NGN2001: Global Narratives - Final Essay

Option 1: Comparative Essay (1200 – 1500 words)

Write a short essay on two texts, neither of which you wrote about for Assignment 1. Make sure to select texts that lend themselves to both close analysis and comparison; this entails ostensibly similar texts with one or more intriguing differences, or vice versa, with regard to: thematic elements, structural properties, and/or stylistic traits. Remember, as we’ve seen through our study of metaphor, comparison affords us a deeper insight into texts by weighing unexpected similarities and/or differences between them. Depending on how you phrase your question, the analysis may focus on one text more than the other, or both equally, but the principles of analogical and dialectical thinking still obtain.

This assignment builds on the close reading skills from the first assignment by linking challenging, original, and non-superficial insights about form and content from one passage to others and one text to another.

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An excerpt from Equalising Assessment of Things by Zhuang Zhou (from NGN course book)

Midsummer NIght's Dream by William Shakespeare can be retrieved online using the citation in my essay.

Grade received: A+

Dreams as Portrayed

in Equalizing Assessments of Things by Zhuangzi

and Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

Dreams are often thought to be ephemeral and benevolent. At the end of Midsummer Night’s Dream, we are greeted by Robin the Puck. He said:

If we shadows have offended,/ Think but this, and all is mended,/ That you have but slumbered here/ While these visions did appear./ And this weak and idle theme,/ No more yielding but a dream, (5.1.409-414).

Robin suggested that dreams are “weak and idle” and “no more yielding”, unable to affect their masters. But are dreams as ephemeral and benevolent as they appear? By analysing the similarities and differences in how dreams are depicted in Equalizing Assessments of Things by the Chinese philosopher Zhuang Zhou (or Zhuangzi) and Midsummer Night’s Dream by the English playwright William Shakespeare, I argue that dreams should be handled with diligence because of the three effects that dreams can have on oneself. Specifically, dreams can shatter one’s sense of rationality, confuse one by blurring the line between reality and illusion, and influence one’s reality.

Within dreams, one may lose one’s sense of rationality and accept irrationality as rationality. In Equalizing Assessments of Things, Zhuang Zhou dreamt that he was a butterfly. It is illogical for a person to become a butterfly. Even if he tries to act like a butterfly in real life, he cannot be considered a butterfly because he has neither wings nor legs of a butterfly. But in his dream, Zhuang Zhou remarked that he was “fluttering about joyfully just as a butterfly would” (21). In his dream, he is no longer walking or running, but “fluttering” – movement specifically made by the butterfly. Usually, when one is fluttering, one should feel weird and uncomfortable, because humans’ bodies are not created to be fluttering. But in his dream, Zhuangzi was happy with this action – he fluttered “joyfully”. His knowledge about himself in real life seems to disappear – he “knew nothing about Zhuang Zhou” (21). To him, in his dream, he was a butterfly. He did not have even the slightest doubt regarding this transformation. The use of absolute language – “nothing” – emphasises the extent of his ignorance about the true form of his existence. This element of irrationality also appears in Midsummer Night’s Dream, when Lysander and Titania were under the power of the magic flower – when they were in their dreams. When Lysander was in his dream, he fell in love with Helena. This is irrational considering that he was previously deeply in love with Hermia, to such an extent that he even wanted to flee Athens with her so that they could be together. But when he was in his dream, his love for Hermia vanished into thin air. When Helena reminded him of his love for Hermia by saying “Hermia still loves you” (2.2.110), Lysander plainly replied that it was “not Hermia but Helena I love” (2.2.113). By using litotes – combining two negative words “not” and “but” – in addition to aversive words when he said that he “repent[ed]” the “tedious” moments he spent with Hermia (2.2.111-112), Lysander confirmed that what happened to him was not that he loved Helena more than Hermia, but that he loved Helena – not Hermia. The irrationality lies in the sudden change in Lysander’s feelings towards Hermia and Helena. Titania also accepted the irrationality of her dream. She fell in love with ass-headed Bottom, which is a very ridiculous affair – Titania is the Queen of the Fairies but fell in love with a working-class mortal possessing the head of a donkey. She lost herself in her dream to such an extent that she even defended this irrationality when Bottom doubted her confession of love towards him. She affirmed that “[she does] love thee” (3.1.138). By employing the emphatic form of the present tense– “do love”, Titania asserted that her love for Bottom was not only the truth, but the absolute truth. Forceful words such as “swear” (3.1.125) and an authoritative tone of voice – when she told Bottom “Thou shalt remain here, whether thou wilt or no” (3.1.135) – are also employed to convey the intensity of her love for Bottom and the extent to which she was willing to defend such love. Such examples have revealed that dreams can persuade one to believe in the irrationality that happens within dreams.

Dreams can blur the line between reality and illusion, even after one has woken up. In Equalizing Assessments of Things, Zhuang Zhou was “startled” after waking up and realising that what happened to him was just a dream (21). Even though he was already back in reality, he was yet confused and perplexed. He “did not know if [he] had been dreaming he was a butterfly, or if a butterfly was now dreaming if was [him]” (21). The statement presents a dilemma in which both options seem reasonable but inconclusive. Dreams have blurred the line between reality and illusion and prevented Zhuang Zhou from being confident of his actual existence. Such confusion was also prominent in Midsummer Night’s Dream. After Lysander and Demetrius had woken up, they were both unable to distinguish dreams from reality. To Lysander, he seemed to be “half asleep, half waking” (4.1.145). The repetition of the word “half” expresses that these two scenarios were happening at the same time. The paradox created by “asleep” and “waking” at the same time highlights the sheer confusion that Lysander felt when confronted with the hazy line between dreams and reality. To Demetrius, dreams and reality seemed “small and undistinguishable” (4.1.185). He remarked that the relationship between dreams and reality was analogous to how “mountains turned into clouds” when viewed from afar (4.1.186), just like how dreams are indistinguishable from reality when one is sufficiently removed from reality. Therefore, dreams have confused Zhuang Zhou, Lysander, and Demetrius by blending dreams with reality.

Dreams can influence one’s reality. In Equalizing Assessments of Things, Zhuang Zhou and the butterfly in his dream depended on each other to exist (28). Supposing Zhuang Zhou was Zhuang Zhou in reality, the butterfly in his dream would rely on Zhuang Zhou’s dreaming to exist. Supposing Zhuang Zhou was the butterfly in reality, Zhuang Zhou would rely on the butterfly’s dreaming to exist. If one disappears, the other may also disappear. Because Zhuang Zhou and the butterfly depend on each other to exist, what happens to the butterfly in his dream can also affect Zhuang Zhou’s entity in reality. The effects of dreams on reality are also notable in Midsummer Night’s Dream. Titania’s mood when waking up was affected by what she recalled from her dream. After Titania had woken up, she expressed her extreme bewilderment – “what visions have I seen!” (4.1.74). Her feeling after she has woken up was on the other end of the spectrum compared to what she was feeling in her dream – “loathe” versus “love” (4.1.77 & 3.1.138). She told Oberon that “[her] eyes do loathe [Bottom’s] visage now!” (4.1.77). The exclamation form of these two sentences conveys her appalment towards what happened in her dream. The dream also robbed her of the young Indian prince be-gifted to her by his mother. Because she was busy falling in love with ass-headed Bottom in her dream, Oberon took the opportunity to kidnap the young prince. The effects of the dream on Demetrius were even more dramatic and possibly irreversible. Because the magic on Demetrius was not lifted, he was still in love with Helena as an effect of the magic. The power of magic could resolve the love triangle between Lysander, Demetrius, and Hermia by enchanting Demetrius to love Helena, but is the love Demetrius felt for Helena genuine and abiding? The event became warier when it was not mentioned how long the magic would last – one year, one decade, or an eternity? Even though Demetrius called Helena his “fair” and he “wish[ed]” to see her, “love[d]” her, and “long[ed]” for her (4.1.161 & 4.1.173), we could not be sure of the sincerity of his love, considering that it was induced by magic. Through such examples, dreams can be revealed to exert an influence on one’s reality, be it transient or everlasting.

Although both works illustrate how dreams can influence one’s reality, the severity of such influence may differ. In Equalizing Assessments of Things, dreams appear to be more benign – dreams allowed Zhuang Zhou to reflect on his reality and Zhuang Zhou was not severely affected by his dream. In Midsummer Night’s Dream, dreams appear to be more dangerous – dreams create chaos in the play and leave insidious effects on Titania and Demetrius’ lives. These differences suggest that the extent to which dreams can influence one may vary.

By comparing how dreams are portrayed in Equalizing Assessments of Things and Midsummer Night’s Dream, this essay has pinpointed that dreams should be taken seriously because dreams can shatter one’s sense of rationality, confuse one by blurring the line between reality and illusion, and influence one’s reality. Returning to Robin’s greeting at the end of the play (as quoted at the beginning of the essay), perhaps, dreams may not be “weak and idle” and “no more yielding”, as Robin suggested (5.1.413-414). Should one mix up dreams with reality, the consequences may be indelible.

(1485 words)

Works Cited

Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Norton Shakespeare, 3rd ed., edited by Stephen Greenblatt, W. W. Norton, 2016, pp. 1037–1095.

Zhuang Zhou. Equalizing Assessments of Things. Zhuangzi (The Inner Chapters).