A Midsummer Night’s Dream�Act IV

Presentation By

Dr. Deepanjali K. Borse

Assistant Professor, Department of English

S. P. H. Arts, Comm. and Sci. Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Malegaon Camp

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Act IV: Disentanglements�Scene I: Reconciliations

Scene is the same i.e. in the wood

• Demetrius, Helena, Lysander and Hermia are lying asleep on the ground.
• Titania and Bottom followed by the Queen’s fairies enter unaware that Oberon is a silent observer. Bottom tells the loving Titania that he feels sleepy and the Queen eager to please her new love, sends the noisy fairies away.
• Puck feels pity for the Queen. When he met her earlier, she was gathering flowers for the ass and she had willingly given a changeling boy to him.
• Oberon advances towards Titania and gently touching her eyes with a herb, calls on her to wake.
• Titania awakens and realizing her foolishness to fall in love with an ass, happy again with the fairy king.
• Duke of Athens, Hippolyta and Egeus enter with Duke’s attendants. They are coming for the hunt in the wood for the pleasure of Hippolyta.

Scene I�cont.

• Egeus sees the four sleeping on the ground and recognizes his daughter, Hermia.
• Egeus is angry to find his daughter with Lysander and ask her for the final choice to marry with Demetrius.
• Demetrius, however, who is still under the fairy king’s spell, tells his love for Helena.
• Thesus is happy that the situation has resolved itself and informs Egeus that his daughter is to marry the man of her choice.
• All became very happy with the Duck’s decision and the loving couples happily follow Thesus, Hippolyta and Egeus to the temple, where the marriage ceremony is to be performed. The hunt is abandoned.
• Now Bottom awakens. His ass’s head has been removed. He has forgotten all and is under the impression that he is still rehearsing the lines of his play. He comes to the conclusion that he has had a dream and decides to ask Quince to write a play around it.
• Singing happily, he makes his way in search of his friends.

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Scene II: Bottom’s Return

• In the meantime, Quince, Flute, Snout and Starvelling are assembled in a room in Quince’s house. They are more worried about their play than Bottom because the play can not be performed without the main actor.
• As they sit lamenting their situation, Snug informs that the Duke and other two couples have already be married in the temple and the court is waiting for the entertainment.
• They are of the opinion that if the weaver i.e. Bottom will appeared, their fortunes would have been made.
• Bottom cheerfully enters the room. As usual he takes charge of everything, ordering them get ready for the performance at once. Thisbe is to put on clean linen, the lion must not pare his claws and not one of them is to eat garlic or onions.
• This scene completes the clown’s preparation of the play. It serves as a connecting scene between Act IV and Act V. This scene announces the marriage of the three couples.

Thank You