From a flower comes the turn from comedy to tragedy. But what a perfect way to start with Shakespeare. We found love, love lost and love again, sprinkled with a trickster and an ass. I was extremely amused throughout A Midsummer Night's Dream. However, with Hamlet, there appears to be more than just amusement which must have been Shakespeare's intent, for he states: "If he wants merely to amuse, then he must accept that he will be indulged only so far as he entertains, and that his credit will not go an inch further. These are modes to be avoided at all costs, though, if he has something to say that he wants his listener to believe. If he wants his listener to know that he loves him with real love, then he has to convince him. He has to prove it" (Hughes 54). Shakespeare proves his love of his listener in Hamlet. Death, betrayal, love and murder with no laughing. Shakespeare keeps me on the edge of my seat, waiting and wanting to know more and he does this without the fear of Puck sliding behind be and pushing me off of my chair. We have stepped out of the shadows of comedy and now find ourselves deep within tragedy. It is dark, but I look forward to teasing out the light in class.