How we cite our quotes: (Act.Scene.Line). Line numbers correspond to Folger's online edition.
Quote #13
PUCK
If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended:
That you have but slumbered here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream, (5.1.440-445)
In the Epilogue to A Midsummer Night's Dream, Puck encourages the audience to think of Shakespeare's play as nothing "but a dream." Why make such a comparison? Like dreams, plays aren't real— they're the product of imagination and fantasy and involve the momentary suspension of reality.