The Transformation of the Fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream The Transformation of the Fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream

In the English stage history of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, the fairies underwent decisive changes in their function. An imaginative presentation of the fairies is essential to any production of the Dream ; however, the past history of the productions proved otherwise. For example, after the Restoration, the presence of the fairies was required only for a decorative purpose. The romanticization of the play in the subsequent centuries further encouraged this trend until the redefinition of the fairies in this century finally redeemed their positive function within the play. This essay attempts to follow the process of the fairies' transformation on the English stage and see how the changing ideas of the fairies themselves incited this transformation.

In the English stage history of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, the fairies underwent decisive changes in their function. An imaginative presentation of the fairies is essential to any production of the Dream ; however, the past history of the productions proved otherwise. For example, after the Restoration, the presence of the fairies was required only for a decorative purpose. The romanticization of the play in the subsequent centuries further encouraged this trend until the redefinition of the fairies in this century finally redeemed their positive function within the play. This essay attempts to follow the process of the fairies' transformation on the English stage and see how the changing ideas of the fairies themselves incited this transformation.