A Midsummer Night’s Dream Act One

Midsummer’s Night Traditionally celebrated on June 24th (summer solstice) A rural festival, when people left the city and headed for the woods, where they danced and celebrated, had bonfires, and told stories of faeries and witches During this time, country festivals came under attack (wasteful and anti-Christian), so it is interesting that Shakespeare incorporates rural holidays into his work (although both the court and church tried to make these festivals more Christian and less about natural magic)

Four Separate Plots (We encounter three in the first act) Plot One: The wedding of Theseus to the Amazon queen, Hippolyta Plot Two: The four young lovers and their struggles to make matches (Hermia, Helena, Lysander, and Demetrius) Plot Three: The craftsmen plan an entertainment for the upcoming wedding Plot Four: The battle between Oberon and Titania (the king and queen of the faeries)

Theseus and Hippolyta In Greek myth, Theseus was a hero who defeated the minotaur at the center of the Labyrinth with the aid of Ariadne (he deserted her afterwards) Hippolyta was queen of the Amazons, warrior women, abducted by Theseus after he defeated her forces The Amazons usually represented barbarous foreigners for the Greeks Copy of a Roman statue of “The Wounded Amazon”

Act One, Scene One How does Shakespeare portray the responses of Hippolyta and Theseus to their upcoming wedding? How does Theseus depict his feelings for Hippolyta? Female agency is circumscribed in early modern society—Egeus claims ownership of his daughter (“As she is mine, I may dispose of her”), which is upheld by the Athenian law in the play and the English law and custom in Shakespeare’s world According to the “Great Chain of Being,” women were inferior to men and had little say about whom they married—thus, Hermia should be “as a form of wax” Does Hermia assert herself in this act? What sort of claims does she make about her self and her desires?

The Lovers How does Lysander win Hermia’s love? Notice the use of the eyes throughout this section; it is through the individual gaze that each character defines desire Who has the ability to control female desire in this act? The father? The male suitor? The female? In this scene, how does Shakespeare overturn gender stereotypes? How does Helena differ from Hermia? How are the two men different? How are they the same?

Act One, Scene Two While most plays in this era were written about the nobility, Shakespeare incorporates the lower class characters into A Midsummer Night’s Dream Note that their professions are linked to the theater: weaver, joiner, carpenter, tailor They are called the “rude mechanicals,” meaning that they are uncivil or “uncivilized” artisans, which suggests both their uneducated status and their creative abilities Which aspect does Shakespeare highlight more prominently?