"Airy Nothing: Epistemology in A Midsummer Night's Dream."
https://www.worldshakesbib.org/entry/bbbo492/
Author:
	Strier, Richard.
Type:
	Journal Article
Year:
	2024
Publication Information:
	Philosophy and Literature 48, no. 2 (2024): 360–80.
Annotation:
	Examines epistemological implications of the metaphors in Midsummer Night’s Dream, some of which are mere figures of speech, some have descriptive and prescriptive power, and others are literalized in the play’s action. Argues that the notion that lovers have an epistemological advantage with regard to the love object is both explored and mocked, while the fairies and love potion are to be recognized as fictions. Concludes that Theseus’s speech about lovers, madmen, and poets is to be taken seriously, and the epilogue demonstrates genuine anxiety that educated Protestants might “reprehend” the play. English summary, 360.
Language:
	English
Tags:
	A Midsummer Night's Dream, Scholarship, Criticism, History of Criticism
WSB Update:
	Summer 2025
WSB Record Number:
	bbbo492