1. English 1201

2. The Characters Egeus – Hermia’s Father Lysander – loves Hermia
CITIZENS OF ATHENS
Theseus – Duke of Athens
Hippolyta – marries Theseus
Egeus – Hermia’s Father
Lysander – loves Hermia
Hermia – loves Lysander
Demetrius – loves Hermia, has her father’s blessing
Helena – loves Demetrius

3. The Characters continued
THE RUDE MECHANICALS
Nick Bottom, the weaver – plays Pyramus
Peter Quince, the carpenter – the director
Francis Flute, the bellow’s mender – plays Thisbe
Tom Snout, the tinker
Robin Starveling, the tailor
Snug, the joiner – plays the Lion
THE FAIRY WORLD
Oberon, King of the Fairies
Titania, Queen of the Fairies
Puck (Robin Goodfellow)

4. The Plot Theseus and Hippolyta are getting married in four days
Egeus comes to Theseus because Hermia, his daughter, won’t marry Demetrius, the man he has approved for her.
Hermia and Lysander love each other. Since Egeus won’t let them marry, they decide to steal away from Athens to get married.
Helena, Hermia’s friend who is in love with Demetrius, tells him of their plan.

5. The Plot continued
Nick Bottom, Peter Quince, and the rest of the Mechanicals are planning to put on a play to celebrate Thesus’ Wedding Day. The play they are rehearsing is “Pyramus and Thisbe.” They plan to rehearse in the woods, otherwise they will be “dogged with company.”
Oberon, King of the Fairies, and Titania, Queen of the Fairies, are in a quarrel over a changeling boy. Oberon with his henchman Puck (also called Robin Goodfellow) hatches a plot to steal the changeling boy from Titania.

6. Shakespeare’s Verse Iambic Pentameter Each line is ten syllables long
Each iambic foot of two syllables has one unstressed and one stressed syllables
Think of “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”
Characters of higher class and higher status speak in verse (Theseus, Egeus, the Lovers)
Characters may also speak in verse when they are among people of nobility (i.e. In front of a King or a Duke)

7. Shakespeare’s Verse Prose
Characters of lower status (the Mechanicals) speak in prose
It has no specific rhythm, rhyme, or number of syllables
Notice when the Mechanicals speak in verse