Nick Bottom or Bottom, can be argued to be the glue that holds the play (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) together. Bottom sits in the very center the arguments and tricks of the fairies,  the conversations and marriage of the lovers and even the complications within his own acting troupe. He appears in almost every scene and appears on stage with every single character at one point or another. Bottom has his head transformed into a Donkey’s(pardon the pun but I guess you can say he was talking out of his ass afterwards) and becomes the subject of adoration of the bewitched Titania. The title of the play may well refer to the the scene where Titania surrounds bottom with the wonders of the fairy world.

Bottom is the play’s fool. he is loud, uncouth and never hesitant to interject his own “wisdom” into someone else’s conversions or acting. However, unlike many of the other characters in the play, like Oberon and Titania, Bottom is never afraid to speak his mind and be true to himself. even with a terrible performance Pyramus and Thisbe, at the end of the play, Bottom is completely satisfied with simply being true to himself. He plays his role with passion and fervor despite his clearly awful acting.

My question is: what is your opinion of Bottom’s truth that he so proudly parades about. What do you think of how it contrasts the other characters who reserve their emotions or hide them in the woods (the lovers)?

Titania Adoring the Ass-headed Bottom. 

By Henry Fuseli 1790

Oil on canvas