A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Theseus The duke of Athens; a heroic man, noble in appearance, and dignified
Hippolyta A queen of the Amazons; warrior, fierce; a beautiful woman, now engaged to marry Theseus
Lysander A young Athenian man who is in love with a girl named Hermia
Demetrius Another young Athenian man who is also in love with Hermia
Hermia A young, pretty Athenian woman who is self-conscious about her short stature; in love with Lysander, although her father wants her to marry Demetrius
Helena A young Athenian who is self-conscious because she is quite tall; in love with Demetrius; a long-time friend of Hermia
Egeus Hermia’s father; controlling of his daughter
Philostrate A servant of Theseus; responsible for organizing things
Peter Quince A carpenter and would-be actor who tries to organize the performance
Snug Another woodworker and would be actor; has the role of a lion in the play
Nick Bottom A weaver who gets the lead role in the play
Francis Flute A bellows-mender whose beard is just beginning to grow; assigned to play the role of a young woman in the play
Tom Snout Handyman who plays the role of a wall
Robin Starveling A tailor who plays moonshine in the show
Oberon The fairy king, who begins the play angry at his wife and eager to punish her for displeasing him
Titania The fairy queen, beautiful and determined to get her way
Puck Otherwise known as Robin Goodfellow; a comical and mischievous fairy who works for Oberon and especially enjoys playing tricks on humans; a major role; Oberon’s right hand man, his jester; He’s a fairy/hobgoblin
Other fairies Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Moth, and Mustardseed, as well as others
What powers do fairies have? Can be invisible, transform you, make you magical, flight, illusion
What has upset Egeus? What does he want Theseus to do? Hermia wants to marry Lysander instead of Demetrius. Egeus is upset that Hermia is disobeying him. Egeus wants Theseus to enforce Athenian law and if Hermia continues to disobey him to give Egeus the legal justification to kill Hermia.
According to Theseus, what are Hermia’s options? To marry Demetrius, die, or to become a nun [priests of Diana- persian goddess of moon)
What do we learn about Demetrius’ past? He got with Helena.
What do Hermia and Lysander decide to do [regarding Egeus]? Run away.
What has badly shaken Helena’s self- confidence? Demetrius ignoring her and loving Hermia. [Before Hermia and Helena were said to be of equal beauty]
Why do Hermia and Lysander reveal their plans to Helena? To make her feel better.
Why does Helena decide to tell Demetrius about the elopement of Hermia and Lysander? She wants a reason to talk to Demetrius, She hopes Demetrius will like Helena for helping him out, and wouldn’t mind something bad happening to Hermia (puts her out of Demetrius’ picture)
Hermia: Personality Traits Young and pretty. Self-consious about her short stature. In love with Lysander. Rebellious against father. Knows love is hard.
Lysander: Personality Traits In love with Hermia. Stands up for himself/love. Logical/runs away from problems. Caring; shows he cares for Hermia through gifts. Love is never easy.
Demetrius: Personality Traits In love with Hermia, two-timer, unfaithful man
Helena: Personality Traits Self-conscious because she is quite tall. In love with Demetrius. Not a loyal friend. Fights dirty/will do anything to get Demetrius. Heart broken. Pretty, but not as pretty as Hermia.
What play do they plan to preform? What is the occasion? “Pyramus and Thisbe.” The play is for the wedding (Duke and Dutchess).
What are the sources of humor (comedy) in the scene? Flute doesn’t want to play a woman because he is growing a beard. It is funny that he has to dress up as a woman against his will. Bottom is acting like an ass and trying to take over every part. Quince is the play writer and mixes up his words. Snug is slow so he asks for the script of a lion not realizing lions don’t talk.
Peter Quince: Personality Traits Direction, not most competent person to be direction the play, controlling
Nick Bottom: Personality Traits Jerk, ass, annoying, cocky, boisterous, likes spotlight
Oberon: Personality Trait Jealous, mischievous, loves Titania, has compassion for Helena [He is being a jerk and wants to punish Demetrius for being a jerk], demanding, controlling, stubborn
Titania: Personality Trait Strong, independent, loves children, loyal to friends, stubborn
Puck: Personality Trait Mischievous, loyal, obedient, humorous, [Had Hermia let Lysander snuggle this mixup wouldn’t have happened
What is the cause of the quarrel between Oberon and Titania? Titania is giving Oberon less attention because all her attention is going to the Indian baby.
What does Oberon send Puck to find? Why? Love-in-idleness flower. Oberon wants to use the potion for revenge on Titania.
How would you describe the interaction of Helena and Demetrius when they come upon the scene? Helena is obsessed with Demetrius and is stalking him. Demetrius hates Helena and tries to get rid of her.
How does Oberon plan to intervene in the humans’ situation? Plans on making Demetrius fall in love with Helena.
What does Puck (Robin) do to Bottom? Makes him as ass head.
How does Bottom react to the change in his appearance? He doesn’t realize and thinks his friends are playing a joke on him.
What does Titania awaken to hear and see? Bottom and his ass noises. She woke to Bottom singing.
Why does Oberon say, “This falls out better than I could devise” in act 3, scene 2? He wanted Titania to fall in love with someone and she fell in love with a jerk of a person who has an ass face.
Why does Oberon himself put some of the herb in Demetrius’s eye? He doesn’t trust Puck to do the right thing. he wanted to felicitate true love.
What happens when Demetrius awakes? He sees Helena and falls in love with her.
How does Helena respond to the fact that both Demetrius and Lysander now claim to love her? Why does she react that way? She thinks they’re mocking her. She has low self esteem and thinking no one likes her.
What new aspect of Hermia’s character come to light in act 3, scene 2? She’s feisty, strong, willing to step to when need be. She is insecure about her short stature.
What do Puck and Oberon agree must be done quickly? That they need to fix the situation between the lovers before day breaks.
When Titania awakens, what does she recall dreaming? What is her reaction? That she fell in love with an ass (doesn’t remember giving boy away).
Why are Titania and Oberon in a hurry to leave? Morning was coming and fairies cant be out in daylight.
What do Theseus, Hippolyta, and Egeus find in the forest? Helena, Hermia, Demetrius, and Lysander.
What does Titania recall dreaming? What was her reaction? She dreamt she fell in love with a man with a donkey’s head. She thought she was crazy and was horrified.
What does Nick Bottom recall dreaming? What was his reaction? He dreamt that his head turned into a donkey’s head and Titania treated him like a king because she loves him. He was thinking “I just had the best dream!”
How do Hippolyta and Theseus differ in their responses to the four young lovers’ stories about the previous night? Hippolyta thinks it did happen because they all have the same story. Theseus thinks it’s their imagination. He says that lovers, madmen, and poets minds turn to hyper action mush.
How did Philostrate react when he saw a rehearsal of the play? He thinks the play is terrible and advises Theseus to only watch the play if you want to make fun of them. It’s supposed to be a tragedy but he was laughing because it was so bad.
How effective is Bottom’s portrayal of Pyramus? Not very effective (over-plays parts).
Why have the fairies all gathered at the palace? To bless the 3 couples.-Children will be fortunate-Children will be pretty (without physical deformities)-Safe, peaceful, without enemies-Couples will be in love and faithful forever
What does Puck say in his closing comments? IF we have offended anyone we’re sorry, if you’re still offended pretend it’s a dream, and we’ll make it up to you. Shakespeare does this because he makes fun of many people through out the play.
July 5, 2019