1. A Midsummer Night's Dream
An introduction to
A Midsummer Night's Dream
by William Shakespeare

2. Ovid’s Metamorphosis “Pyramus and Thisbe” Book IV of Metamorphosis
The characters are in love with one another, but they cannot be together because they are separated by a wall.
More importantly though, they are separated by their parents who forbid the relationship to progress.
The two lovers will not be denied and so plan to meet in secret one night.
However, each arrives at the arranged rendezvous point at different times, and this complicates things.
Pyramus arrives after Thisbe, but she is hidden from sight at that moment, and he believes she has been eaten by a lion because he finds a bloody scarf of hers, so he kills himself.
When Thisbe comes out of hiding, she finds her beloved dead and, too, commits suicide. 
“Pyramus and Thisbe”
Book IV of Metamorphosis

3.  Comedy – despair to happiness  Tragedy – happiness to despair
A Midsummer Night’s Dream was written by William Shakespeare in approximately 1595.
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a romantic comedy which portrays the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of amateur actors in a moonlit forest, and their interactions with the fairies who inhabit it.
Comedy - in simple terms means that the play will end happily
Romantic comedy is usually based on a mix-up in events or identities. Shakespeare’s comedies often move towards tragedies (a death or lack of of resolution) but are resolved in the nick of time.
 Comedy – despair to happiness
 Tragedy – happiness to despair
Shakespeare’s comedies often end with a wedding.

4. Background Notes:
A Midsummer Night's Dream is unusual among Shakespeare's plays in lacking a specific written source for its plot. Shakespeare, however may have used other sources for inspiration.
The wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta was described in Chaucer's "Knight's Tale" and elsewhere.
The theme of a daughter who wants to marry against her father's desires was a common theme in Roman comedy and shares similarities with Shakespeare’s tragic play Romeo and Juliet.
Bottom and his friends are caricatures of the amateur players of the time and they satirize many of the theatrical conventions of the time; for example, using young men to play the roles of women.

5. History indicates the prior to Elizabethan times, fairies were considered evil spirits who stole children and sacrificed them to the devil. Shakespeare, along with other writers, redefined fairies during this time period, turning them into gentle, albeit mischievous, spirits. Puck, for example, brags about his ability to perform harmless pranks.
The title draws on the summer solstice, Midsummer Eve, occurring June 23 and marked by holiday partying and tales of fairies and temporary insanity.

6. There are several theories at to the origins of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Some have theorized that the play might have been written for an aristocratic wedding; numerous such weddings took place in 1596.
Others suggest it was written for the Queen to celebrate the feast day of St. John. The feast of John the Baptist was celebrated as an English festival on June 24 (Midsummer Day) It was believed that on Midsummer Night that the fairies and witches held their festival. To dream about Midsummer Night was to conjure up images of fairies and witches and other similar creatures and supernatural events.
In either case, it would also have been performed at The Theatre, and, later, The Globe in London.

7. THE THREE WORLDS of 1. THE ATHENIANS:
• Theseus and his bride, Hippolyta (Theseus represents law and order.)
• The four lovers: Hermia, Helena, Demetrius, Lysander (They represent adolescent rebellion.)
• Egeus (Hermia’s father)

8. The Athenians Helena and Demetrius
Left to right: Helena, Demetrius, Lysander, Hermia
The Athenians
Theseus and Hippolyta

9. 2. THE ACTORS:
• Bottom (the rather vain “leader” of the group who wishes to play all the parts
• Other members of the cast: Quince, Flute, Starveling, Snout, Snug, Philostrate

10. THE FAIRIES:
Their realm is the woods where they interact with the humans who wander there. This setting is outside the walls of Athens and so disorder prevails.
• Titania (Queen)
• Oberon (King)
• Puck (a.k.a. Robin Goodfellow) – Oberon’s loyal helper
Puck and Oberon
Bottom and Titania

11. The three worlds come together in the woods at night: a place of magic and mystery where illusion reigns!
Shakespeare cleverly weaves together not only fairies and lovers, but also social hierarchies with the aristocratic Theseus and the "rude mechanicals," or the artisans and working men. This allows the play to become more lyrical, since it is able to draw on the rougher language of the lower classes as well as the poetry of the noblemen.

12. TOPICS in the play
In act One, Lysander laments: “The course of true love never did run smooth” ( ).
The play deals with the trials of those “in love” both in the world of the Athenians and the world of the fairies.
Because the play is a romantic comedy, the audience can enjoy the conflicts, mix ups, and misunderstandings without ever doubting that all will turn out well.
Other topics (besides “love”):
Reality versus illusion Friendship Parental authority Dreams

13. CONTRASTS Some of the contrasts in the play: The play is a study in
The contrasts add balance to the play.
Some of the contrasts in the play:
Reality vs. Illusion (Dreams) Athens vs. the forest Day vs. Night Order vs. Confusion Aristocrats vs. Workmen Tall vs. Short True love vs. False love Lyrical language vs. Rough prose

14. The Cast

15. 6:47 minutes

16. Comparing RJ and MSND Ovid’s “Pyramus and Thisbe”
Tragedy
Tragic story of two lovers
Separated by society
Human characters
Comedy
Is basically RJ plot; turned farcical
Separated by wall
Non-human characters (Lion, Moonshine, etc)

17. Obvious plot links exist between A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo and Juliet, and critics disagree about which play was written first.
Not only do both dramas emphasize the conflict between love and social convention, but the plot of “Pyramus and Thisbe,” the play-within-the-play of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, parallels that of Romeo and Juliet.
Critics have wondered if Romeo and Juliet is a serious reinterpretation of the other play, or just the opposite: Perhaps Shakespeare is mocking his tragic love story through the burlesque of “Pyramus and Thisbe” performed by the craftsmen in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

18. 9:19 minutes

20. Sunday – Thurs night/early Friday morning

21. The End