Intro to A Midsummer Night’s Dream By William Shakespeare

Shakespeare’s Comedies A Midsummer Night’s Dream is categorized as one of Shakespeare’s Comedies. Shakespearean Comedies can be identified by the following: They involve weddings/marriages They are more light-hearted in tone Typically, no one dies There are multiple intertwining plots Involve deception – such as mistaken identities They have happy endings

Summary (I) Theseus, the Duke of Athens, is preparing for his marriage to Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. Egeus seeks the Duke’s help because his daughter, Hermia, will not agree to marry Demetrius because she’s in love with Lysander. The Duke tells Hermia to obey her father, or either die or accept a life as a nun. Lysander and Hermia plan to elope, and they tell Helena (who is in love with Demetrius, but he hates her and loves Hermia). The lovers run away from Athens but get lost in the woods. They are followed by Demetrius, and then by Helena, who has told him of their intentions. Oberon, king of the fairies, is arguing with his queen, Titania, over an Indian boy she refuses to give him. Oberon overhears Helena and Demetrius arguing and sends his servant, Puck, to get a flower whose juice has the power to make people fall in love with the first creature they see when they wake from sleep. He instructs Puck to put some drops on Demetrius’ eyes. Puck mistakenly puts the flower juice on the eyes of Lysander. When he is woken by Helena he immediately falls in love with her and rejects Hermia.

Summary (II) Some workers are rehearsing a play, Pyramus and Thisbe for Theseus’s wedding day. Bottom, the weaver, is to play the lover, Pyramus, while Flute, the bellows-mender, is to play Thisbe. Puck overhears their rehearsals in the woods and he plays a trick on them by giving Bottom an ass’s head which frightens the others away. Bottom is lured towards the sleeping Titania whom Oberon has treated with the flower juice. When she wakes, she falls in love with the ass and entertains him with her fairies, but when Bottom falls asleep beside her, Oberon restores Titania’s sight and wakes her. She is appalled at the sight of what she has been in love with and is reunited with Oberon. Puck removes the ass’s head and Bottom returns to Athens and rejoins his friends as they prepare to perform their play. Oberon puts magic juice on Demetrius’s eyes so that both he and Lysander pursue Helena until the four lovers fall asleep, exhausted. Puck puts juice on Lysander’s eyes and he wakes to fall back in love with Hermia. Happily reunited to each other, Lysander with Hermia, Demetrius with Helena, they agree to share the Duke’s wedding day.

The three worlds The story of A Midsummer Night’s Dream revolves around the colliding of three “worlds” This includes the worlds of: The Athenians The Fairies The Workers (or “Mechanicals”)

Characters: Athenians (human): Theseus – Duke of Athens Hippolyta – Queen of the Amazons, betrothed to Theseus Philostrate – Master of the Revels Egeus – father of Hermia, wants her to marry Demetrius Hermia – in love with Lysander Helena – in love with Demetrius Lysander – in love with Hermia Demetrius – in love with Hermia at first but later loves Helena Helen & Hermia Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius

CHARACTERS THE FAIRIES (NON-HUMAN): Oberon – Titania's husband and King of the Fairies Titania – Oberon's wife and Queen of the Fairies Robin Goodfellow/Puck – servant to Oberon Peaseblossom – fairy servant to Titania Cobweb – fairy servant to Titania Moth – fairy servant to Titania Mustardseed – fairy servant to Titania First Fairy, Second Fairy Bottom & Titania Robin Goodfellow, or “Puck”

Characters workers, “mechanicals” (human): Peter Quince – carpenter, leads the troupe and plays Prologue Nick Bottom – weaver, plays Pyramus Francis Flute – bellows-mender, plays Thisbe Robin Starveling – tailor, plays Moonshine Tom Snout – tinker, plays Wall Snug – joiner, plays Lion Workers performing Pyramus & Thisbe Nick Bottom