How do I define metadrama in Midsummer Nights Dream?
A Midsummer Night’s Dream has one of the most humorous examples of metadrama to be found in all of Shakespeare’s plays. It is a technique he often employed to great effect. In its simplest terms, metadrama is a play staged by characters that are actually in a play. In other words, it is a play within a play. Metadrama enables the playwright to comment upon his own play and society as well. We can clearly see this in the farcical presentation of “Pyramus and Thisbe” performed by the “rude mechanicals.” There is social commentary laced throughout this scene (think about the “tongue tied officials” line by Theseus). There is also the juxtaposition between the various love partnerships in the play and the tragedy of Pyramus and Thisbe. The reduction of poor Pyramus and Thisbe to French farce makes a powerful comment on the helpless (and unavoidable) foolishness of human love. Metadrama enables the playwright to detach the audience from their involvement with the play in order to make the a
