A Midsummer Night's Dream Art and Culture Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Act.Scene.Line). Line numbers correspond to Folger's online edition.

Quote #13

PUCK
If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended:
That you have but slumbered here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream, (5.1.440-445)

In the Epilogue to A Midsummer Night's Dream, Puck encourages the audience to think of Shakespeare's play as nothing "but a dream." Why make such a comparison?  Like dreams, plays aren't real— they're the product of imagination and fantasy and involve the momentary suspension of reality.