[Priestley identifies Bottom as "the most substantial figure" in A Midsummer Night's Dream , describing him as earthy, quick-witted, and emphasizing his ability to laugh at the inhabitants of the fairy world. Bottom's humor, Priestley asserts, is not fully conscious; rather, he symbolizes a peculiarly English variety of a man of the people: ignorant, uncouth, but a brilliantly perceptive and profound humorist, ever ready to castigate the foibles of his fellow human beings, or, for that matter, supernatural creatures. Bottom, the critic remarks, is also a kind of comical everyman, a character symbolizing the irrepressible comical genius of humankind Finally, he is also a poet, "wearing the head of an ass (as we all must do at such moments), the beloved of an exquisite immortal. . . coming to an hour's enchantment while the moon climbs.....
This is a free excerpt of 135 words. This section contains 4,426 words. This
study guide contains 59,990 words (approx. 200 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Literature Guide with our A Midsummer Night's Dream Access Pass.
