A Midsummer Night's Dream
William Shakespeare (1596)
“Shakespeare's wildest comedy asks one devastating question: if love is just a spell, does it matter that you felt it?”
Character Analysis
Puck is the play's most free character — the only one who operates in every register, crosses every boundary, speaks directly to the audience, and escapes all consequences. He is simultaneously a servant (to Oberon) and a cosmic principle (the spirit of mischief itself). His line 'Lord, what fools these mortals be' is often quoted as superior wisdom; it is actually a line delivered mid-mistake, about a mess Puck himself created. The play's greatest trick is making us identify with the trickster.
Rhyming tetrameter couplets with a breathless, playful quality. Speaks directly to the audience. Uses contractions and colloquial phrases that Oberon never would.