HA - A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Genre and Conventions Influences Shakespearean Comedy -The protagonists are in conflict with an overpowering force usually an opposition of old and young -The main action is about love and the protagonists in love have to overcome obstacles -There is lots of scheming, plotting and deceit within a three part structure of events go wrong, ridiculous complications to a resolution to all conflict. Influences Ovid’s Pyramus and Thisbe (Metamorphoses): Two lovers in the city of Babylon live in connected houses. They are forbidden by their parents to be wed because of their parents' rivalry, but whisper their love for each other through a crack in the wall. Pyramus mistakenly believes Thisbe to have been eaten by a lion and kills himself, as Thisbe does when she later finds his body. Pyramus’ blood has turned the mulberry fruits from white to dark red, and the gods decide to forever change their colour to this in honour of the dead lovers. Der Busant: A 15th century Middle High German Verse Narrative about a French Princess and an English Prince eloping in the forest. The Prince gets lost and becomes mad and wild. They eventually find each other and rekindle their love. Social and Historical Context and Vocabulary Staging: The play was first performed around 1595. 16th- and 17th-century audiences watched Shakespeare's plays being performed at open-air London theatres during the day. The stage had no scenery, few props, and women were played by boys with unbroken voices. The poorer ‘groundlings’ stood nearest to the stage, and wealthier spectators paid higher prices to watch from the seated galleries. Queen Elizabeth: Reigned from 1533-1603. Her reign saw England prosper and become a major player in Europe, although not all citizens supported her. She chose not to marry, maybe due to her own infertility or to prevent political instability and loss of power through her choice of husband. She defied the expectations of a patriarchal society. Setting of the play: Thessaly, Ancient Greece, Shakespeare studied the classics and would be aware of life in Greece. Greece was the birthplace of democracy and the rule of the law, there is no coincidence that it contrasts with the unruly fairy world. The fairies also derive from traditional medieval folklore. May Day: Shakespeare also refers to May Day celebrations in the play. These include waking up early, (like Theseus finding the lovers), dancing around maypoles and electing a ‘Lord of Misrule’ eg. Puck. May Day celebrates nature and spring/summer’s arrival. Magic: Many people would believe in magic and fairies. They believed that if a baby was born with a deformity that it meant a fairy had replaced the healthy baby with a ‘ fairy changeling’ when the parents weren’t looking. They also believed that if the fairy King and Queen had fallen out, then the world would become troublesome until they had made amends again. Even though the country was primarily Christian, folklore and superstition were still present. Gender: Both Athens and Elizabethan England were patriarchal societies. Women were denied all political rights and considered legally subject to their husbands. Disobedience was seen as a crime against their religion. Women who did not marry for whatever reason were forced to live in under the control of a male relative in his home or in a convent, where a woman could become a nun. Aristocratic families often required their young daughters to marry successful older men. Girls were considered eligible at the age of 14 and had to give their consent to a marriage. Key Concepts Writer’s message Shakespeare makes light of love and how erratic and uncontrollable it can be. He also highlights the contrast between living with social rules and regulations in Athens and living without control and boundaries in the Forest. Status: How do we know who is powerful in the play? Status continually changes, and is reflective in both Athens and the Forest. Language Imagery: Language which creates vivid sensory ideas in the reader’s mind, such as a representation of a specific picture or sound, eg. The image of the moon to reflect mystery and madness Simile: An explicit comparison between two things using ‘like’ or ‘as’ Metaphor: An implicit comparison between two things not using ‘like’ or ‘as’ Personification: Attributing human-like qualities to objects, ideas or animals Prose: Lines which use a natural, unstructured rhythm, similar to speech, the mechanicals speak like this Blank verse: Most characters speak in blank verse with rhyming couplets for key moments Rhyming couplet: Two successive rhyming lines, which usually signal that a character has left the stage or is falling in love Pun: A joke based on the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words which sound alike but have different meanings Soliloquy: When a character, thinking they are alone, speaks their thoughts aloud Lists: Egeus lists love tokens, Oberon lists beasts, Hermia and Lysander list obstacles to their love. Lists often reinforce an idea. Act: A part of the play and a tool to separate the performance and settings Scene: A smaller part of the act defined by changing of characters. Stage Directions: Added by the playwright to tell the actors how to move or speak Oxymoron- Two contrasting words presented together eg, dark light Key Themes and Motifs Themes: An idea, belief or message that appears more than once in a piece of literature Love: The fairies make light of it and it is shown through the various marriages and pairings of the characters. Love can be erratic and fickle but also powerful. Magic: it is used to embody the supernatural power of love. Magic happens quickly and efficiently and is a contrast to the labors and difficulty in the human world. Dreams: They are used as a way of characters explaining unusual events. Shakespeare was interested in dreams and how they occur without explanation and provide a sense of illusion. Mistaken Identity: As part of the conflict within the play characters are mistaken for someone else, for example when Puck mistakes Lysander for Demetrius. Shakespeare could be trying to say that love is fleeting here and we are not as in control of our fate as we think we are. Motif: A dominant image or idea that reappears in a piece of work Contrast: Contrasts are shown through the setting and characters such as Titania and Bottom. Structure Contrast: Scenes often contrast strongly with the one that follows them, highlighting the theme of conflict Dramatic irony: Some things are revealed to the audience before the characters, increasing tension Play within a play: The Mechanicals perform their own play in a MSND Characters Theseus- Duke of Athens who has recently been married. He is very powerful in Athens. Hippolyta- Queen of the Amazons, she is Theseus’ new bride. Egeus- A nobleman and Hermia’s father. He wants her to marry Demetrius or be killed or sent to a convent if she refuses. Hermia – a young Athenian woman who is in love with Lysander and runs away in the forest to marry him. Lysander- a young Athenian man who is in love with Hermia. Demetrius- Hermia’s suitor, Egeus wants him to marry Hermia, he follows the lovers into the forest. Helena- Hermia’s friend who is in love with Demetrius and follows him into the forest. Oberon- King of the fairies, he wants Titania to give him a changeling boy and seeks revenge on her. Titania – Queen of the fairies, she refuses to give up the changeling boy and is put under a spell to fall in love with Bottom. Robin Goodfellow/Puck- a mischievous servant of Oberon who enjoys interfering with the lives of the humans in the forest. The Mechanicals- a group of craftsmen rehearsing a play in the forest to perform at Theseus’ wedding celebrations. Bottom- one of the mechanicals who is arrogant and loud, he has a spell put on him to turn his head into a donkey’s head. Symbolism The writer uses Symbolism to present ideas or qualities. Thesus and Hippolyta – Represent order and stability Love Potion- Represents the fickle, erratic powerful nature of love The Mechanicals Play- Reflects the whole play itself. Powerful emotions shown in a comical way.