A Midsummer Night's Dream

In my Shakespeare class we started off reading A Midsummer Night's Dream. I had never read this play before, and I actually had very little knowledge of the plot or characters. I thought at first I wouldn't like it because I'm actually not a big fan of comedies. I don't like reading comedies or watching comedic movies. I guess I get a little emotionally involved and end up just feeling bad for the characters. A Midsummer Night's Dream actually changed my opinion (well that's not completely true-I still don't think I'll like modern comedies, but I've expanded). I really loved it! I even watched the play on BYUtv, and I loved it there too (although in the production shown Puck was super creepy). So that was surprising.
What else was surprising was how much there was to the play. When I first read the play I just considered it a fun story, I didn't really think of it in any sort of context. In class, however, our professor had us examine the play from a number of different perspectives. We looked at it as a comedy and tried to evaluate if it was a comedy that had the intention of being subversive-with the purpose of examining life and wanting something more, sort of a cry against the norm- or if the comedy was more arbitrary, meant to just make you appreciate your life more. At first I thought the play was arbitrary, but after examining other aspects of the play, I can see it's subversive qualities. After examining the gender relations in the play, the cry against the norm was more clearly heard. The gender relations were fascinating. Theseus was especially intriguing with his relationship with Hippolyta, was she in love with him? Was this simply a matter of force? When Theseus said "I will wed thee in another key-with pomp and triumph, and with revelling", was he gloating or was he just celebratory? I think that he was more gloating over his victory, especially considering his mythical history. However, one must also consider that he did grant Hermia her wish, overriding Egeus' wishes. Does this mean the value of women increased in his eyes during the play or was he simply being indulgent? I think it meant the latter. Demetrius and Lysander, in contrast to Theseus, were kind of bumbling and fickle, Shakespeare could have been commenting on the nature of men (their inconsistency) in comparison to the constancy of women. Also, one must consider the context of the play, in ELIZABETHan England. Would Shakespeare want to glorify females with a female queen? I think there was a little flattery involved. I don't know if Shakespeare original intentions were to include so many gender implications, but they certainly add a new element to the play.
There is a lot more I could say about the different meanings from the play, but I have to do other homework, so I will just conclude by saying that Shakespeare's plays are all in themselves very good stories, but when you look at them through different perspectives and with different contextual backgrounds, it makes them so much more!
I've started As You Like It, hopefully I'll get as much out of the next one. I'd love to know anyone else's opinions on A Midsummer Night's Dream, so feel free to comment!