QUADRUPEDAL METAMORPHOSIS IN “A MISS SOMER'S NICE DREAM”: A COMPARATIVE “DREAM LOGIC” STUDY OF A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM AND FINNEGANS WAKE

Abstract

This text is a comparative study of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake in connection with historically evolving academic traditions of dream analysis. The aim is to study how both writers employ similar methods to represent “dream logic” and to note comparisons. This complex and multifaceted “logic” determines the structure of the dream and makes it possible for all those “inside” it to make sense of its strange and illogical nature. This study demonstrates that while dream interpretations have evolved, certain concepts have remained fixed over time. These concerns especially pertain to how “dream logic” functions. Despite their literary works and narratives being written centuries apart, there are still connections between Shakespeare and Joyce in this respect. This finding presents a new scholarly perspective and contributes to the field of “dream studies” from both authors. This study will primarily focus on two characters in the respective works and analyse their dual transformation into bizarre, horse-like creatures. They are specifically Bottom from A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the monstrous “Willingdone” figure from Finnegans Wake. I will use “dream logic” as an analytical tool to decode the multi-layered reasons behind each man’s transformation. I also investigate the deeper reasons and hypotheses behind the disturbing presence of horses in dreams.