Metaphysical Connotations of the Dream as a Liquifying Trope in 16^th – 17^th Century Comedies and their Contemporary Applicability for the 21^st Century Human: A Midsummer Night’s Dream and La Vida Es Sueño

The aim of this paper is to investigate the philosophical connotations of the trope of the dream in William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and in Calderón de la Barca’s La vida es sueño. What are the authors’ auctorial catalysts in connecting this trope to their key characters? How do these auctorial devices connect the plays to the needs of the contemporary reader, searching for solutions to the challenges of the 21^st century modus vivendi?