Is it really such a bad thing to be a lunatic? You are merely possessed by the moon, the mother goddess, who will grant you your every desire. Have you ever seen a man try to imitate a woman? That is where madness truly lies. "My daughter wants to marry this dipshit," he says, and the embodiment of the elements merely laughs. Is lunaticism not merely a marriage to the gods, Hieros Gamos with the woman-in-the-moon?
The biggest problem with focusing on the comedy in A Midsummer Night's Dream is that we miss out on the beauty that is tragedy. We miss out on the reality of the scenario. Life is rarely a comedy. Comedies end with dances, weddings, and feasts. Real life ends with divorces, funerals, and prom. We do not celebrate the creation of the realm's newest beings, but rather declare it vulgar, as Plato did, rejecting the "role" of parenthood.
As far as the Lord of Misrule goes, here's what Wikipedia has to say about that:
In Britain, the Lord of Misrule — known in Scotland as the Abbot of Unreason and in France as the Prince des Sots — was an officer appointed by lot at Christmas to preside over the Feast of Fools. The Lord of Misrule was generally a peasant or sub-deacon appointed to be in charge of Christmas revelries, which often included drunkenness and wild partying, in the pagan tradition of Saturnalia. The Church held a similar festival involving a Boy Bishop. The celebration of the Feast of Fools was outlawed by the Council of Basel that sat from 1431, but it survived to be put down again by the Catholic Queen Mary I in England in 1555.
While mostly known as a British holiday custom, the appointment of a Lord of Misrule comes from antiquity. In ancient Rome, from the 17th to the 23rd of December, a Lord of Misrule was appointed for the feast of Saturnalia, in the guise of the good god Saturn. During this time the ordinary rules of life were subverted as masters served their slaves, and the offices of state were held by slaves. The Lord of Misrule presided over all of this, and had the power to command anyone to do anything during the holiday period. This holiday seems to be the precursor to the more modern holiday, and it carried over into the Christian era.
So, in what way does mythology operate in As You Like It? I'm still trying to figure this out. I haven't reached the end of AYLI yet, but between the Battle of the Brothers, the play's start in an orchard, and the green world, there's magic all up in this bitch. Oh, and as for the green world... This is what I found. Not quite what we were looking for. There's also this song, by the Gorillaz, called O Green World. It's a bit trippy, but it's not too bad.
I'm going to fly off on wings of desire now. It's quite late. Past witching hour, in fact, and long past my bedtime. But alas. If I'd just stop blathering on, I'd get those last few minutes of sleep that will make all the difference tomorrow morning. Goodnight, sweet world.
