  April 26, 1564 (Baptized) in Stratford-on-Avon  Married Anne Hathaway when he was 18 and had three children  The Lord Chamberlain’s Men first performed.

  April 26, 1564 (Baptized) in Stratford-on-Avon  Married Anne Hathaway when he was 18 and had three children  The Lord Chamberlain’s Men first performed in the Theatre as women were not permitted on the stage  The Globe Theatre was the first theatre built and run by actors  Died in Stratford on April 23, 1616  Most famous playwright in history  38 plays, 154 sonnets Shakespeare

 The Globe

  Divided into three categories: Comedy, history, tragedy  Comedies are usually characterized by:  A light-hearted tone  A struggle of young lovers to overcome difficulty  Separation  Mistaken identities  A clever servant  Heightened tensions, often within family  Multiple, intertwining plots  Frequent punning  A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comedy Plays

 Plays continued  Histories  Any of Shakespeare’s plays that retell the story of lives or specific events within their lives.  Examples: King John, Henry V, Richard II  Tragedies  Characterized by a tragic hero whose flaw usually leads to their downfall and a lot of people dying.  Examples: Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, Othello

 A Midsummer Night’s Dream  "Midsummer Night" is traditionally June 23/24, a festival of partying and dancing and superstitions regarding enchantment and witchcraft, when midsummer madness, probably associated with the heat, brings about an alternate state of mind "when people are most apt to imagine fantastic experiences"  Midsummer is celebrated between June 21-June 25.  Centered upon the summer solstice  http://public.wsu.edu /~delahoyd/shakespea re/mnd1.html http://public.wsu.edu /~delahoyd/shakespea re/mnd1.html

  Athens, Greece Setting

 Plots  Main Plot  Fairies drug Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius and Helena, four young people, to make them fall in and out of love with each other and back into love with each other again  Subplot  The wedding of Duke Theseus and Hippolyta (an Amazon queen who the Duke defeated) is coming up. To celebrate the wedding, the Mechanicals, a group of working class people turned actors, is practicing to perform a play for the wedding.

  Son of Aegeus, A King of Athens  Greek for "institution“  Reformer and social order  Strength Theseus

  Slayed Minotaur with his bare hands Theseus and Minotaur

Queen of the Amazons (island) Queen of the Amazons (island) Kidnapped to marry Kidnapped to marry Powerful Powerful Girdle (power belt) Girdle (power belt)

 Pyramus and Thisbe - pair of ill-fated lovers

  These are topics the play covers. To make a  theme, answer what message the play is  sending about each topic below:  Love  Art and culture  Transformation  Gender  Versions of reality  Foolishness and folly  Humans and the natural world  The supernatural Themes

  A sprite  Mischievous  Either plays tricks on people or helps them with chores depending on his mood  Brags about the trouble he has caused the villagers such as ruining kegs of ale or butter that housewives spend their mornings churning Puck (Robin Goodfellow)

  Bottom – A weaver, one of the “Mechanicals  Peter Quince -One of the “Mechanicals”  Gives the prologue for the play performed for the wedding  Flute - One of the “Mechanicals”  Plays the role of “Thisbe” in the play they perform called “Pyramus and Thisbe”  Starveling - One of the “Mechanicals”  Plays the role of Moonshine in “Pyramus and Thisbe”

  Snug - One of the Mechanicals  While performing in the play, he tells the ladies in the audience not to worry because he’s only pretending to be a lion  Snout - One of the “Mechanicals”  Plays the role of a wall in their play  Philostrate - Party planner for Duke Theseus  Official title is “Master for the Revels” which was a job in the court during Shakespeare’s time. Duties were to organize the entertainment for the monarch and decide what could be performed. The job was basically a censor  Philostrate doesn’t think the Mechanical’s play is good enough for the Duke to see  Duke Theseus insists on seeing it to which Philostrate replies, “No, my noble lord / It is not for you: I have heard it over / And it is nothing, nothing in the world" (5.1.4).

  Theseus  Duke of Athens, most powerful  His wedding to Hippolyta is the subject of the beginning and the end of the play  Hippolyta  Amazon Queen  Marries the Duke of Athens  The Amazons are a mythological group of warrior women

  Oberon  King of the Fairies  Master of Puck  Husband of Titania  Titania  Queen of the Fairies  Oberon’s wife  Expert in magic  Gracious, yet sassy  Raising a little boy from India and refuses to give him up  Worries about the natural order that gets upset when her and Oberon have a quarrel  Stands up for what she believes in

 The Changling  The Indian boy Titania is caring for  Causes problems in Titania’s relationship with Oberon because she spends all her time with the boy and Oberon wants the boy to perform errands for him.  Does not have any lines  In some performances of the play, he doesn’t even appear on stage  Still important because of his role in Titantia and Oberon’s relationship

  Lysander  Hermia’s boyfriend  Wants to get married  Hermia’s father is against the marriage  Runs off with Hermia to elope  Puck drugs him in the woods by mistake and he falls in love with Helena  Puck gives him an antidote later  Hermia  Daughter of Egeus  Betrothed to Demetrius by her father but loves Lysander  Her father wants her killed for disobeying him (which is allowed under Athenian law)  Is brought before Duke Theseus for disobeying her father’s wishes and stands up for herself

  Demetrius  Betrothed to Hermia  Hermia doesn’t love him and wants to marry Lysander  The fairies drug him so he falls in love with Helena and marries her in the end  Helena  In the beginning of the play, no one is in love with Helena  She spends her time thinking about love and dismisses it  In the end though, she becomes a fool for love  Pities herself often

  April 26, 1564 (Baptized) in Stratford-on-Avon  Married ____________________________when he was 18 and had three children  The Lord Chamberlain’s Men first performed in the Theatre as ____________________ were not permitted on the __________________  The ________________________________was the first theatre built and run by actors  Died in Stratford on ____________________________  Most famous playwright in history  __________ plays, ________________ sonnets Shakespeare

 The Globe

  Divided into three categories: _________________, history, tragedy  Comedies are usually characterized by:  A _______________________________________  A struggle of young lovers to overcome difficulty  _________________________________________  Mistaken identities  ______________________________________________________  Heightened tensions, often within family  Multiple, intertwining plots  _______________________________________________________  A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comedy Plays

 Plays continued  _____________________  Any of Shakespeare’s plays that retell the story of lives or _______________ events within their lives.  Examples: King John, Henry V, Richard II  ______________________  Characterized by a __________________ hero whose flaw usually leads to their downfall and a lot of people dying.  Examples: Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, Othello

 A Midsummer Night’s Dream  "Midsummer Night" is traditionally June 23/24, a festival of partying and dancing and superstitions regarding enchantment and witchcraft, when midsummer madness, probably associated with the heat, brings about an alternate state of mind "when people are most apt to imagine _______________________ experiences"  ____________________ is celebrated between June 21-June 25.  Centered upon the _____________________  http://public.wsu.edu /~delahoyd/shakespea re/mnd1.html http://public.wsu.edu /~delahoyd/shakespea re/mnd1.html

  _____________________ Setting