David Wiles’ essay “The Carnivalesque in A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is largely a critique of a view held by the Russian philosopher and scholar Mikhail Bakhtin regarding the carnivalesque.  He does this principally through an examination of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and how the play relates to carnivals in the time of Shakespeare.

Wiles first objective is to describe the two main schools of thought on the matter, going back to each one’s primary progenitor.  He first explains the utopian view brought about by Plato.  This perspective describes carnivals as restoring human connection with the gods.  Aristotle is responsible for the other school of thought, the “safety valve theory”, in which carnival serves a more individualistic purpose and allows participants a form of release.

Wiles then goes on to show which of these camps Bakhtin’s opinion fits best.  To do this he examines Bakhtin’s ideas relating to body semiotics.  The Russian philosopher believed that a carnivalesque body was at one with the universe, very similar to the utopian theory which believes that carnivals bring people together with the gods. Wiles then takes a brief look at what more contemporary critics have said about Bakhtin’s theories.  He examines a critic, Michael Bristol, who is both a supporter of Bakhtin and a critic of safety valve theorists such as C.L. Barber.   Wiles draws the conclusion that Bathkin fits in better with utopian theorists.

Wiles then critiques a view championed by Bakhtin that carnivals were only for the commoners and not embraced by society’s elites.  To argue against this, Wiles states that festivals were supported by nobles in order to prove their “Englishness” to those living in cities (who shied away from such things). He also does this by positing that A Midsummer Night’s Dream was originally performed at the wedding of an aristocrat’s daughter.  He then goes on to support this claim, as well as describe the carnivalesque elements of the play.

Crucial to Wiles’ claim is that he believes the play was performed at a wedding just after Valentine’s Day.  To bolster this assertion, Wiles cites many old rites associated with the holiday, with two especially standing out.  First is the practice of drawing lots to determine one’s Valentine and then chasing the person whose name was drawn.   This often ended in person A chasing person B (who had drawn a different name) who was chasing person C who was chasing person D.  Wiles points out the obvious similarity to the scenario in which Helena pined for Demetrius, who wanted to marry Hermia, who in turn wished to wed Lysander.  The other rite Wiles brings up is the practice of the first person one sees in the morning becoming that person’s Valentine.  This is strikingly similar to the properties of the magical juice doled out by Puck.

Wiles describes one of the most carnivalesque aspects of the play as being Bottom with the head of an ass.  He describes how the costume probably would have looked at the time and how grotesque it would have been.  He then claims that all of the Valentine’s Day references throughout the play make it very carnivalesque as well, and that they also point to it being performed at an aristocratic wedding.  These two factors combine to form a strong argument against Bahktin’s opinion that festivals are merely for the lower classes by showing an aristocratic appreciation of carnivals.  Wiles then concludes by restating his main points.