Shakespeare uses language and word choice to reflect the characterization and social status of the three groups in Midsummer mostly by varying his meter. The Athenians speak in perfect iambic pentameter (a line of ten syllables alternating unstressed/stressed) and their word choice reflects the romanticism of sonnets. For example, when they plan to escape to the woods, Hermia says "In that same place thou hast appointed me, /
To-morrow truly will I meet with thee." This rhyming couplet concludes their conversation as it would conclude a sonnet. The fairies speak mostly in trochaic tetramater (a line of eight syllables alternating stressed/unstressed). This type of language was typical for characters of a magical nature in Shakespeare's plays. For example, Puck at the end says "If we shadows have offended / Think but this and all is mended". Again, the fairies speak in many rhymes which gives them a more magical feel, and the change in rhythm sets them apart from the Athenians. Finally, the Actors/Laborers speak in mostly blank verse. This is a type of poetry that does not follow a set rhythm or meter. It looks more like paragraphs of writing. For example, when calling the actors together Quince says "Here is the scroll of every man's name, which is thought fit, through all Athens, to play in our
interlude before the duke and the duchess, on his wedding-day at night." This free type of writing is used to show that the characters are uneducated and less intelligent than those who speak in meter.
