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Movies A Midsummer Night's Dream, Wood Love, Opening Night Played by Roger Rees, Frank McHugh, Joss Ackland, Nick Zayas, Ernst Gronau Similar Robin Starveling, Francis Flute, Snug, Nick Bottom, Tom Snout | ||
Andy mccain as peter quince the prologue
Peter Quince is a character immortalized in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. He is one of the six mechanicals of Athens who perform the play which Quince himself authored, "The Most Lamentable Comedy and Most Cruel Death of Pyramus and Thisbe" for the Duke Theseus and his wife Hippolyta at their wedding. Titania's Fairies also watch from a distance: Moth, Peaseblossom, Cobweb and Mustardseed. His name is derived from "quines" or "quoins", which are wooden wedges used by carpenters.
Contents
- Andy mccain as peter quince the prologue
- Peter quince at the clavier by wallace stevens
- Playwriting
- Characterization
- References
Peter quince at the clavier by wallace stevens
Playwriting
Quince's amateurish playwriting is usually taken to be a parody of the popular mystery plays of the pre-Elizabethan era, which were also produced by craftspeople. His metrical preferences refer to vernacular ballads. Despite Quince's obvious shortcomings as a writer, Stanley Wells argues that he partly resembles Shakespeare himself. Both are from a craftsmanly background, both work quickly and both take secondary roles in their own plays. Robert Leach makes the same point.
In performing the play Quince recites the prologue but struggles to fit his lines into the meter and make the rhymes. The noble audience makes jocular comments, whilst the rest of the mechanicals struggle (all except Bottom, who rather confidently improvises).
Characterization
Traditionally, Peter Quince is portrayed as a bookish character, caught up in the minute details of his play, but as a theatrical organizer. However, in the 1999 film version of A Midsummer Night's Dream, he is portrayed by Roger Rees as a strong character extremely capable of being a director. It is he who leads the search party looking for Nick Bottom in the middle of the play.
Many interpret Quince to be an author surrogate, representing William Shakespeare, albeit a comical version of himself.
