Puck: Behind the Scenes

7. Puck is the root behind all of the problems in the play.

Puck, a most mischievous character who has the ability to pull the strings on pretty much
anything. Not exactly valid within the day, but a lot more active at night, causing trouble
everywhere. But Puck is really something that is so crucial to the story, A Midsummer Nights
Dream, that we have yet realized it. When looking at Pucks action, its quite the shocker that he
is the reason the flow of the story continues! Yes, the truth is, the character or the stories would
never last without the help of Puck. There are plenty of reasons how Puck is the person turning
the pages. My top three reasons proving my statement are:
1. Without Pucks actions of creating a donkey, what would Bottoms name be? And
without Puck, what would be the point of creating a character like Bottom?
2. Without Pucks introductions, how could the lovers jest, and how could other
characters be introduced without altering the feel of the story?
3. How could Oberon perform his actions without the help of Puck (Oberons
actions rely on Pucks actions)
Puck has many parts to play (from Act 2, Scene 1-Act 5, Scene 1) and in my opinion, one of the
many comical parts that he plays in the story is making an ass out of Bottom (Act 3 , Scene 1,
Line 87 though not mention but assumed). Though his name makes it quite obvious, Bottom
later becomes a donkey in the play all due to Puck. But what if Puck wasnt there? What if
Bottom became a donkey without any assured reason? That wouldnt be fun! I mean, where
would Bottom be accomplished if its not a joke anymore! Thats why its so important to be
holding Puck in his very place. Bottom would just be like those random fishes in Spongebob.
But with Puck, hed be something like Larry the Lobster, a character that is more major and
memorable. So Puck basically is a good accident in A Midsummer Nights Dream, one that
creates things anew from past destruction, and the new becomes a whole lot more interesting
and beautiful than ever before(Ex: Puck creates an error; With processing and time, the four
lovers come together again).
And theres more to Pucks creations than just simply making people better. Theres also the
destruction from destruction, creating chaos from something bad. The lovers in the story are
somehow the most important example of making things worse with Puck. When everyone nearly
hated Helena already, that just made it a little worse. Apparently, when Puck was assigned to
apply the love nectar to an Athenian male with white garbs, he did follow the description, but he
performed his actions on the wrong person. Originally addressed to apply the nectar/juice to
Demetriuss eyes, he instead applied the juice to Lysanders eyes. Following up with Oberons
anger of Pucks clumsiness, they then applied the juice to Demetriuss eyes (which was a great
thing to regret). From there, we get the reverse, everyone loves Helena, and now everyone
hates Hermia for being short, foolish, and apparently senseless (Act 3, Scene 2, Lines 340345). But later it becomes quite a surprise when later the four end up becoming the greatest of
friends after having things settled in the forest(Act 5, Scene 1, Lines 29-31). This also is just one
of Pucks many results of perfection. But theres another thing that happens from Pucks

mishaps: the introduction of a character with perfect timing. Apparently the first times we have
seen Puck was when he also mentioned two new characters, those characters being Oberon,
the king of the fairies, and Titania, the queen of the fairies. (The King doth keep his revels here
tonight.Take heed the Queen come not within his sight, Act 2, Scene 1, Lines 18-19)
Just Puck mentioning them means everything. Why? Because Oberon and Titania are not
specific characters that have the capability of being presented without an introduction, theyre
royalty just to remind. You know you need to say that one sentence like The king is coming! or
The queen is making haste!. Not only that, the cryer is also some kind of worker for the royal
members, which in this case it is true (Puck works for Oberon). So that makes Puck there in the
right moment.
Lastly, Puck is Oberons henchman. Whatever he does, Oberon makes better. Its just like a
pawn and a king in chess. Everything the pawns and other pieces do changes the life span of
the king. If all the pawns are lost, most likely the king will die. The same could be said for Pucks
mistake. After Oberon realizes Puck has applied the juice to the wrong eyes (essentially
Lysanders), Oberon just follows Pucks task and does it right. What hast thou done? Thou hast
mistaken quite. And laid the love juice on some true-loves sight. (Oberon) But later, Oberon
does the job for Puck, applying the nectar himself. But this also results in one of Pucks chaos
disasters. It later results with the two Athenian men fighting to the death where to the two
Athenian ladies assault each other. Plus, whatever Oberon does himself is not always able to
work with the plot. After Oberon fixes the mistake, he believes what he did will make things
better. But apparently, it has gone wrong again. This is thy negligence. Still thou mistakst,
(Oberon). From Oberons actions, the situation has become much worse. The four Athenian
lovers have now split apart and are on the rampage of unleashing hate so strong on each
other, it might as well kill them. And Oberon knows: He cant fix this alone. And thats why Puck
is there to be Oberons assistant!
Though Puck is in charge of changing things during the fairy hour (aka The Witching Hour),
that doesnt mean hes the only behind-the-scenes person. He needs direction, some senses to
guide him in his task. And whos that person, fairy, or man that assigns Puck? I mentioned it
already: Oberon. Oberon is a king, so he must make things right when he is representing his
kingdom. He will do the right actions for the right moment, and if something goes wrong, it will
make Oberon look like a fool. Puck doesnt matter when it comes to making Oberons actions
right. Puck always was a fool and will make things more foolish than he. So Oberon has to
make sense of things himself with (maybe) other fairies/assistants. Oberon is the reason the
story flows, not Puck Oberon. Its just like when a erecting a building. The real person that
gets the fame is not the constructions workers, but the person that doesnt do any of the work:
the designer/architect. So Oberon is responsible for the flow of the story, not Puck.
Though Oberon is a more minor yet important character than Puck may ever be, he still has a
more important and memorable role in the play. A mischievous, comical, mess that is so fun yet
important that without him, theres no point of comedy in the play. Puck has many actions that
may never be remembered, but the results will never be forgotten. May you remember his
actions, he was a great man.

Salute to Puck.
Work Cited:
"Folger Digital Texts." Folger Digital Texts. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.