Originally a supervillain, in later years, she has reformed into more of an antihero. The character has also been a member of the Masters of Evil and the Frightful Four at various points in her history.
In the manga and anime Fairy Tail, which was serialised from August 2006 to July 2017 and broadcast as a series from 2009 to 2019, the character Erza Scarlet carries the title of "Titania, Queen of the Fairies" because of her status as one of the most powerful of the female wizards in the Fairy Tail guild.