ide of it, like the one he wore upon his head in what he believes was a dream. Man is but an ass Bottom says. Hoffman has been trying to show this to us the entire time, by having the children and townspeople mock Bottom, his wife not understand him. Its only in the fairy world, when he is an ass, that people dont act that way. If Bottom appeared to Titania as a human, he very possibly could have been mocked in the fairy world. But as an ass physically, he is a symbol to everything that he isnt in actuality. Puck says in an earlier scene what fools these mortals be. Its as if in this context, Bottom is immortal, for he is the least foolish of them all.Bottom returns home in the second scene of act four. In the text it appears that his fellow mechanicals are more concerned they will not be able to perform then with Bottoms whereabouts. However, Hoffman gives love into these men for their friend. They are very concerned about him. When Bottom enters, it becomes a celebration. Once again, Hoffman is showing the theme of the universal power of love, this time through men of the same sex, and creatures of the same species for that matter. For the first time, Hoffman really stretches the text in Act IV. As it is writ, the performance is not a success, rather its a mockery. They mechanicals are laughed at, and dismissed. Hoffman however, say this as an opportunity to prove that men are in fact asses. The prologue given by Peter Quince is omitted. This probably because it makes the play look like a failure before it begins, and since Hoffman wanted to convey s triumph by the lower class, he removed it. The play starts the same, Bottom is big and outdoes even himself, wall and moonshine are greeted in a crude manner, and Flute as Thisby of course is laughed at, because he is in a wig, dress and speaking in a high voice as a women would. Lion however, is held tenderly by the women, because Hoffman portrays Snug the joiner as b...
