What is Comedic and what is comic about A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare?

The Comedic of A
Midsummer Night's Dream would refer to the elements of the play fit the
structure of a classic Comedy.  These criteria were used by the ancient Greeks and
Romans and adapted a bit by Shakespeare, but were definitely considered "rules" to
follow in writing a play called a Comedy.  The structure of a Comedy in the classical
sense doesn't have that much to do with whether the play is funny or
not.

The comic aspects of the
play would be any events or bits of text that are meant to be funny.   For a play, some
of the comic elements can be found by simply referring to the text, but much that is
comic will be added by the actors playing the parts and can only be observed in watching
the play performed live.

Some examples of the Comedic
structure of A Midsummer Night's Dream
are:

• It ends in at least one marriage.  This
  play, in fact, ends in three marriages.


• It contains pairs
  of lovers who are either in love when the play begins (Lysnader and Hermia, Theseus and
  Hippolyta), must "win" each other's love (Demetrius and Helena) or are engaged in a
  "battle of the sexes" (Titania and Oberon).


• It contains
  complications to the lover's being together.


• It contains
  some issues of appearance versus reality, and some practices of deception that
  complicate the play's plot.


• It involves the struggles of
  youth against their elders as well as the society of the world of Athens versus the
  society found in the woods.

Some examples of
comic events in the play are:

• All of the
  Mechanicals, including the play within a play that they perform in Act V.  By the way,
  this comic play is meant to be a spoof of another classic play structure -- a
  Tragedy.


• The tricks played on both Bottom and the Lovers
  by Puck, and the mix-ups that ensue (especially the comic fight between the Lovers in
  Act III).


• Bottom himself.  This character is the main
  "clown" of the play, and is meant to spoof all the overly-dramatic,stage-hogging actors
  that Shakespeare knew.  Most everything that Bottom says and does is meant to be
  comic.

For more on these terms and A
Midsummer Night's Dream, please follow the links
below.