Here is a description of the characters in MIDSUMMER MADNESS (our version of William Shakespeare’s
comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream). There are three main types of characters in this play: The Nobles,
The Fairies and The Workers. As you can see in the diagram below, these groups have been divided into
smaller sub-groups: (Please study the vocabulary at the foot of the second page)
Egeus
Authority Figure

Hermia
The Nobles
The Young Lovers
Lysander
Demetrius
Helena
Oberon, King of
the Fairies
Authority Figures
Titania, Queen of
the Fairies
 The Fairies
Puck: Oberon’s
Fairy servants
Servant
The Queen’s
Servants
(invisible in our
play)

The Workers
Represented by
Bottom
 THE NOBLES
Egeus - Hermia’s father represents PATERNAL AUTHORITY in the family. He is a possessive man and will
not tolerate disobedience1 from his daughter. He orders Hermia to marry Demetrius and forbids 2 her to
marry Lysander. Hermia - Hermia is a strong-minded 3, romantic young girl. She is in love with Lysander
and is prepared to disobey4 her father in order to marry the man she loves. Lysander - He is a young
nobleman who is in love with Hermia. He is a romantic and is prepared to break the law and run away 5
from Athens so that he can marry her. Demetrius - At the start of the play, Demetrius is selfish.6 He is
determined7 to marry Hermia even though she is in love with Lysander. He also treats Helena cruelly simply
because she loves him and he doesn’t love her. However, after his adventure in the wood, Demetrius
becomes a better person. Helena - Helena and Hermia are friends, but there is a problem: Helena is in love
with Demetrius, and he wants to marry Hermia. Helena wishes she could find the same kind of love that
Hermia has with Lysander. Jealous,8 she betrays her friend to Demetrius.

THE FAIRIES
Oberon, is the King of the Fairies – Like Theseus in Athens, Oberon represents AUTHORITY and LAW 9 in
Fairy Wood. His spells10 are responsible for most of the crazy action that takes place in the wood.11 He is
also an authoritative and possessive husband. He punishes12 his wife with the use of magic because she
disobeys him. Titania is the Queen of the Fairies: This headstrong13 wife of Oberon disobeys her husband
because she suspects he is attracted to female humans in Athens. However, after Titania becomes victim to
her husband’s magic, she changes and becomes obedient. Puck – He is Oberon’s faithful14 servant. He is
mischievous15 and, at times, a little cruel. He likes to play tricks16 on others, particularly on mortals. He is
particularly cruel to Bottom whom he changes into a donkey.

THE WORKERS
Bottom represents the working classes of Athens. In the original work by Shakespeare (A Midsummer
Night’s Dream), Bottom is a weaver17 who is seen in the fairy wood rehearsing18 a play with his working
companions. This play is to be performed19 for the Duke of Athens on his wedding20 day. However, in OUR
version, Bottom rehearses alone and we do not see his companions. Bottom’s character is very funny. He
takes himself very seriously and he thinks he is a fantastic actor but, in fact, he is a terrible actor. He has
very little education, but thinks he knows everything.
1
disobedience = desobediencia
to forbid = prohibir
3
strong-minded = de fuerte carácter
4
to disobey = desobedecer
5
to run away = huir / fugarse
6
selfish = egoísta
7
determined = decidido (a)
8
jealous = celoso(a)
9
law = la ley
10
a spell = un hechizo
11
wood = bosque
12
to punish = castigar
13
headstrong = obstinado(a) / cabezudo(a)
14
faithful = fiel
15
mischievous = travieso (a) malévalo (a)
16
tricks = travesuras, trampas
17
a weaver = un tejedor
18
to rehearse = ensayar
19
to perform = representar, actuar
20
a wedding = una boda
2
TRUE or FALSE?
TRUE
FALSE
1. Hermia is the daughter of Egeus.
2. Egeus says his daughter can marry whom she wants.
3. Hermia wants to marry Demetrius.
4. Lysander is determined to marry Hermia.
5. Demetrius wants to marry Hermia.
6. Helena is in love with Lysander.
7. Oberon is married to Helena.
8. Oberon punishes Titania because she is not an obedient wife.
9. Puck serves Oberon.
10. Puck likes to play tricks on humans.
11. Bottom is a useless actor.
LVE
If you look at the previous section on STRUCTURE, we can see that this play moves in CIRCLES. LOVE is also
circular: without LOVE, men and women would not produce children and then the world would come to an
end. The institution of MARRIAGE involves both desire and devotion. You need desire to make children and
devotion to look after those children. (Of course, not everybody gets married to have children.)
Love comes in many different forms, which are reflected in the play:
-
ROMANTIC LOVE (Hermia and Lysander.)
PATERNAL LOVE (Egeus’ love for his daughter, Hermia.)
POSSESSIVE LOVE (Helena’s love for Demetrius. Oberon’s love for Titania.)
LOVE & CONFLICT (Egeus/Hermia; Demetrius/Hermia; Helena/Demetrius; Titania/Oberon, etc)
There are many examples of LOVE & CONFLICT in the play. Look at this famous line from Lysander:
“The course of true love never did run smooth.”
Can you translate that into Spanish? Do you agree with this statement? If so, why? If not, why not?
 After you have seen the play, can you describe the conflict between the following characters: (NOTE: Often, this conflict is TEMPORARY and not permanent.)
 Helena and Hermia  Oberon and Titania  Demetrius and Lysander  Hermia and Lysander
 Egeus and Hermia  Helena and Lysander  Hermia and Demetrius  Bottom and Titania
OPPOSITES
There are many opposing THEMES (ideas opuestas) in this play that create both CONFLICT & HARMONY.
Can you match the words in the different columns to make opposites? When you have finished, decide
whether these words are ADJECTIVES VERBS or NOUNS . (We have given you an example.)
sanity
marriage
divorce
reality
dream
fair (justo)
desire
happiness
heart
dark
unfair
uneducated
disorder
sun
discontent
order
moon
head
light
rebellion
educated
day
night
madness
obedience
repulsion
repulsion
Answer: DREAM + REALITY = Nouns (to dream is also a verb.)
PRACTICE
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
What is the verb form of obedient?
What is the adjective form of rebellion?
What is the noun form of dark?
What is the adjective form of reality?
What is the verb form of marriage?
What is the adjective form of repulsion?
What is the adjective form of happiness?
What is the adjective form of sanity?
What is the verb form of educated?
What is the noun form of fair?