Can Puck and Bottom be seen as the unifying characters of the play? How involved are they in the crucial points of the plot?
Puck and Bottom could be seen as unifying characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It was because of Puck’s actions that the plot was forwarded into what it was and therefore because of Bottom being turned into a donkey that the plot was forwarded in the same direction. I believe that both of them played vital roles in unifying the play through providing more meanings and offering vividness while also offering humor or comical relief. In a real sense, Puck and Bottom can be seen as the two central and deep characters of the play while all the rest of the characters merely serve a specific purpose.
Both, Puck and Bottom act as pawns of Oberon. Puck works diligently to serve his fairy leader. Puck says to Oberon, “I’ll put a girdle round about the earth in forty minutes,” (line 175) as Oberon is ordering Puck to fetch the flower that will lead Titania to her sleep. He exists to serve and jest Oberon. Bottom unknowingly works as a distraction to Titania for Oberon, as she falls fast to slumber and Bottom is the first one she sees when she wakes. It is through both of these things that the play succeeds to take the twist in which it does; both Lysander and Demetrius falling in love with Helena preceding the lovers quarrel.
The two are directly connected to the idea of magic; Puck being the perpetrator, and Bottom is the victim. Magic and mysticism is a valuable piece of this play; allowing room for the audience to use their imagination. As well as for to create a sort of make-believe world that ironically aligns quite closely with the real world. Puck creates the magic with the “little western flower” (line 166) and the experiences of Bottom within the play occur only because of that.
Because A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comedic play and both Puck and Bottom hold a comedic role within the play, they are fundamental...