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Nick Bottom

A Midsummer Night's Dream · 50 speeches across 5 scenes

An overconfident weaver who leads the Mechanicals' play-within-a-play. Bottom's comic pride and transformation into an ass make him the play's central fool.

Who they are

Bottom is the comic heart of the subplot, a blustering amateur actor whose arrogance is both laughable and endearing. He dominates the Mechanicals' rehearsals, insisting on playing every part and misunderstanding classical allusions. His transformation by Puck—donning an ass's head—leads to an absurd romantic encounter with Titania, Queen of the Fairies. Though a buffoon, his energy and resilience make him a natural leader; his final performance as Pyramus is a masterpiece of unintentional comedy.

Playing them

Play Bottom with unshakable confidence—he never doubts his own brilliance, even when wrong. Physicality is key: broad gestures, over-enunciated lines, and a constant need to be the center of attention. For the ass's head scene, mix human pomposity with animal instincts (braying laughter, twitching ears). The Pyramus death scene should be ridiculously over-the-top, embracing the play's meta-theatricality.

Appearance

Typically costumed as a humble weaver (simple tunic, workman's apron) that contrasts with his grandiose self-image. The ass's head is a comic mask or prosthetics—the bigger and more absurd, the better. After the spell, he may have hay in his hair or a dazed, blissful expression.

Worth knowing

Bottom is a type of the 'rude mechanical' from classical comedy—a craftsman intruding into elite culture. His name puns on weaving (a 'bottom' is a skein of thread) and his donkey-like stubbornness. Shakespeare drew on folklore of the 'wise fool' and the 'man turned ass' motif found in Apuleius's The Golden Ass.

Where they appear

Play Nick Bottom

Take the part and Yorick reads every other role aloud, following you line by line as you speak.

Rehearse A Midsummer Night's Dream on your phone: App Store · Google Play

Shakespeare the way it was meant to be had — out loud

These plays were written to be performed, not silently read. Yorick is a rehearsal app that lets you perform them: you take a part in any of Shakespeare’s 38 plays, and Yorick reads every other role aloud, listens while you speak your lines, keeps your place, and prompts you the moment you dry.

It is built for the person who has to be off book by tech week — school and college productions, community theatre, festivals, drama students and classical auditions — and for anyone who wants to hear a scene rather than skim it. Alongside the performance you get a plain-English translation of every speech, scene context, performance notes, and the ability to ask about any line and get an answer that already knows the play, the scene and who is speaking.

The text is the public-domain Cambridge/Globe edition. Translations and notes are AI-generated rehearsal aids for actors and students, not a scholarly apparatus. Yorick runs in a browser with nothing to install, and on iPhone and Android.