English 9/HonorsA Midsummer Night’s Dream

Ms. Barlettawww.dkjamsbarlettaenglish.weebly.com/ October 26, 2010

Characters: Athenians

•Theseus- Duke of Athens

•Hippolyta- Queen of the Amazons and betrothed (fiancé) of Theseus

•Egeus- Father of Hermia; asks Theseus’ help for forcing Hermia to marry Demetrius

•Lysander- beloved (boyfriend) of Hermia

•Hermia- beloved (girlfriend) of Lysander

•Demetrius- in love with Hermia

•Helena- in love with Demetrius

•Philostrate- Master of the Revels for Theseus

Supernatural Characters

•Oberon- King of the Fairies

•Titania- Queen of the Fairies

•Puck, a.k.a. Robin Goodfellow, servant to Oberon

•Titania's fairy servants (her "train")(Wait on Bottom):

•Peaseblossom- Fairy

•Cobweb- Fairy

•Moth- Fairy

•Mustardseed- Fairy

The Acting Troupe (Company)

•Peter Quince- carpenter, who leads the troupe of actors

•Nick Bottom- weaver; he plays Pyramus in the troupe's production of "Pyramus and Thisbe" and is transformed into a jackass (hence the name Bottom)

•Francis Flute- the bellows-mender who plays Thisbe

•Robin Starveling- the tailor who plays Moonshine

•Tom Snout-the tinker who plays Wall

•Snug-the joiner who plays Lion

Act I.i

• -Egeus, Hermia’s father, asks Theseus to help him force his daughter to marry Demetrius

• Hermia’s 3 choices: 1. Marry Demetrius; 2. Join a convent; 3. Execution (death)

• Hermia decides to run away with her beloved Lysander

• Hermia and Lysander tell Helena about their plans to elope

• Helena plans to tell Demetrius about Hermia and Lysander’s plans in order to win his love

The Love Game• Hermia is betrothed (engaged by arranged

marriage) to Demetrius, but she loves Lysander• Hermia and Lysander love each other and plan to

elope• Both Demetrius and Lysander love Hermia• Hermia does not love Demetrius• Helena loves Demetrius• No one loves Helena

Act I.ii• The actors meet and discuss the roles they will

play in the performance of Pyramus and Thisbe • Bottom wants to play all of the parts• They plan on meeting in the woods to rehearse

the following evening

Act II.i• Oberon and Titania have had an argument

because Titania refuses to give up the changeling (Indian child)

• To get revenge on Titania, Oberon asks Puck to gather “love juice” to make her fall in love with a hideous creature

• Oberon has seen Helena and empathizes with her (feels sorry for her), so he asks Puck to make Demetrius fall in love with Helena…but things do not go as planned

Act II.ii• Titania falls asleep and Oberon anoints her eyes with the

“love juice/dust”• Puck mistakes Lysander for Demetrius and sprinkles the

“love juice/dust” onto his eyes• Meanwhile, Helena follows Demetrius through the woods• Demetrius threatens Helena and tells her to leave him

alone because he does not love her• Helena loves Demetrius and refuses to give up on love• When Lysander wakes up, he sees Helena and instantly

falls in love with her• Helena thinks Lysander is making fun of her and runs

away; Demetrius follows her• Hermia awakes and finds herself abandoned by Demetrius

Act III.i

• The actors discuss how they will perform the play Pyramus and Thisbe for Theseus and Hippolyta’s wedding

• They are worried about offending the people of the Court, so they decide to omit the death scene and decide the lion will not roar

• Puck puts a false head of a jackass onto Bottom and scares all of the fellow actors

• Puck then leads Bottom to Titania who falls in love with him as soon as she awakens

Act III.ii: Oops he did it Again• Puck tells Oberon about his success with making Titania fall

in love with Bottom• Oberon realizes Puck’s mistake, so Oberon puts the love

juice/dust on Demetrius to make him fall in love with Helena

• Now both Lysander and Demetrius love Helena and no one loves Hermia (Role Reversal & Turning Point)

• Helena thinks that Lysander, Demetrius and Hermia are playing a cruel trick on her

• Hermia gets upset at Helena for stealing her love, Lysander• Puck distracts the four lovers and corrects his mistake by

putting the love juice/dust on Lysander so he will fall back in love with Hermia when he awakens

Act IV.i: It was Only Just a Dream

• Bottom and Titania fall asleep together• Oberon removes the “love spell” from Titania• Puck removes the ass’s head from Bottom• Both Titania and Bottom believe that they dreamt

the events that occurred in the forest• Oberon, Titania, and the other fairies leave • The Lovers (Hermia & Lysander and Helena and

Demetrius) are woken by Theseus, Duke of Athens and join him in returning for the marriage ceremony after telling them about the “dream” they had

• Bottom follows them back to Athens

Act IV.ii: Back to Athens we Go• -Bottom returns to Athens and the actors rehearse

the play “Pyramus and Thisbe”• Bottom and the others prepare to go to the palace

to perform at Hippolyta and Theseus’ wedding.

Act V.i: Love & Marriage• Theseus and Hippolyta discuss the “dream” the four

lovers had• The following marriages take place: • Hippolyta and Theseus• Hermia and Lysander• Helena and Demetrius

• The couples watch the play put on by Bottom & Company (the worst acting they have ever seen, making the tragedy more of a comedy)

• When the couples have gone to bed, the fairies bless the marriages

• Puck gives a final speech apologizing if they have offended anyone with their story

Review Questions

A Midsummer Night’s Dream Review Questions (Penguin Group)

Research/ Analytical Essay #1 (Honors)• This paper must be a minimum of 5-7 pages in length,

typed, double spaced and in MLA format (12 point font). We will work on this paper in class, but the majority of your paper should be written at home. This paper should not be a summary of the play, but an analysis of the play. You will be using quotes from the text to support your argument. You must also use 2-3 scholarly sources for this paper which you must quote and include in your Works Cited Page (this is in addition to the citations you will be using from the text). All students must upload their assignments to www.Turnitin.com. I will help you with the research and citations. You must choose one of the following options:

Choice 1• Write an analytical paper on A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

In this paper you will analyze each of the main characters and make an argument for the role they play and affect they have on the other characters in the play. How are they depicted? You may also discuss the minor characters in the play as well. Explain each of their situations, views on life, love, ethics, and morality. Compare and contrast them as characters. How do they interact with others (friends, loved ones, strangers)? Give examples to support your argument. For this essay, you will need to look up critical theories on this subject matter. What social commentary does Shakespeare make by using his characters as symbols? You must include 2-3 scholarly resources in addition to the text.

Choice 2• Write a research paper on the symbolism and

themes in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Focus on the symbolism of the names, the forest, and dreams. Also focus on the themes of transformation, love, and the intermingling of the societal (mortal realm) world and the supernatural world.

Due Dates• Friday, November 5th: 2 scholarly articles or books

and outline posted on the class blog (you may not have the same articles as another class member)

• Friday, November 12th: Turn in Annotated Bibliography

• Tuesday, November 23rd: Have written pages 1-3 to be turned in on www.turnitin.com; students will complete a peer review assignment

• Wednesday, December 1st: Final Paper Due (2 copies: 1 paper copy and 1 through www.turnitin.com)

• *Late assignments will not be accepted.

Suggested Books• Shakespeare for students: critical interpretations of As you like it, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, The

merchant of Venice, A midsummer night's dream, Othello, and Romeo and Juliet by Scott, Mark W.

William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations) by Harold Bloom

Understanding A midsummer night's dream: a student casebook to issues, sources, and historical documents by Faith Nostbakken . (2003)

•The soul of Athens : Shakespeare's A midsummer night's dream by Jan H. Blits. (2003)

Our moonlight revels [electronic resource] : A midsummer night's dream in the theatre by Gary Jay Williams. (1997)

Shakespeare and impure aesthetics by Hugh Grady. (2009)

Shakespearean criticism. Volume 102 [electronic resource] / Michelle Lee, editor. (2007)

Shakespeare's philosophy : discovering the meaning behind the plays by Colin McGinn. (2006)

Lectures on Shakespeare by W.H. Auden ; reconstructed and edited by Arthur Kirsch. (2000)

Shakespeare's comedies : comprehensive research and study guide edited and with an introduction by Harold Bloom. (2000)

Recommended Journals, Databases, and Websites Journals and Databases

• Project Muse

JSTOR

Literature Criticism Online

MLA International Bibliography

Shakespeare Quarterly

Other Sites:• Internet Public Library • Shakespeare Online