A Midsummer Night's Dream And The Tempest

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The role of magic and the supernatural contradict the laws set by society. In The Tempest and A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare, the role of magic challenges and draws the line between the natural and civilized worlds. The characters Prospero and Oberon both use their magic to their own benefit. In The Tempest, Prospero's source of magic comes from the books the he studies as shown when he mentions, "I'll to my books; for yet ere suppertime must I perform much business appertaining"(The Tempest 3.1.115). Prospero studies and memorizes sorcery books as his source of magic. The words and spells he memorizes gives Prospero his power and the capability to alter or change his environment to his benefit. On the other hand, in A Midsummer …show more content…
Without his supernatural aid, Prsopero is just a really bad duke who does not take care of his responsibilities as shown when Prospero says, "I thus neglecting worldly ends, all dedicated to closeness, and bettering my mind with that which, but by being so retired, O'erprized all popular rate in my false brother awakened an evil nature"(Tempest 1.2.108). With the magic taken away, prsopero simply had time management issues. The lack of magic implies that he is simply a very intellectual man without the capability of wielding the power of a populated land. Be that as it may, without his special herb, Oberon could not have had the power to effect the people decisions in the play throughout the plot as much as he did as shown when Oberon says, "why should Titania cross her Oberon? I do but beg a little changeling bot, to be my henchman"(MSND Page 24). Without the presence of the charming herb, Oberon ultimately has not real power over his independent wife, the fairy queen Titania. The implication of the absence of magic is that even though Oberon is a king with a very raw nature, alone, he has no real effect on the character or plot, this making him powerless. In the end, the absence if magic reveals the true implication of the characters position in the