Puck’s Broom and the Ontology of Play

Abstract

In this paper, we explore the ways Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream stages its own status as theatrical fiction, then analyse the subtle web of fiction and reality it creates, and the ways it incites the audience to take part in this network. The most intriguing instances of the play’s undertaking of relating fiction and fact are the ones which hold out promises of illuminating the transition between the two. After presenting some important instances of such transition, or, in the play’s own terminology; “translations,” this paper will deal in particular with Puck’s closing speeches, with a special focus on a puzzling reference to his broom as well as to his sweeping. By focusing on the potentially diverse functions, and even more importantly, on the rich dramatic heritage of Puck’s broom, we will examine what more general things it tells us about the ways theatrical fiction and the audience’s reality interact.