Midsummer Night's Dream Introduction

Midsummer Night's Dream Introduction

By CELI OLIVETO

Play Context

Some text here about the topic of discussion

Written by William Shakespeare in the around 1596, possibly for a wedding.

• A comedy

• Written in iambic pentameter

• Ends in a marriage ​

​

Author

Ancient Athens

​

​

​

​Some text here about the topic of discussion.

Two main locations

A forest grove outside of the city ​

​

​

​

​Some text here about the topic of discussion.

Two main locations

Characters

Hermia- Lysander

Helena-Demetrius ​

Lovers

Nick Bottom

Peter Quince

Flute

Snout

Snug

Starveling

Mechanicals

Oberon- king of the faries

Titania- queen of the faries

Puck- Oberon's servant

Mustardseed

Moth

Cobweb ​

Fairies

Theseus- Duke of Athens

Hippolyta- Queen of the Amazons

Egeus- Hermia's father​

​

Royals

Poll

Where do you think the royals will mainly live?

• The magical forest grove

• The city of Athens

Poll

Where do you think the fairy characters will mainly live?

• The magical forest grove

• The city of Athens

"Lord, what fools these mortals be."

​

Plot Summary of A Midsummer Night's Dream​

Oberon and Titania are fighting. Oberon decides to punish Titania by making her fall in love with a monstrous creature. ​

The Fairies

Theseus and Egeus want Hermia to marry Demetrius. She is in love with Lysander. They decide to run away to the forest to escape her punishment for disobeying her father.

The Royals

The beginning of the play

​The mechanicals want to perform a play for Theseus' wedding. They go to the forest to rehearse.

The Mechanicals

Helena, who is in love with Demetrius, follows Hermia, Lysander, and Demetrius through the woods.

The Lovers

The beginning of the play

​Puck transforms Bottom's head into a donkey. Titania wakes up and falls in love with him. Oberon and Puck laugh.

The Mechanicals

Puck accidentally makes Lysander fall in love with Helena. To correct his error, he makes Demetrius fall in love with Helena. The lovers fight and both men now love Helena.

The Lovers

Then...

​Oberon releases Titania from the spell and Bottom is transformed back into his human form. Oberon and Titania reunite and make up.

The Fairies

Puck corrects his errors and makes each of the lovers fall in love with their correct partner. They fall asleep together in the woods.

The Lovers

Then...

Perform their terrible play, The Tragical Comedy of Pyramus and Thisby for the Duke's wedding celebration.

The Mechanicals

The duke allows the lovers to marry and invites them to join him on his own wedding day.

The Lovers

The end of the play

​The fairies bless the union of the couples and the play ends happily.

The Fairies

The end of the play

Multiple Choice

Who is the fairy that turns Bottom into the donkey?

• Oberon

• Puck

• Titania

• Hermia

Multiple Select

Select all of the groups of characters found in the play

• The Lovers

• The Fairies

• The Royals

• The Playwrights

Multiple Choice

What happens to Bottom in the course of the play?

• His head is turned into a donkey

• He is trapped in a tree

• He falls in love with a princess

• He is kidnapped by the Duke

While Shakespeare wrote the play, he drew on some inspiration from the Roman poet Ovid who wrote a poem called the Metamorphosis

​

Connections

Open Ended

Why might Franz Kafka have named his short story after Ovid's poem?

Pyramus and Thisby are young lovers who can't be together. One night while they are whispering through a wall, a lion scares away Thisby. Pyramus, thinking that she has died, kills himself. Thisby returns and sees Pyramus. She stabs herself with Pyramus' sword and stains the berries red. The gods change the berries red in honor of their love. This is why mulberries are red today.

​

In Ovid's poem...

​

Open Ended

You just heard the plot of Pyramus and Thisby. What other play or story does that remind you of?

Midsummer and R&J have many similar elements. Midsummer ends happily for the couples while R&J ends tragically.

​Yes! Romeo and Juliet

Hermia and Lysander are forbidden to marry and run away in secret, and Helena and Demetrius are "star crossed." If not for the magic of the fairies, they easily could end up with tragic conclusions like Romeo and Juliet.

​

Shakespeare was writing Midsummer while he was writing R&J.

​

As you read the play, keep these guiding questions in mind.

​

Questions to think about

How does love change or shape a person?

How does love transform us?

Is love long lasting or fleeting? ​

Love

How do women take or shape power in a society in which they have no control?

The role of women in society

How do we act when we are in formal social situations versus when we are among our friends or at a party? Why are we permitted to act more freely when we are at a party?

The carnival/parties

Wrap up questions

​

Take the following quiz to review the information from the slides​

Multiple Choice

What is the name of the Roman poet that Shakespeare draws on for this play?

• John Donne

• Virgil

• Ovid

• This was an original work

Multiple Choice

Who is the fairy king?

• Oberon

• Titania

• Egeus

• Theseus

Multiple Choice

What poetic style is the play written in?

• haiku

• free style

• transformative

• iambic pentameter

Multiple Choice

To whom does Egeus want Hermia to marry?

• Lysander

• Demetrius

• Oberon

• Theseus

Multiple Choice

Who does Hermia want to marry?

• Lysander

• Demetrius

• Oberon

• Theseus