A Midsummer Night’s Dream

William Shakespeare

>Midsummer- performed on June 24, feast of St. John

>Dream- dreamy vagueness of the play

Sources of the Plot: >Works of Plutarch, Chaucer, Ovid

• Work: Play

• Genre: Comedy

• POV: Objective Third Person (uses dialogue and without author’s commentary)

• Literary Period Written: >Renaissance, Reign of Elizabeth I

• Literary devices Used: antiphony

Historical Background:

Characterization:> heroines must resemble Queen

Elizabeth (tall and fair)

> inferior characters resemble her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots (short and dark)

Anachronism: > Vestal Virgins took vows of chastity

Society:> Daughters must obey their fathers.

Greek Mythology:>The names Theseus and Hippolyta>Existence of the Amazons

>The attempt of Leicester to win the Queen in marriage (1576). (Cupid’s misdirected arrow.)

Setting:

>Time: Mythical Period

>Place: Athens, Remote Romantic City-State

Act I

>Wedding preparations of Theseus and Hippolyta>Egeus enters and asks for Theseus help>Theseus sided with Egeus and left>Lysander and Hermia planned to elope>Helena decided to inform Demetrius>Amateur actors meet up for the Duke’s request

Act II>Titania and Oberon arrived from India

>They quarreled over an Indian boy

>End up accusing each other out of jealousy

>Oberon ordered Puck to get a Pansy plant for his revenge

>Oberon saw Helena’s unrequited love for Demetrius

>Puck arrived and Oberon instructed him to drop the juice on an Athenian Man

>Hermia and Lysander can’t find their way and decided to wait for the daylight

>Puck drops the juice into Lysander’s eyes, so does Oberon to Titania

>Helena stumbles upon the sleeping Lysander, woke him up

Act III>Titania sleeps in the bush

>The amateur actors arrived to rehearse

>During rehearsals, Puck turned Bossom’s head into an ass.

>Other actors ran away while Puck played tricks on them

>Bossom wakes Titania with his singing

>Oberon and Puck realizes their mistake

>Oberon anoints Demetrius’ eyes

>The quarreling Helena and Lysander arrived

>Demetrius awakens and declares her love for Helena

>The two men quarreled over Helena

>The two women exchanged harsh words.

>Helena admitted her mistake and begs for peace.

>Tension escalates, Hermia ran after Helena as the two men rushed for their combat.

>Oberon instructed Puck to correct his mistake as he looks for Titania to offset the power of the charm.

>Puck did what he was told.

>Titania, Demetrius and Lysander were released from the charm.

>The four were put to sleep by the King and Queen of Fairies.

>Day of Hippolyta and Theseus Wedding

>Bottom went missing for a while.

Act V>The four lovers told the newlywed their strange experience in the woods.

>Theseus asks the players to start.

>Theseus liked the play.

>The fairies came in the midnight to bless the newlywed.

SUMMARY:>Oberon instructed Puck to help the lovers

>Puck anointed the wrong man; complication arises

>Titania fell in love with an ass; Puck realized his mistake

>Oberon and Puck correct their mistakes

>Theseus and Hippolyta’s wedding took place

Conflicts

>Man vs Man (Demetrius vs Lysander) (Egeus vs Hermia) (Hermia vs Helena)

>Man vs Supernatural (The Actors vs Puck)(The Lovers vs Oberon)

>Man vs Fate (Theseus and Hippolyta)(Lysander and Hermia)(Demetrius and Helena)(Hippolyta and the throne of Athens)

>Supernatural vs Supernatural(Oberon and Titania)

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

THESEUS>The intelligent Duke, experienced warrior

>gives chances to the offender before giving a verdict

>sees being emotional as madness

>does not believe in the supernatural

HIPPOLYTA>aloof Queen of the Amazons

>accepts the decree of fate upon her

>matured and self-controlled like her husband

EGEUS>an aristocrat who lacks fatherly sympathy

>harsh in nature

>accepts the Duke’s final decision

DEMETRIUS>has a confused mind

>deserted Helena for Hermia

>arrogant, lacking in character

LYSANDER>gentler, poetic, romantic lover

>a contrast of Hermia’s fierce nature

HERMIA>fierce

>the opposite of Helena

>blunt

HELENA>timorous betroth of Demetrius

>hungry for a moment’s attention

>envious of Hermia’s beauty

>leaves everything to fate

OBERON>impersonal

>though he is King, he has limitations

>he had to depend on fate for the charm to take effect

>immature

>wanderer

TITANIA>more concerned with human welfare

>does not hold resentment like Oberon

>envied by Oberon

PUCK>alongside Bossom, contributed much to the humor of the play

>Spirit of Activity and Speed

BOTTOM (Nick Bottom)>unconscious of his egotism>loquacious>has speech defect

QUINCE (Peter Quince)>has superior intelligence over the others>patient manager of the play

Theme: >The tremendous power of vision and the dangers of relying on it.>The lawlessness of love.

Morals: When you made a mistake, make it right.

References: >Roberts, James L. Shakespeare A Midsummer Night’s Dream. © 1960. Cliffsnotes Incorporated

>(ed. Beaty, et.al.). The Norton Introduction to Literature 8th Ed. ©2002. W.W. Norton Company

Elaine Antonette P. Gunsi4 AB English A

European Literature

William Shakespeare

A Midsummer Night’s Dream