ares the unfathomability of his dream and feels most profoundly its power. He knows that it should be called Bottoms dream(4.1.208) for these correct reasons because, like being in love, it had no real substance. Some might argue that Bottom is a domineering, brash, self-centered personality, which would be a direct reflection on his name and a pun on the fact that he is transformed into an ass. This is a grave error. His name does not deal with his own persona but rather, describes those around him and the entirety of the play. He makes a joke of his own name to state that in fact, men are but fools in love and, as he says to Titania: reason and love keep little company together nowadays (3.1.127-128). Bottom conducts himself with such sobriety and yet such grace, with his own good sense and yet with such enjoyment that we see that he is a weaver in the deeper sense too-Bottom is supremely capable of uniting these disparate worlds. He is indeed the reel on which the thread is wound and his very person embodies the union of reality and illusion, carrying as he does Pucks trick on his real, sturdy shoulders. His love of life enables him to engage in it to the fullest, which is what unites these two experiences....
