A Midsummer Night’s Dream Week 2 Sessions – Session 1

In Pairs, Ms M will give you a list of some of the Themes of the Play. Discuss these and make notes on some of the moments / scenes in the play where these themes are addressed / demonstrated. You can access the playscript on the ipad.

Shakespeare’s Themes on 3 Levels Individual Level – the character, their emotions, their psychological state etc Social Level – family, court, nation etc Natural Level – the world around them, ‘the different realms’

13B – Conflict Love Order & Disorder Appearance & Reality

13D – Change Magic & Superstition Comedy Marriage

Homework – Before next lesson Each Year 13 Class has done one set of themes. You must go onto the Revision Blog & make notes from the other classes mindmaps as well as your own ideas!

A Midsummer Night’s Dream Week 2 Sessions – Session 2 A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Historical Context of A Midsummer Night’s Dream Written in the mid-1590s, probably shortly before Shakespeare turned to Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of his strangest and most delightful creations, and it marks a departure from his earlier works and from others of the English Renaissance. The play demonstrates both the extent of Shakespeare’s learning and the expansiveness of his imagination. The range of references in the play is among its most extraordinary attributes: Shakespeare draws on sources as various as Greek mythology (Theseus, for instance, is loosely based on the Greek hero of the same name, and the play is peppered with references to Greek gods and goddesses); English country fairy lore (the character of Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, was a popular figure in sixteenth-century stories); and the theatrical practices of Shakespeare’s London (the craftsmen’s play refers to and parodies many conventions of English Renaissance theater, such as men playing the roles of women). Further, many of the characters are drawn from diverse texts: Titania comes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, and Oberon may have been taken from the medieval romance Huan of Bordeaux, translated by Lord Berners in the mid-1530s. Unlike the plots of many of Shakespeare’s plays, however, the story in A Midsummer Night’s Dream seems not to have been drawn from any particular source but rather to be the original product of the playwright’s imagination. Written in the mid-1590s, probably shortly before Shakespeare turned to Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of his strangest and most delightful creations, and it marks a departure from his earlier works and from others of the English Renaissance. The play demonstrates both the extent of Shakespeare’s learning and the expansiveness of his imagination. The range of references in the play is among its most extraordinary attributes: Shakespeare draws on sources as various as Greek mythology (Theseus, for instance, is loosely based on the Greek hero of the same name, and the play is peppered with references to Greek gods and goddesses); English country fairy lore (the character of Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, was a popular figure in sixteenth-century stories); and the theatrical practices of Shakespeare’s London (the craftsmen’s play refers to and parodies many conventions of English Renaissance theater, such as men playing the roles of women). Further, many of the characters are drawn from diverse texts: Titania comes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, and Oberon may have been taken from the medieval romance Huan of Bordeaux, translated by Lord Berners in the mid-1530s. Unlike the plots of many of Shakespeare’s plays, however, the story in A Midsummer Night’s Dream seems not to have been drawn from any particular source but rather to be the original product of the playwright’s imagination.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream: It is believed to have been written to celebrate a marriage – though whose marriage we Are not sure. There were many at court at the time. It is also believed to be based on a Poem written at the time for Elizabeth I, entitled The Faerie Queene – and it is said that the character of Titania is modelled on the Monarch. Lots of productions have Titania dressed in similar garb to Elizabeth I. It was popular play at the time, and was known to have been revived several times (most notably in 1604) due to it’s ability to reach out to all of the social classes within society. It was most likely performed at court (In the palaces or in the Inns of Court, as well as in the playhouses (The Theatre, The Globe, Blackfriars) Female roles would be played by Men Magic & Superstition in Elizabethan England.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream Key Scenes in the Play to watch out for when we are watching the Lyric version: The Opening Oberon & Titania’s argument Egeus asking Theseus for help with his daughter’s refusal to marry When the Lovers run into the forest The Machanicals rehearsing Puck putting the Love spell on the Lovers and Titania Puck turning Bottom into an Ass Titania felling in Love with Bottom The Confusion with the Lovers Everything being resolved – The weddings The performance of ‘Pyramus & Thisbe’ The ending with Puck’s Monologue How have the Lyric addressed these scenes in their modernised version?