A Midsummer Night's Dream Flashcards by Lydia Illingworth

What happens in act 1 scene 1?

Theseus is marrying Hippolyta in 4 day days. Theseus can’t wait for the wedding whilst Hippolyta has contrasting feelings
Egeus then arrives asking for Thesus’ opinion on th efact Hermia wants to marry Lysander rather thn his choice of Demetrius
Thesus offers a third option to Hermia which is to become a nun
After everyone has left, Lysand plans for them to escape to the woods to his rich dowager aunt
Helena arrives where she immediately shows jealousy towards Hermia because demetrius loves Hermia rather than her
In order for Demetrius to like her, she is going to tell him the young lover’s plans and then she will follow him

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What happens in act 1 scene 2?

A group of craftsmen are organising to perfom PYramus and Thisbe at Thesus and Hippolyta’s wedding
Bottom is playing the part of Pyramus but due to his self - heightened acting ability, he wants to play all of the parts which annoys Quince
They then decide to go to the woods that evening so they can practice in secret

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What happens in act 2 scene 1?

Oberon and Titania are fighting over an Indian mortal child but their discord is causing disruption in the mortal world
Oberon wants Puck to retrieve a flower that contains the love juice so she falls in love with the first thing that she sees and Oberon hopes it is something ugly
Helena tries to sexually entice Demetrius but then he threatens her with sexual violence
Oberon wants concord so he wants Puck to the love juice on Demetrius’ eyes as well

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What happens in act 2 scene 2?

Titania falls asleep and the love juice is put in her eyes
Hermia and Lysander are arguing over the progression of their relationship as Lysander wants to sleep with her with Hermia wants to hold onto her courtly values
Puck mistakes them for Helena and Demetrius so he puts the love juice on Lysander’s eyes
Lysander wakes up and falls in love with Helena which confuses Hermia as she was left in the woods alone

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What happens in act 3 scene 1?

The mechanicals are practicing in the woods so they can be hidden from the public
They are arging over decisions within the play such as how to get moonlight and if there should be a prologue
Puck transforms Botoom into an ass and the others fells perplexed and fearful so they leave
Titania wakes up and falls in love with Bottom. Due to her passion, her fairies dote on him

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What happens in act 3 scene 2?

Oberon watches Hermia questioning Demetrius over Lysander’s safety as she believes Demetrius killed him
Oberon realises Puck’s mistake and he puts the love juice over Demetrius’ eyes to add to the chaos
Helena argues over Lysander’s behaviour as she believes he is doing it as a prank againast her. When Hermia arrives, Helena believes she is in on the joke and she tries to convince her to tell her the truth by using their long friendship
Demetrius falls in love with Helena
Lysander starts to show his distain for Hermia making her question their relationship
Helena and Hermia begin to fight
Lysander and Demetrius run off into the woods so they can fight one another and the ladies follow in haste
Oberon realises the stupidity of the love juice so he plans to take it off Titania (to get the Indian boy) and Lysander to make the night seem a dream
Puck taunts Lysander and Demtrius as they are hiding from one another since they can’t find each other, they and the women fall asleep creating comic closure

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What happens in act 4 scene 1?

Oberon wakes Titania up soshe can realise her irrantional relationship with Bottom
Thesus and Hippolyta are hunting when they find the perplexed young lover who beleive the night’s actions were a dream
Demetrius states his dead love for Hermia to Egeus who still wants to use the law against his daughter as he fails to recognise true love
Thesus allows the young lovers to get married on their wedding day
Bottom wakes up confused about where everyone is and then, the night’s actions which he will use as inspiration for a song in the play

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What happens in act 4 scene 2?

Bottom arrives back to Athens much to the delight of the other mechanicals
It is revealed that their play has been chosen for the wedding

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What happens in act 5 scene 1?

Theuseus questions the strangeness of their dream and believes it to be mad
Philostrate arrives with a list of potential entertainment until the wedding feast and Pyramus and Thisbe is chosen
Quince opens the play with a prologue introducing the characters and saying it isn’t real
When the lovers are talking through the wall, Theseus makes crude and sarcastic remarks causing Bottom to break the forth wall to corect him
The play continues until the young lovers both die in a similar ending to Romeo and Juliet
The fairies bless the marriage bed and Shakespeare provides an epilogue through Puck telling the audience it may have been a dream

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Who is Puck?

A licensed fool as he is allowed to use satire to poke fun at society and their masters
The lord of misrule who orchestrates chaos and entertainment

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Who is Bottom?

A natural fool who are simple and lower class characters who may provoke cruel laughter at them or sympathetic laughter for their sweet innocence. They may lack intelligence yet provide insight and truth

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What are the roles of comedy?

To mock authority
To subvert the status quo
To invert accepted social hierachies
To challenge the social and political system
To trangress what is normally accepted, including social and sexual taboos

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What are the theories of laughter?

Superiotity theory: we laugh because we feel superior
Relief theory: we laugh as a result of a build -up of tension, repressed emotion, awkwardness etc
Incongruity theory: we laugh at mismatched elements or ideas suchas the high and low being brought togther; the juxtaposition of incompatable things

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

How can it be considered a conservative genre?

Order is usually reinstated by the end implying inversion and rule - breking are only temptations of social change

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What are stock characters?

They come from a long tradition of comic drama. We laugh at the universal aspects of human nature as well as the cultural and literary expectations of the genre as their personalities show the extremity of human nature. Egeus as an overbearing father

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What are dramtic comedy conventions

Natural fools
Tripartite structure
Stock characters
Inversion and subversion
Mistaken identity
Violence creating a warning of tragedy
Bright lighting
Happy ending usually with a marriage
A core theme of love
Tension between Apollonian (reason) and Dionysian values (desires)
Sexual connotations
Slapstick
Diegetic sound (speech used by character to create comic effect and to build character
Separation and reconciliation
A fantastical element
Reason Vs emtion
Philosophical underton
Misundetanding
Wit and word play
Bathos (an effecr of anticlimax created by a lapse in mood
The lord of misrule
A licensed fool

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What are the dramatic comedy links in act 1?

The tension between Egeus and Hermia reflects a tensin between Apollonian and Dionysian values
Thesus uses phallic imagery yo seduce Hipployta
Hermia feels misunderstood in her views of love
Bottom is a natural fool
The formation of the tripartitie structure
The destruction of young love as a form of tragedy
Love is presented through Hippolyta and Thesus as well as the young lovers

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What are the dramatic comedy links in act 2?

The fairies are introduced as a supernatural element
Puck is a licensed fool
The greenworld is introduced as an inversion to Athens
men like Oberon, Lysander and Demetrius all want their pertners to subvert to them and their power
Lysander mistakes his love for Hermia for Helena creating separation in their relationship
Lysander threatenting to kill Demetrius show the closness of tragedy to comedy
The love juice impacts the course of love

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What are the dramatic comedy links in act 3?

Puck can be seen as the lord of misrule as he creates chaos for the lovers
Titania and Bottom’s relationship creates huour because of the incongruity theory
Hermia and Helena both misunderstand the situation of the fickleness of the men’s relationship
Elements of violence through the actions of th young lovers
The main motivation throughout is love
There is an element of athos when the young lovers fall asleep united
Puck pretends to be both Lyander and Demetrius creating confusion for the male characters

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What are the dramatic comedy links in act 4?

Bright light on the stage signifies a new day implying new eginnings
Oberon removes the love juice form Titania and their dance helps to demonstrate their unity
Titania implies sexual behaviour to Bottom with entwining language
There is a shift towards the resolution as they leave the greenworld
Egeus still hold harsh views towards the treatemtn of his daughter upholding the argument of reason vs emotion
There is still a misunderstanding of whether the night’s events were real or not

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What are the dramatic comedy links in act 5?

The weddings take place creating a sense of comic closure
The women subvert to their husands
Pyramus and Thisbe is a warning of tragedy to the young lovers and is presenting what could of happened
The lovers imply sexual activity
Quince doesn’t pause in the right places creating diegetic sound making him appear lower class
Fairies bless the wedding bed and create a sense of closure to the play creating bathos

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What is bathos?

An effect of anticlimax created by alpse in the mood

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What is burlesque?

Dramatic comedy which mocks a sombre literary work, trreating a serious subject in an undignified way such as within the pyramus and thisbe play

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What is farce?

Dramatic comedy which creates humour through a series of ludicrous events. The atmosphere is often one of panic, confusion and hilarity, tinged with cruelty

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What is romantic comedy?

Light hearted comedies that focus on foolish mix - ups between young lovers. Features of the genre include a happy ending, usually involving one or more marriage

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What is satire?

A way of writing in which individuals, societities or institutions are ridiculed in order to critise their failings.

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

What is slapstick?

A physical type of comedy

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

How was the globe literally and metphorically out the city?

It was located on the utskirts of London making it appealing to the working class and allowing Shakespeare to mock the authority away from society standards and scrutiny helping to invert the hierarchy

How does the RSC A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A play for the nation 2016 production present the play?

Hippolyta is presented in a glass box to show how Theseus and men objectify her
Egeus wears an RAF costume creating a commanding presence for the audience

What is malapropism?

Replacing a word with a similar sounding one

How does the 1999 film version present the play?

Lysander isn’t just a foolish young lover as he cares about Hermia but he doesn’t fully understand the risk Hermia has to take
Anarcic language the Helena uses in the film clearly presents her jealousy
Bottom’s costume contrasts his natural lower class nature of a natural fool
The stormy weather in the mortal world reflects the tension between Oberon and Titania over the Indian boy
The fairies cleaning the lovers and their clothes represent a new beggining

What does foolhardy mean?

making a wreckless decision

How do the mechanicals and the lovers grow similarly?

Themes of death and violence are adressed in Pyramus and Thisbe and these thems are a threat to the lovers
The mechanicals aren’t suited to the romantic performance of pyramus and thisbe due to their lack of education as they are inappropriate through tragedy and casting
Lovers aren’t suited to the greenworld
The vulgarity of the mechanicals is appropriate to the setting in which the lovers and Oberon and Titania fight

What is cuckolding and how is it reflected in Titania?

A man whose wife is having an affair with another man ergo her relationship with Bottom means she has no agency and free will over her love due to the love juice reflecting the power of men often have over women’s relationships

How are dreams presented in the play?

Freud believes that your dreams reflects fears and anxiety and within the play, Shaespeare uses dreams to foreshadow the dangers and fears in Hermia’s love life as Lysander abandons her

What is the purpose of Bottom’s and the young lovers’ mistaken identity?

Draw attention to the artifice of the play
Suggest alternative realities or ways of being
Contribute to the sense of chatotic, subversive world
Reveal that individual identity is just an illusion
Highlight the dangerous and transformative power of love
Suggest love may threaten the identity of the individual

What are the roles of comedy?

To mock authority
To subvert the status quo
Invert accepted social hierarchies
Challenge the social and political system
To trangress what is socially acceted, including social and sexual taboos

What purpose do the parallel plot lines of the young lovers, mechanicals and fairies have?

Pyramus and Thisbe could act as a warning to the young lovers
There are paralels between Oberon and Titania and Theseus and Hippolyta as both mature couple have power struggles sice patriarchy persists in both worlds contrating Laroque’s belief of the greenworld. Despite their status, both show foolishness, discord, exploitative power over one another
Both Bottom and Helena have alternative ways of being as Bottom gains respect and rewards for the fairy and Helena is being persued by men unlike in court, where she feels unloved and ugly due to a lack of attention
All of their relationshis have fallaility beause of a lack of choice

What is the context of Theseus?

He defeated the minotaur
He steals the Egyptian princess but then she is abandoned showing his lack of integrity in love

What are the limitations of comedy?

It is a conservative genre so it only shows temptations of social change rather than promoting them

What is a festive comedy?

Plays in which the form and spirit of contemporary popular holidays is evident and this is shown in Midsummer through the reference to young lovers in the woods and may poles, focus of marriage and puck’s dramatic purpose as a lord of misrule

How is Egeus represented in A Midsummer Night’s dream?

A representative of reason and appolonian vales against Hermia’s emotion and Dionysian values
He is a further representative of the Elizabethan patriarchy
He is grounded in reality similar to Theseus as he doesn’t believe in the young lover’s shared dream
He always aims to impress Theseus and subvert to him
He ties himself to Athenian law
Egeus sees it as important to marry off his daughter in order to gain land, power and family connections
Theseus criticises Egeus’ opinion as he wants to give him, “private schooling,”
He is blind to true love
Egeus plays the stock character of the over bearing father
In the RSC, A Midsummer Night’s Dream: a play for the nation 2016, Egeus wears an RAF costume to create a commanding presence for the audience
He believes that Hermia is his possession and can do what he wants with her
His monosyllabic language throughout implies his impatience with Hermia

How is Hippolyta represented in A Midsummer Night’s dream?

In RSC, A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A play for the nation, Hippolyta is presented in a ox implying that she is an object and a prize to men
Since he won Hippolyta in battle, Theseus has a lack of courtly standards towards her
She is thoughtful and sympathetic especially towards the young lovers as she believes their dream implying her emotional intelligence
She also admires the young lover’s attempt to escape courtly values and standards
Her strength as queen has been deeply affected by patriarchy as she has to repress her freedom and power for love implying the significance of male domination in society
She has no voice by the end of the play as she only speaks when she is spoken to
A patient character
She has no power within the relationship
Theseus wants a big wedding so he can show her off
She was an Amazonian queen who was captured by Theseus to be his bride making her power redundant
Her tone towards love alters Theseus implying Hippolyta being subjective to Theseus creating a power struggle
She is often doubled with Titania as they are both women of power

How is Philostrate represented in A Midsummer Night’s dream?

The master of the revels also acted almost like stage directors to performances to the monarch. This can be seen when Phiostrate asks Theseus to choose a play
The master of revels also had the power to ban performances and companies therefore companies wanted to be on his good side
He only says 24 lines
Deeply cares about people’s status as he believes the mechanicals have a lack of intelligence
He is impatient by dim wittedness as uses punctuation
Theseus is commanding around him for example when he says, “call Philostrate,” it acts as a stage direction because he immediately arrives
Osten doubles with Puck helping to emphasise both characters’ loyalties
A loyal servant to Theseus
Representative of people within an Elizabethan court
He is the master of revels ( a job that dates back to 1510) who supervises the lord chamberlain

How is The Mechanicals represented in A Midsummer Night’s dream?

Snug, the joiner, plays the lion and he feas his roars will scare ladies
Snout, the tinker, plays the wall
They are fearful of Bottom’s transformation so they run away and abandon him in the woods
The mechanical’s play, Pyramus and Thisbe acts as a warning to the young lovers of what could of happened if it was a tragedy
They also challenge the upper class challenging social and political systems
Theseus has a lack of respect for their performance as he speaks over them
The play they choose is inappropriate for a wedding as it is a tragedy
Quince’s respect for Theseus is shown when he fumbles his prologue
Bottom/ young lovers’ mistaken identity can draw attention to the artifice of the play, suggest alternative realities or ways of being, contribute to the sense of chaotic, subversive world, reveal that individual identity is just an illusion, highlight the dangerous and transformative power of love and suggest love may threaten the identity of the individual
The mechanicals appear after the lovers do questionable actions like run away to the woods to show a shift in affections, action and to criticise the young lovers
Starvling, the tailor, will play moonshine
Flute, the bellows - mender, is a young man who doesn’t have a beard yet so he plays the part of Thisbe
The use of oxymorons and malapropism to highlight their lack of knowledge
Quince, the carpenter, organsises the play and is frustrated by the lack of talent in the actors
They speak in prose

How is The Fairies represented in A Midsummer Night’s dream?

The world of the fairies are a comic deice to critise the upper class characters
Titania’s four attendants are named after natural medicines. The effect of this personification is to make the world seem unpredictable but sometimes dangerous but is ultimately friendly to humans as their social structure is even the same
Moth is transformative of Titania’s love
Mustardseed symbolises dependence implying that despite her position, Tutania is always reliant on men throughout the play
Cobweb is a symbol of ecological balance reinforcing the importance of the fairies’ power over the natural world
Fairies dancing symbolises a restoration of nature
A liminal space in the woods
Bottom takes advantage of their loyalty and service to him
The fairies are confused at her infactuation with Bottom but they go along with it because of their love for Titania
Titania’s fairies are compared to ravens as they protect her
They speak in a variety of rhyme schemes to sound like they are saying a spell or potion
When there is discord in the greenworld (Frye), there is chaos in Athens often through the weather and natural disasters
They reference India and speedy globe trotting conveying a sense of freedom and power
Elizabethans believed they were sinister mischief makers who stole children, made people disfigured and disabilities, destroyed crops and made people ill
Usually played by children
The fairies embody the forces of nature
Allows Shakespeare to pose open-ended questions about illusion and reality

Essay plan for fairies essay

Thesis - The fairis act asa catalyst for chaos revealing the alternative perception of Elizabethan social and political systems
1) Oberon wondering the love juice creating chaos in his relationship with Titanis for the young lovers
2) Puck as a caricature - like embodiment of the lord of misrule establishing the play as a festive comedy
3) Titania’s influenced infactuation with Bottom highlights a false pretence of status to Bottom however their relationships is meant to be viewed as comic rather than to enact social change due to the limitations of the conservative genre

Contrasts between the young and mature lovers

The mature lovers critise the actions of the young lover reinforcing Shakespeare’s function to show the irrationality of love but the young lovers never critise the mature ones despite being as foolish as them
The mature lovers are played by the same actors helping to draw comparisons
The male young lovers change who they love reinforcing the fickleness of love
The mature women both have a want to nurture
The mature women fully demonstrate how women are taken advantage of in their relationships as they lose power
Helena and Hermia are contracted within the play highlighting competition between them

Similarities between the young and mature lovers

All of the women are silenced by their husband at the end of the play despite having some power at the start
They all face struggles within their relationships
The question for true love for all of them can be called into question
All of the women are seen as prizes and objects to their husbands
They are all married by the end of the play
All of the men have a sort of obsession with partners as they dream about their wives
The men are impatient

What is the significance of the lion?

Th lion reflects how the men who represents Elizabethan patriarchy acts as it illustrates they are prideful and unequivocal and merciless towards their prey. This can be seen by the fact the men within the play are sexually dominate the women and even threaten sexual violence
The repetition of the threat of sexual violence reflects the connotations of fear lions propels. This reminds the audience of a constant threat of tragedy within the play
The use of the lion symbolises the domineering of superiority that is used to undermine the misconducts of inferior figure much like the women within the play. This further emphasises the parity between men and women regarding greed, manner and power

What is the significance of the moon?

The goddess Phoebe is a satellite of Saturn and the moon personified. Diana is often associated with Phoebe and is the goddess of hunting and charity
Marriage is the preferred foal rather than charity
It links the action of the play
It is nature’s luminary, lighting the action of the play
The players rehearse by moonlight
Theseus and Hippolyta mark their wedding by moonlight
Oberon and titania quarrel/escape by moonlight
Hermia and Lysander, Helena and Demetrius elope by moonlight
Puck enchants by the moon

What does the tripartite structure help?

To create a sense of anamorphism within the play allowing the audience to criticise the courtly setting

How is race presented in a Midsummer night’s dream through Hendricks?

The Indian boy could be seen as a stage prop
The boy is described as Indian highlighting almost a fascination an objectification of other races establishing as a fantasy
The play has a constant theme of borderlands between upper class and lower class as well as mortals and fairies
Within 16th century texts, India is often used as a source of mystery, strangeness and wealth
India almost acts as the connecting place between Athens and fairylan, reality and fantasy
Oberon represents the growing usage of Indians and Africans as slaves to the upper class
Titania’s lack of interest in the indian boy by the end of the play reflects a lack of interests in Indian and African servants in upper class households

What does Quice’s introduction to the play imply about the events?

The want to remove fantasy reflects the unresolved imagination such as Demtrius still under the love juice

How is context reflected through male anxeties?

Elizabeth had no heir presenting her as weak

Why was there a revival of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the Victorian period?

Victoria became queen

What inspired the greenworld?

Celtic folklore

How is ligusitic doubling used in the play?

Through paralleling syntax such as for me which is repeated to create a part of rhyme in Helena’s speech

What is Freud’s belief of dreams?

Dreams are wish fulfillment

Why are the young lovers not main characters?

They are characterisations of the manipulation of love and the theme of a running tragedy

How is true love presented as indivisualistic?

Hermia heightens the qualities of Lysander compared to Demetrius making Lysander seem like a good guy to the audience

What is the mythology behind Titania?

Titanis means born from the titans. She was first represented in Roman writer Ovid’s metamorphoses where she is another name for Diana who was the goddess of the moon. Shakespeare drew on this for Titania’s supernatural connection with nature within the play. Due to be descended from the titans, her name also has connotation of power. Ovid make Titania as a cultivation of many gods including Diana as well as circe. Within the story, she sees a man naked so she turns him into a stag to be torn apart by his own hunting hounds. Spenser’s adaptation of the character’s more regal similar to Elizabeth I as Spenser’s aim for the epic poem was to impress the queen. Shakespeare does reflect these qualities by making Oberon call her an imperial voltress implying her regality

What is the mythology behind Oberon?

Oberon is most likely taken from the Merovingian legend of a sorcerer named Amberich who was a bit of a trickster. However, comparisons can be made between him and Zeus due to his commanding presence over the fairies (especially Puck). Oeron is also presented in a medieval French poem called Huon de Bordeaux where he is presented as a dwarf - king living in the wood land, who by magic powers helps the hero to accomplish a seemingly impossible task. This was brought to English by Bourchier’s 1543 translation. Oeron’s character was further popularised by Spenser’s the faerie queen which took inspiration from Huon. Shakespeare’s adaptation of the character cemented him as a powerful, overbearing and zealous fair king

How is Wisdom and folly presented in A Midsummer Night’s Dream?

Can be referred to as reason vs emotion and Apollonian vs Dionysianian values
It is most evidently shown through the parental power dispute between Hermia and Egeus
It is also most commonly expressed through the natural fool as they are foolish but also provide wisdom, this is shown through Bottom’s words as he highlights the irrationality of the young lovers
Helena exposes wisdom into love however she still acts foolish within relationships as it is her only drive
Oberon wanted Titania to look foolish falling in love with an ass however, as a result he is the foolish one as he cuckolds them and still pines over Titania. He can be further seen as foolish as he doesn’t recognise that his actions lead to consequences but rather instead he blames it on a dream
Puck, the licensed fool creates mischief through the love juice to amuse himself
Theseus can be seen as foolish for underestimating the purpose and messages within Pyramus and Thisbe which could represent a skeptical audience further
Egeus believes in the wisdom of Theseus and he attempts to replicate it but as a foolish result he is blind to love
The mechanicals believe themselves to be wise by creating a prologue but yet to the audience they are merely foolish as they don’t understand that theatre is to escape reality not to be placed back into it
Helena’s attempts to seduce Demetrius can be seen as foolish as she exposes herself to Demetrius and his sexual violence threats whilst defying the expectations of an Elizabethan woman
Hermia and Helena exposes the audience to the importance of status
The young lovers can be seen as foolish as they don’t consider the importance of their status until it has been taken away from them in the greenworld
It allows Shakespeare to fulfill the purpose of comedy by challenging the social and political systems
Theseus lacks wisdom especially surrounding love as he doesn’t consider the needs of his relationship and Hippolyta
It is least expressed through powerful characters who are focused on their power and revenge plots

How is Sexual politics presented in A Midsummer Night’s Dream?

The moon is used as a symbol of power struggles as it represents virginity and feminity as Thseus uses the symbol as a warning to Hermia if she doesn’t follow her father’s orders
Hippolyta used to have power as the queen of the Amazons but she lost it all because Theseus has defeated her ergo she is second to his power
Men’s impatience highlights how they believe to have power
Lysander believes he can make the decisions in their relationship however he doesn’t consider the needs, dangers and consequences for Hermia
Helena inverts her expected innocent behavior by trying to seduce Demetrius in order to control the relationship however it backfires to her as Demetrius threatens sexual violence
The use of proxemics (Titania and Oberon coming from opposite ends of the stage) establishes their conflict over power
The men act as a shield of protection in order for them to hold onto their status
The fairies dancing is a symbol that peace has been restored however Titania has weaker ties to power implying the facade of women’s power
Helena and Hermia believe the men are tricking them to appear weak and foolish
Theseus is ignorant to the needs of their relationship as he doesn’t consider her struggles
Even though Titanis tries to manipulate Bottom to even give up his mortality for her, he doesn’t give into her as he is only interested in the materialistic gain he will receive
Titania and Oberon have shared power over the Greenworld (Frye) however Oeron has the overall dominance by taking the Indian boy
Sexual violence is a threat that men make within the play to assert sexual dominance
Oberon cuckolding Titania and making her fall in love with Bottom was a way for Titania to look foolish in order for him to gain power through taking the Indian boy
The women are silent at the end of the play demonstrating that they are now their husband’s property
It is the principles in determining the relationship of the sexes especially in terms of power

How is Fantasy Vs Reality presented in A Midsummer Night’s Dream?

Often presented through the fact reality can be manipulated by fantasy
Vivid imagery creates the Greenworld (Frye) as a fantastical place as well as liminal
The tripartite structure illustrates the contrasts between the two
Fantasy if often presented as miscommunication and mistaken identity especially through love which are the common conventionsof dramatic comedy
Puck’s epilogue reminds the audience how the theatre’s are an escape from reality and allows us to question the reality of the events within the play
The reality of Titania and Bottom’s relationship can be called into question as Titania was under the love juice
Parallels can be drawn between fantasy and reality and friendship and love and Helena describes the naturalness of friendship whilst the fickleness of love is reinforced through the love juice
The fairies act as a source of reality as they question Bottom and Titania’s relationship
The love juice makes the receiver ironically believe that they are fully in control and that their past events are foolish
The young women try to ground themselves in reality by holding onto their courtly values while the men put themselves at mercy to the greenworld
Egeus believes Hermia’s relationship with lysander is faked and that he manipulated her confirming his stock character archetype as the overbearing father who is blind to true love
The fairyworld is unconsciously inverted Athens
Doubling of Oberon and Theseus and Titania and Hippolyta reinforces that fantasy in grounded within reality reflecting Freud’s psychoanalysis on dreams
Oberon wants to the view the night’s events as a dream without recognising the consequences
Demetrius doesn’t have a sense of reality or agency as he is under the love - juice
Theseus is a symbol of reality of Elizabethan justice and of a skeptical audience
The mechanicals are worried that the audience might believe the events of Pyramus and Thisbe so they create a prologue saying the events aren’t real removing the fantasy from the theatre

How is Class presented in A Midsummer Night’s Dream?

Doubling draws parallels to the upper class characters within the play
The tripartite structure empgasiss the different perceptions of class for example in Athens, Theseus is viewed as fair and honest and makes decision on behalf of his people whilst if the greennworld it highlights how they are merely a display of show and wealth
Titania’s character draws parallels to Queen Elizabeth
The boundaries within clas are challenged through Bottom and Titania’s relationship as they are from alternative classes which contrasts Elizabethan classes whereyou marry people from a similar class. This allows Shakespeare to create humour through the incongruity theory
Theseus and Hippolyta’s relationship highlights a class shift because as the queen of the amazons, she had power and a voice but as Theseus’ wife, she is silent with no power over Athens since it is Theseus’ role
Even the fairies judge the mechanical because of their lower class status believing them to be ugly because of it. Thsi an be seen through the quote, “hempen homespun,”
There is class - esque division between the fairies and humans over mortality as Tutania believes Bottom as a mortal to be gross
Despit the lower class status of the mechanicals, they provide a source of wisdom and present a critical overview of the courtly characters actions especially through metatheatre
Egeus believes Hermia must marry in the same class and he rejects Lysander as they are apparently different classes even though Hermia points out that they are
Theseus and Philostrate look down on the mechanical’s performance especially their lack of language skills. Shakespeare has emphasised this through the mechanicals using prose and te courtly characters using Iambic pentameter
The class system still applies within the woods as Titania and Oberon are king and queen so they command respect and have servants such as Puck
Men especially Egeus want to impress and remain loyal to Theseus due to the power he wields
The Greenworld exposes the women to the dangers o society without a husband and upper class status and thiscan be seen through their silence at the end of the play
The love juice reflects how you can have relationships beyond your class as true love has no boundaries

How is identity presented in A Midsummer Night’s Dream?

Characters including the mture lovers are judgemental of others based on certain aspects of their identity for example, the mechanicals are constantly judge since they are lower - class. This is most predominantly shown through the men implying that can feel and judge what they want without criticism
The women within the play they have no hold onto their gender roles and maintaining courtly values as the Greenworld exposed them to the dangers of not having a man’s protection. The women conforming to their gender identity can be seen at the end of the play when they remain silent
Having a confused sense of Identity is a key aspect of dramatic comedy and it is most eloquently presented through the use of the love juice as the men lose of sense of who they love in the play
Hermia and Helena believe they men are playing tricks on them when they love Helena rather than Hermia implying that they have a perception of men because of who they love
Theseus is decide of his beliefs demonstrating that he is confident in himself and his opinions
Servants within the play are shaped by the influence of their masters
The identity and motivations of Helena and Hemria are love
Mythic visual images within the play, for example when the fairies dance helpt to reinforce their identity
Egeus is characterized as someone who believes in the importance of law and status
Oberon and Puck don’t resolve their actions within the play so as a result Demetrius’s identity and sense of self by the end of the play has been, “drugged,” because he has lost agency
Young women within the play remain faithful demonstrating how men are more fickle in relationships than women. However, Titanis falls in love with an ass which is satiric strike at Elizabeth I sleeping around with othermen rather than having a husband
When people have the love juice, they feel confident about the sense of agency despite being ironically drugged
Bootom is overly confident in his acting abilities as he believes he can and could lead and play every part in the play. He also tries to challenge Thesue when he doesn’t understand the play helping to break the fourth wall which reinforces the he builds his identity around the play

How is nature presented in A Midsummer Night’s Dream?

Helena uses naturalistic imagery which helps to illustrate the naturalness of her friendship with Hermia that is later used to guilt trap her
It is seen as a source of freedom and safety within the play however the threats of sexual violence in the woods reinforce the dangers of the woods and the theme of appearance vs reality
Snake imagery within the play highlights deception and fear
The greenworld can invert behaviour making you lose your sense of security
Titania has a supernatural connection to nature and is sensitive to its needs as she understands that her conflict with Oberon causes discord in the mortal world
It is an otherworldly, liminal, surreal and luminary space
The woods at night is symbolic as it reflects character relationships especially Demetrius and Helena as a world of confusion with no escape as well as nasty surprises soon with later joy
Times within nature used as structural signposts of changes within the play
Even though there are no laws in the woods, the laws in Athens still influence people’s actions especially the women as Hermia doesn’t want to sleep with lysander in order for her to hold onto her courtly values
The personification of nature demonstrates the consequences of characters actions within the play
The greenworld (Frye) is a catalyst for the action within the play as it is where the mischief happens as the different social groups are brought together
Hermia uses primroses in her language to highlight that her running away connotes a youthful fresh start
The play probes the mysterious Elizabethan relationship between human and non human nature. The connection belief at this time saw nature as an almighty force of god, yet there was many contradicting opinions as to where humans belonged in the natural world
Imagery of the moon highlights conntasts within the views on being single with power
The fairies dancing was a signal of ecological peace as well as emulating well known court events like pagents
Young people went into the woods to sleep together to find true love and they also made a may pole

Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

A Midsummer Night's Dream Flashcards

Brainscape's Knowledge Genome^TM