Puck (A Midsummer Night's Dream)
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Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, is a character in William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Based on the Puck of English mythology and the púca of Celtic mythology,[1][2] Puck is a mischievous fairy, sprite, or jester. He is the first of the main fairy characters to appear, and he significantly influences events in the play. He delights in pranks such as replacing Nick Bottom's head with that of an ass.
Appearances in the play
The audience is introduced to Puck in 2.1:
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Puck serves the fairy king Oberon. Oberon is angry with Titania, the fairy queen, because she will not let him have a particular "little changeling boy" (2.1.120). Oberon sends Puck to fetch a particular flower, whereof the juice "on sleeping eyelids laid / Will make or man or woman madly dote / Upon the next live creature that it sees" (2.1.170–72). Puck is told to apply some of it to the "disdainful youth" (2.1.261) in "Athenian garments" (2.1.264), but Puck mistakes Lysander for Demetrius and applies it to Lysander. Oberon applies some of the juice to Titania, and Titania is waked by a singing Nick Bottom, whose head Puck has changed to that of an ass. Later, Puck is ordered to rectify his mistake with Lysander and Demetrius, and he creates a black fog through which he separates the "testy rivals" (3.2.358), imitating their voices until they are asleep. Puck has the final lines of the play:
Character name
The original texts of Shakespeare's plays do not have cast-lists, and are not always consistent with characters' names. Puck's case is particularly awkward. Both the Quarto and the First Folio call the character "Robin Goodfellow" on first entrance, but "Puck" later in the same scene, and they remain inconsistent. The Arden Shakespeare calls the character "Puck", and emends all stage directions (but not dialogue) that refer to the character as "Robin" or "Robin Goodfellow".[3][4]
Portrayals and notable cultural references
This list excludes non-Shakespearean references. They may be found at Puck (folklore).
Film and TV
- Mickey Rooney, in the Oscar-winning 1935 film.[5]
- Ian Holm, in the 1968 film.[6]
- Phil Daniels, in the 1981 BBC Shakespeare television production.[7]
- Razzak Khan, in the 1988 West End production.
- Robert Sean Leonard plays Puck in a high-school production in the 1989 film Dead Poets Society.[8]
- Stanley Tucci, in the 1999 film.[9]
- Tanner Cohen, in a high-school production depicted in the 2008 film Were the World Mine.[10]
- Hiran Abeysekera in the 2016 film.[11]
- Avan Jogia, in the 2017 film.[12]
- Ken Nwosu, in Upstart Crow in 2018.[13][14]
- Jonathan Whitesell plays a version of Robin Goodfellow in The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina in 2020.[15]
- Jack Gleeson played Puck in season 2 (2025) of The Sandman on Netflix,[16]
Theatre
- Gertrud Eysoldt, first on 10 April, 1893 at the Riga City Theater, and later in Max Reinhardt's 1905 production in Berlin.[17]
- Frederick Peisley in Donald Wolfit's production in 1947.[18]
- Adam Darius, with the Stora Teatern in Göteborg, Sweden in 1961.[19]
- John Kane, with The Royal Shakespeare Company in 1970.[20]
- Puck is renamed "Dr. Wheelgood" in Diane Paulus's production The Donkey Show in 1999.[21][22]
- Karenssa LeGear in Schoenberg Hall's 2007 production.[23]
- Matthew Tennyson, with Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in 2013.[24]
- Kathryn Hunter in Julie Taymor's 2013 production for the Theatre for a New Audience.[25]
- David Moorst in National Theatre Live's production at Bridge Theatre in 2019. He reprised the role in 2025.[26]
- Michael Grady-Hall in the 2026 Shakespeare's Globe Theatre production.[27]
Painting and sculpture
- Puck (1789), a painting by Joshua Reynolds
- Puck (c. 1810–1820), a painting by Henry Fuseli.[28]
- Puck (c. 1855–1856), a marble sculpture by Harriet Hosmer[29]
- The Puck Building built in 1885–1888 in Nolita, New York City, features two naked statues of Puck by sculptor Henry Baerer.[30][31] The building is named after and housed the 19th-century humor magazine Puck. The magazine was named after the character, and used a depiction and a quote of him as a logotype.[32]
- Sculpture Puck, by Carl Andersson, bronze, 1912, in the Stockholm suburb of Midsommarkransen in Sweden.[33][34]
- Puck by Brenda Putnam, marble, 1932, at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C.[35]
Music
- French pianist and composer Claude Debussy entitled one of his piano preludes La danse de Puck (Puck's dance).[36]
Literature
- Dear Brutus is a 1917 fantasy play by J. M. Barrie, the host "Lob" being the aged Puck from Shakespeare's play
- The 1976 play Robin Goodfellow by Aurand Harris retells A Midsummer Night's Dream from Puck's point of view.
- In Neil Gaiman's 1990 comic-book The Sandman story "'A Midsummer Night's Dream", Puck and other fairies watch Shakespeare's company of actors perform the play.[37]
References
- ↑ Shakespeare's sources for Puck were assembled and analysed by Winifried Schleiner (1985). "Imaginative Sources For Shakespeare's Puck" Shakespeare Quarterly 36(1): 65–68. doi:10.2307/2870083. JSTOR 2870083.
- ↑ Wall, Wendy (2001). "Why Does Puck Sweep?: Fairylore, Merry Wives, and Social Struggle". Shakespeare Quarterly. 52 (1): 67–106. doi:10.1353/shq.2001.0021. ISSN 0037-3222. JSTOR 3648647. S2CID 191580811.
- ↑ Arden Shakespeare introduction and text of A Midsummer Night's Dream
- ↑ "Robin Goodfellow or Puck | A Midsummer Might's Dream | Royal Shakespeare Company". www.rsc.org.uk. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
- ↑ James, Clive (17 September 2016). "Mickey Rooney hammed it up rotten as Puck". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
- ↑ Clarke, Andrew. "Shake up your Shakespeare: 10 innovative plays for today". East Anglian Daily Times. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
- ↑ Dobson, Michael; Wells, Stanley; Sharpe, Will; Sullivan, Erin (2015). The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191058158. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
- ↑ Burnett, Mark Thornton; Streete, Adrian; Wray, Ramona (31 October 2011). The Edinburgh Companion to Shakespeare and the Arts. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 9780748649341. Retrieved 15 October 2017 – via Google Books.
- ↑ Shakespeare, William (1905). A Midsummer Night's Dream. Sourcebooks, Inc. p. 70. ISBN 9781402226809. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
- ↑ Richards, Stuart James (2017). The Queer Film Festival: Popcorn and Politics. Springer. p. 191. ISBN 9781137584380. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
- ↑ "Meet the cast of A Midsummer Night's Dream". Radio Times. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
- ↑ "Review | This new 'Midsummer Night's Dream' movie is set in Hollywood. Sounds cool, no? Wrong". Washington Post. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
- ↑ "BBC Two – Upstart Crow, Series 3, Lord, What Fools These Mortals Be!, If we shadows have offended". BBC. 28 August 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
- ↑ "Upstart Crow – S3 – Episode 1: Lord, What Fools These Mortals Be!". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
- ↑ Sorren, Martha. "Robin From Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Part 3 Has Shakespearean Roots". Refinery29.com. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
- ↑ Roots, Kimberly (2 July 2024). "The Sandman Season 2: Game Of Thrones' Jack Gleeson, Pose's Indya Moore, The Nevers' Ann Skelly And More Join Cast". TVLine. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
- ↑ "Digitale Bibliothek - Münchener Digitalisierungszentrum" (in German). Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ↑ "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 17 January 1948. p. 42. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
- ↑ The Music Magazine/Musical Courier. 1961. p. 57.
- ↑ Shakespeare, William (1905). A Midsummer Night's Dream. Sourcebooks, Inc. p. 14. ISBN 9781402226809. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
- ↑ Aucoin, Don (14 September 2009). "Dream in 'Donkey Show' is Shakespearean". Boston.com. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
- ↑ Wollman, Elizabeth L. (2009). The Theater Will Rock: A History of the Rock Musical, from Hair to Hedwig. University of Michigan Press. p. 215. ISBN 9780472034024.
- ↑ Sanders, Kim (31 January 2007). "Heating Up 'Midsummer'". Daily Bruin. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
- ↑ Shakespeare, William (2016). The New Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199591152.
- ↑ "A Midsummer Night's Dream". TheaterMania. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
- ↑ "A Midsummer Night's Dream | National Theatre". www.nationaltheatre.org.uk. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
- ↑ "A Midsummer Night's Dream | Summer 2026 | What's On". Shakespeare's Globe. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
- ↑ Sillars, Stuart (2006). Painting Shakespeare: The Artist as Critic, 1720-1820. Cambridge University Press. pp. 241–242. ISBN 978-0-521-85308-8. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
- ↑ "Puck". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
- ↑ Finn, Robin (19 September 2013). "Penthouses for the Puck Building". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
- ↑ Alleman, Richard (2013). New York: The Movie Lover's Guide: The Ultimate Insider Tour of Movie New York. Crown/Archetype. p. 283. ISBN 9780804137782. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
- ↑ Kahn, Michael Alexander; West, Richard Samuel (2014). PUCK: What Fools These Mortals Be!. IDW Publishing. p. 13. ISBN 9781623026691.
- ↑ "Puck". www.skulptur.stockholm.se. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
- ↑ "Denna gestalt skulle alla oberoende av kön kunna spela". BÄTTRE STADSDEL. 7 March 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
- ↑ Rubenstein, Charlotte Streifer, American Women Sculptors: A History of Women Working in Three Dimensions, G. K. Hall and Co. Boston, 1990 p. 248
- ↑ Walsh, Stephen (2018). Debussy: A Painter in Sound. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-5247-3193-9.
- ↑ Levenson, Jill L.; Ormsby, Robert (27 March 2017). The Shakespearean World. Taylor & Francis. p. 386. ISBN 9781317696193. Retrieved 12 October 2017 – via Google Books.
External links
- File:Commons-logo.svg Media related to Puck (elf) at Wikimedia Commons
Template:A Midsummer Night's Dream Template:Italic disambiguation