A Midsummer Night's Dream

Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is a play with negligible character development and without a true protagonist. However, it is generally agreed upon that Puck, or Robin Goodfellow as he is also known by, is the play's nearest approximation of a protagonist and its most important character. In the play, Puck directly interacts only with Oberon except in act II scene I when it presents itself as a fairy, and in act III scene II where he pretends to be Lysander with Demetrius and Demetrius with Lysander. Despite appearing sparingly in the play, through its pranks and blunders, this playful and mischievous sprite sets into motion much of the play's events and mirrors one of its major themes: foolishness and folly in human endeavor.

To fully understand Puck's role in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" it is important to note the origin of his alternate moniker, Robin Goodfellow. The name has roots in older cultures, where it is commonly associated with evil spirits, and Shakespeare probably wrote the character with the assumption that the audience would be aware of his historical or mythological significance. In Norse mythology it is a demon, and in medieval times it was used as a nickname for the devil. In English folklore Robin Goodfellow is a type of fairy called a "hobgoblin," which had a reputation for shape-shifting and misleading lone travelers. The Shakespearian Puck seems based on these traditional lores:

Sometimes a horse I'll be, sometime a hound,

A hog, a headless bear, sometime a fire;

And neigh, and bark, and grunt, and roar, and burn

Like horse, hound, hob, bear, fire, at ever turn."

(A Midsummer Night's Dream, act III scene I)

Puck is the quintessential "trickster" figure. In most folklore containing such a figure, the trickster himself is tricked or befuddled in some manner. Shakespeare's Puck is no exception. In "A Midsummer Night's Dream" Puck is ordered by Oberon to administer the juice of the flower "love-idleness" to the eyes of Demetrius so that he may fall in love with Helena. Only, he mistakenly administers the potion to Lysander, perpetuating the romantic entanglement at the center of the play. However, Puck feels no remorse for his mistake and rather finds amusement in the outcome. He even invites the audience to delight at the folly that results:

And the youth, mistook by me,

Pleading for a lover's fee.

Shall we their fond pageant see?

Lord, what fools these mortals be!

(A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act