A Midsummer Night’s Dream�by William Shakespeare

What do you already know about Shakespeare and his plays?

Some facts about Shakespeare

• He lived in Stratford, England from 1564-1616
• He was both an actor and a playwright
• He wrote MSND toward the beginning of his career
• Shakespeare based his plots on the models used in classical Greek and Roman literature
• Watching plays was a very popular form of entertainment during Shakespeare’s time

​

​

• Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comedy
• Filled with puns, creative insults, magic, and more
• Contains a play within a play (Pyramus and Thisbe) and both plays have a number of similarities/parallels

​

facts continued…

• The characters of Theseus and Hippolyta come from Greek mythology.
• Theseus was the national hero of Athens after slaying the Minotaur
• Hippolyta was Queen of the Amazons, a group of female warriors
• Theseus took Hippolyta as his prisoner and subsequently married her

​

​

​

• Hippolyta, I woo’d thee with my sword,
• And won thy love, doing thee injuries;
• But I will wed thee in another key,
• With pomp, with triumph and with revelling

​

​

• What is Theseus saying?

​

• Theseus first took Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons, prisoner of war. He conquered her through violence.
• In spite of such a start, Theseus was able to win the love of Hippolyta.
• They are soon to be married, and the ceremony will be very different from their start. It will be a time of celebration.

What was Midsummer Night’s eve?

• Midsummer's Eve has been celebrated since ancient times.
• It occurs on the summer solstice – around June 24.
• Plants that bloom at this time were believed to have miraculous healing powers.
• Bonfires were lit to protect against evil spirits.

The main themes of the play

• What is love?
• How and why do people fall in and out of love?
• Are lovers in control of their destinies?
• What is more real, the “daylight” world of reason and law or the “nighttime” world of passion and chaos?

​

• From Study Guide for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Glencoe-McGraw-Hill

Love

• Love is the central theme of the play.
• Shakespeare examines many aspects of love by showing the behavior of six pairs of lovers:

• Although the Athenian lovers and Titania are under Puck’s magic spell, Shakespeare is making fun of the way lovers act in real life.
• Lovers are shown to be fickle and foolish.
• Passionate love is brief and often based on appearances.
• These themes have also been treated by Shakespeare in tragedies, such as Romeo and Juliet.

“ The course of true love never did run smooth.”

- William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Love continued

• Lysander’s oft-quoted comment in the opening scene sets the tone for the lovers’ struggles:
• The course of true love never did run smooth;
• Although the play focuses on the foolishness of lovers, the tone is lighthearted, as is appropriate for comedy.
• Even the tragic story of the lovers, Pyramus and Thisbe, as performed by the tradesmen, is a source of humor and entertainment.
• The theme is resolved by the reconciliation of Oberon and Titania and by the triple wedding at the end of the play.

The main characters

Social Structure

Social Structure

Story Summary

• Drawn from Greek mythology
• Fairie lore was common and known by all

------Theseus is preparing to marry Hippolyta

------Theseus asks Philostrate to plan the entertainment. He hires a really bad acting troupe.

------Egeus asks Theseus’s help to force his daughter’s marriage to his choice of mates.

-------The lovers run away and are betrayed by Helena.

-------The characters are manipulated by the fairies.

-------Eventually, everyone is with the love of their choice and there is a triple wedding. The actor’s hired by Philostrate perform a terrible version of Pyramus and Thisbe

The main plot

• Theseus (the Duke of Athens) is getting married to Hippolyta.
• Theseus hears Egeus’ complaint that his daughter, Hermia refuses to marry the man he has chosen for her. Theseus tells Egeus that she must marry Demetrius or choose between death and becoming a nun.
• A group of workmen is planning to perform a play in honor of Theseus and Hippolyta’s wedding.

There are three basic sub-plots

• Sub-plot A: The Lovers
• Hermia loves Lysander, but is being forced to marry Demetrius.
• Demetrius loves Hermia, but she does not love him.
• Helena loves Demetrius, but he no longer loves her.
• Helena tells Demetrius that Hermia and Lysander plan to meet in the forest and run away together, hoping this will make him favor her.
• Demetrius heads into the forest to find them.
• Helena follows Demetrius into the forest.

​

​

Sub-plot B: The Fairies

Meanwhile, in the forest… Oberon (King of the Fairies) is arguing with Titania (the Fairy Queen), because he wants to adopt the orphan child she has raised from infancy.

​

He devises a plan to use a magic flower to trick Titania into giving him the child. When the nectar from the flower is placed in someone’s eyes while sleeping, they fall in love with the first person they see upon waking.

​

He sends his servant, Puck, to find the magic flower and use it on Titania.

​

While Puck is obtaining the flower, Oberon overhears Helena and Demetrius arguing and decides to help them resolve their dispute with the powers of the magic flower. He instructs Puck to find Demetrius and place some flower nectar in his eyes too.

​

​

​

Sub-plot C: The actors

The workmen go into the forest to rehearse the play they are performing for Theseus and Hippolyta’s wedding.

At this point all three groups are in the woods: the lovers, the fairies, and the actors.

A series of mix-ups occur, when Puck places the love potion from the magic flower in Lysander’s eyes instead of Demetrius’s.

The setting

• In the forest outside of Athens, Greece…

​

​

A few good insults…

• Thou fusty doghearted maltworm!
• Thou villainous hedge-born mammet!
• Away, you moldy rogue, away!
• In civility thou seem’st so empty.
• Thou fawning, fly-bitten lout!

​

• Check out www.pangloss.com to see how you can create more Shakespearean insults

​