Definitely, in Northern Europe, where Shakespeare is from,
Midsummer was a well-known pagan festival. In the UK it is know as the time where the
faeries came out of the fairy mound to play. (See further explanation below). However
this festival is not known
in Greece.
"Midsummer’s
Eve celebrates the longest day
of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, the href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/573384/summer-solstice">summer
solstice (June 21). Many people
believed that mid-summer plants, especially href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calendula">Calendula, had miraculous
healing powers and they therefore picked them on this night. Bonfires were lit to
protect against evil spirits which were believed to roam freely when the sun was turning
southwards
again."
"Midsummers
Eve was also the time of the
fairy mound in the UK:
The fairy
mound/sídh is a round, flat-topped mound, barrow, or hillock of ancient origin
apparently intended to bury or commemorate a mortal king or ruler. From long-standing
oral tradition the fairy mounds/sídhe were thought to mark places where the fled
underground
....
In oral
tradition the story of the ..... migration underground became ...people of the fairy
mound... invisible to most mortals at most times -
and Midsummer's Eve being the chief
exceptions.
Humans
favoured with
sight could perceive them. On
occasion persons from this hidden world might intrude into the realm of mortals, such as
the woman of the sídh [Ir. bean sídhe] or
who calls out in the night to foretell death. The sídh was not to
be disturbed by grazing cattle, and most farmers would avoid both the (Fairy mound) sídh
and perceived paths to and from it."
It is noted
therefore that the title of the play also marks a magical time in the year when fairies
come out into the human world.
Ref: :
Other
fairy characters that appear the play, A Midsummer Night's
Dream, are Peasebottom, Cobweb, Moth and Mustardseed. These
characters are, like Oberon and Titantia NOT of mythological origin. They are creations
of Shakespeare. These names are innocent and aptly describe the characters of these
fairy folk. Small, fragile, delicate and tiny. They wait on the queen and are her
servants but they do no wrong in the play, A Midsummer Night's
Dream, not even of
the mischievous type.
What is interesting to note is the
use of the name Nick. Nick Bottom, the actor who was magically altered. This aligns
with the term, Old Nick which was a name for the devil.
The altered parrallel between Puck, as the devil and his victim, as the devil with a
ass's head. It is a mingling of characteristics and may be due, either intentionally or
again by not having done his homework, (by Shakespeare).
At
a final glance, the fairies in the play do form a bridge between the night-time dream
world of humans and, in this case, the mythical event of Midsummers Night, which
traditionally involved the fairies coming to the surface and celebrating the time of
year.
Whilst use of Celtic faeries, is not culturally
accurate for Greece, the play does have entertainment value as has been shown over the
centuries and even today this play has appeal to wide audiences and is both understood
by and entertaining for many.
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