Background

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Background

• A Midsummer Nights 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.

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• Comedy - in simple terms means that the play will
  end happily
• Romantic comedy is usually based on a mix-up in
  events or identities. Shakespeares comedies
  often move towards tragedies (a death or lack of
  of resolution) but are resolved in the nick of
  time.
• Shakespeares Tragedies end in lots of DEATH
• Shakespeares Comedies end in marriage

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• 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
  Shakespeares 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.

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Faeries

• 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.

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Origins

• 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.

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• Obvious plot links exist between A Midsummer
  Nights 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 Nights 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 Nights Dream.

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The Three Worlds of A Midsummer Nights Dream
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The Athenians

• Theseus and his bride, Hippolyta (Theseus
  represents law and
• order.)
• The four lovers
• Hermia
• Helena
• Demetrius
• Lysander
• (They represent adolescent rebellion.)
• Egeus (Hermias father)

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The Athenians
From Left to Right Helena, Demetrius, Lysander
and Hermia
Theseus and Hippolyta
Helena and Demetrius
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The Actors/Commoners/Mechanicals

• 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

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Bottom Wise Fool?
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The Mechanicals and Their Jobs

• Peter Quince-The Carpenter
• Tom Snout-The Tinker
• Robin Starveling-The Tailor
• Snug-The Joiner
• Nick Bottom-Weaver
• Francis Flute-The Bellows Mender

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The Faeries

• 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) Oberons
  loyal helper

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Faeries Named

• Oberon
• Titania
• Puck, Robin Goodfellow
• Peaseblossom, fairy
• Cobweb, fairy
• Moth, fairy
• Mustardseed, fairy

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• 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.

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Topics in the Play

• In act One, Lysander laments The course of true
  love never did run smooth (1.1.134).
• 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 illusionFriendshipParental
  authorityDreams

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This Play is a Study in Contrast

• 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

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A Map of the Cast
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The End
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Pictures From

• http//www.theateronline.com/pb.xzc?pk23790
• http//www.weddingbee.com/2010/03/29/style-inspira
  tion-a-midsummer-nights-dream/
• http//thumbs.dreamstime.com/thumblarge_366/123466
  32711ACfEC.jpg
• http//www.theater-masks.com/predesigned-masks/ind
  ividual-masks/wearable-comedy-mask
• http//www.google.com/search?qAthensrlscom.micr
  osoftoeUTF-8startIndexstartPage1surl1sa
  feactiveum1ieUTF-8hlentbmischsourceogs
  aNtabwi