A Midsummer Night's Dream was written and produced during a period of English history that was not the most productive for farming. In fact it was a time when nature was anything but typical. During the years of 1594 - 97, England had undergone four bad harvests in a row, an odd weather pattern turned normally warm summer days into chilly winter ones. The overwhelming number of peasant farmers, most times superstitious looked for an answer to this unfortunate weather pattern. Due to the fact that these farmers' meals and futures of their families rested in the hands of good harvests, a positive relationship with the forces and spirits of nature was perceived as crucial to their existence. And this invariably led to what was often termed the "religion of the soil". Always wishing to please his target audience, the goundlings, while, of course placating the crown, Shakespeare drew upon these notions of "fairydom" to further confuse the drama that transpired between reality and appearance. This also gave something or someone for the commoner's to blame (i.e. Puck)

The myth of fairies is one that has existed in countless cultures since the dawn of time. Each culture has

Jacobus, Lee A. The Bedford Inroduction to Drama Boston: Bedford Books, 1997

The fairies enact a charm around the sleeping Titania to ward off dangerous and harmful night creatures-worms, poisonous snakes, spiders, newts, and beetles. There is only one fairy that silently betrays his mistress to Oberon, who says to Titania, "Wake when some vile thing is near." Titania tells Bottom "Thou wilt remain here, weather thou wilt or no."

Most traditional folklore suggests that they can only be seen clearly by animals and very seldomly by humans, although if lucky enough one might catch a fleeting glimpse. These supernatural entities found homes in all manner of places, from underneath the ground to inside of trees and inside bogs and swamplands to on rocks in the guise of other animals such as toads. The stories vary from culture to cultural but all retain very similar elements in each.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Night's Dream, Teutonic Norse, Greek Fates, Bottom Thou, Whichever Shakespeare's, Robin Goodfellow, Shakespeare's Puck, Oberon Titania, Puck Pucks, Jack Frost, night's dream, midsummer night's dream, midsummer night's, fairies elves, countless cultures, oberon titania, thou wilt, robin goodfellow, weather pattern,
Approximate Word count = 1359
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)