Shakespeare’s Comedies A Midsummer Night’s Dream Introduction

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, in the year 1564 Let’s start with a quiz!

Shakespeare wrote three types of plays. What are they? Tragedies Comedies Histories

The name of Shakespeare’s famous theater was The Globe

Shakespeare wrote much of his plays in unrhymed iambic pentameter, also known as Blank verse

Low social class / behavior Shakespeare has his characters speak in prose to show their Low social class / behavior

Comedies vs. Tragedies Why are tragedies considered tragic? Comedies, on the other hand, have happy endings. Comedies often include Greater emphasis on situations rather than characters A struggle for young lovers Deception (often mistaken identity) Multiple plots Different types of comedy, including slapstick, puns, practical jokes, and bawdy humor Pastoral setting Often ends with marriage Comedies vs. Tragedies

A Midsummer Night’s Dream Written early in Shakespeare’s career Intertwined plots: Theseus and Hippolyta’s wedding; the artisans; the lovers in the woods Set in Athens, Greece Fairies, sprites, and laborers A Midsummer Night’s Dream

AMND continued What is Midsummer Night? One of the nights of the year when sprites were powerful Flowers gathered on MN were magical People dream of their true loves; sometimes go insane AMND continued

AMND continued Important questions: What is love? How and why do people fall in and out of love? Are lovers in control of themselves and their destinies? Which is more real: reason or passion? AMND continued

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream does not always do exactly what we might expect, and in this way it keeps its audience guessing…” -Catherine Belsey