A Midsummer Night's Dream

Nick Bottom is the buffoonish, brash, overconfident heart of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Well-meaning but frequently misguided, Bottom wants to entertain and enlighten others but cannot help but be the butt of their jokes. Bottom is part of a group of working-class men who cannot act, but who want to put on a theater show, nevertheless. Their naïve ambition is somewhat misguided, especially when Bottom and others worry that their acting might be so good that they terrify the noblewomen in attendance and thereby land themselves in trouble. Bottom’s self-confidence is therefore self-delusion and an example of dramatic irony: The audience is aware that Bottom cannot act, but he does not know this.

This dissonance—Bottom’s unawareness of his own absurdity—contributes to his status as a comedic character. His overly dramatic speeches, his misplaced confidence, and his insistence on being taken seriously feature prominently in the opening acts of the play. Bottom’s arrogant self-delusion reaches a pinnacle when Puck turns Bottom’s head into that of a donkey—that is, an “ass,” or foolish person.. Bottom’s outward appearance becomes as absurd as his personality. Furthermore, every character notices the change except Bottom, heightening the perceptive gap that already existed between Bottom and the audience.