Name: _____________________
Class: _____________________
A Midsummer Night’s dream
By: William Shakespeare
“The course of true love never did run smooth” (I, i, 134).
Elizabethan Theater and Shakespeare
(taken from the World Literature textbook pgs 839-842)
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Born in _______________________
_____________________________, England
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In Grammar School he studied
Latin, some Greek, the Bible, and
the great Roman dramatists
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By 1592 he had become a
successful actor and playwright in
London
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
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Died on April, 23
________________________
The Elizabethan Theater
Named for the years of ___________________________________________ reign (1558-1603)
The Globe (Theater)
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Famous because it is where some of Shakespeare’s most famous plays were
performed
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Shaped like a “wooden ________________________________”
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Three stories high (tiers of seats built into the walls)
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Could hold about ___________________________________ people
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Open courtyard in the middle where the poorer spectators stood to watch and could
fall victim to bad weather (they were called “________________________________________”)
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The rich sat in the seats and could buy a cushion to sit on for a penny
The Stage
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Large platform about 5 feet off the ground
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Projected about halfway into the open circle
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Musicians and sound effects were housed under the stage
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_________________________________ used for burial scenes or for the exit or entrance of
ghosts and the _____________________________________
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Beautiful curtains and tapestries at the back of the stage
Stagecraft: Sets, Costumes, Lighting
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Very little scenery
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Use of language to create scenes—audiences had to _____________________ and use their
___________________________________________
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_____________________________________________ interacted with the audience
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Characters were lowered from the ‘heavens’ by cranes
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Plays were performed in the _________________________________ so no lighting was used
(but characters might use _________________________________________________ or
_________________________________________________- to indicate nighttime)
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Plays were full of _____________________________, bawdiness, ______________________________,
action, and _________________________________________.
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All of Shakespeare’s plays include poetry, deep philosophy, scenes of both
sensational violence and quiet, psychological conflict
Actors
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HAD to perform well or the audience would get out of hand (groundlings would
often throw _________________________________________ they had brought with them)
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No women were allowed on stage—women were usually played by young boys
whose voices had not yet changed
Notes on the Play
Setting
The play takes place in ________________________________ ________________________________, Greece.
Most of the play takes place in the _________________________________.
Midsummer’s Eve is _________________________________ ______________, and was considered a time
of magic when spirits walked the earth and played tricks on mortals (humans).
Characters (fill in useful information about each character)
The Athenians: _____________________________________________________________________________________
Theseus _______________________________________________________________________________
Hippolyta _____________________________________________________________________________
Egeus _________________________________________________________________________________
The Lovers: _______________________________________________________________________________________
Hermia _______________________________________________________________________________________
Lysander _____________________________________________________________________________________
Demetrius ____________________________________________________________________________________
Helena ________________________________________________________________________________________
The Fairies: _______________________________________________________________________________________
Oberon _______________________________________________________________________________________
Titania ________________________________________________________________________________________
Puck (aka _____________________________________)
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The Actors (Mechanicals): ________________________________________________________________________
Nick Bottom ______________________________________________________________________________
Plot
Comedy: ______________________________________________________________________________________________
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Dramatic Irony: ______________________________________________________________________________________
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There are _______ main plots in the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Part of the ____________________________________ is how the different storylines interact with each
other.
Literary Terms
Iambic pentameter: __________________________________________________________________________________
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Blank Verse: __________________________________________________________________________________________
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Sonnet: _______________________________________________________________________________________________
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Pun: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Oxymoron or Paradox: ______________________________________________________________________________
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Prose: _________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Soliloquy: _____________________________________________________________________________________________
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Aside: ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Monologue: __________________________________________________________________________________________
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Verbal Irony: : _______________________________________________________________________________________
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Static character: : ____________________________________________________________________________________
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Dynamic character: : ________________________________________________________________________________
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Act 1: Background Information
Theseus and Hippolyta: Shakespeare borrowed these characters from ______________________
_______________________________________. Theseus was the national __________________________ of
Athens and is best known for slaying the _____________________________________, a creature half
man and half bull. Hippolyta was Queen of the __________________________________________, a
group of female warriors. Theseus took her ____________________________________ and then
married her.
Weddings
Just as today a woman's wedding was one of the most important days of her life. The major
difference to Elizabethan wedding customs to a modern day Western marriage is that the woman
had very little, if any, __________________________ in who her husband might be. Marriages were
frequently ____________________________________________ so that both families involved would benefit.
Marriages would be arranged to bring ___________________________ or ___________________________ to the
family. The children of landowners would be expected to marry to increase the size of the acreage.
A surprising fact is that young men were treated in a similar way as to women! Many couples would
meet for the very first time on their wedding day!
Date: _________________
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ACT I, SCENE I
1. Why has Egeus brought his daughter and her two suitors to Theseus? What does Egeus
expect him to do?
2. What was the proper role for women/daughters in Athenian society according to Egeus
and Theseus?
3. What three choices does Theseus give Hermia? Do you think these are fair choices? Why
or why not?
4. What do Lysander and Hermia plan to do about this seemingly impossible situation?
What would you do?
5. Why do they tell Helena what they plan to do?
6. Even though Helena loves Demetrius and is Hermia’s best friend, why does she decide to
tell Demetrius of Hermia and Lysander’s plans?
Date: _________________
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ACT I, SCENE II
1. Who is Nick Bottom and why does he want to play all the parts?
2. How do you suppose the threat of being hanged if they scare the ladies will affect the
artisans’ interpretation of the tragedy of Pyramus and Thisbe?
3. In what way is this scene funny? Why do you suppose Shakespeare included this scene?
4. Where are the actors to meet the following night? Who else is meeting in these same
woods at the same time?
Act II: Background Information:
Fairies: For centuries, fairies were a source of ____________________________________ and
_______________________________ for many communities. These beings were believed to be forces
of nature, fiendish creatures that were sometimes seen as little different than the
___________________________________ of hell. Fairies were blamed for all kinds of mishaps, from a
freak storm that destroyed the crops to a “spooked” horse that threw its rider. At best, their
behavior towards humans was prankish, at its worst, _______________________________________
and frightening, such as the belief that fairies would steal human babies away by night and
replace them with grotesque “____________________________________________________.”
Changelings:A changeling is a creature found in European ___________________________________
and folk religion. It is typically described as being the offspring of a _______________________,
____________________________, _____________________________________ or other legendary creature that
has been secretly left in the place of a human child. Sometimes the term is also used to refer
to the child who was _________________________________________. The theme of the swapped child
is common among medieval literature and reflects concern over infants afflicted by as-then
unknown _____________________________________, disorders, or developmental
____________________________________________.
Date: _________________
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ACT II, SCENE I
1. What does the reader find out about the current relationship between Oberon, King of
the Fairies, and Titania, Queen of the Fairies, from Puck and the first fairy?
2. How have Oberon and Titania been involved in the past with Theseus and Hippolyta, and
why have they come to Athens?
3. What effect has their fighting had on nature? on the seasons? on humans?
4. Why won’t Titania give up the changeling to Oberon?
5. What does Oberon send Puck to find? How might the magical herb described by Oberon
act as a metaphor for the way infatuation operates in real life? Explain.
6. What are Oberon’s plans for Titania?
7. How does Helena react to Demetrius’s verbal abuse?
8. What is her response to his threats of physical abuse?
9. In what way is Helena’s behavior inappropriate for Athenian women?
10. What does Oberon tell Puck to do about Demetrius and Helena?
Date: _________________
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ACT II, SCENE II
1. Why does Oberon want Titania to wake and fall in love with some vile thing?
2. Why does Hermia insist Lysander sleep a little ways from her?
3. Why does Puck anoint Lysander’s eyes?
4. How does Helena react to Lysander’s sudden love for her when he awakens?
5. Decribe Hermia’s dream. How is it a reflection of reality?
6. By the end of act 2, what is similar about the following pairs: Lysander and Hermia,
Demetrius and Helena, and Oberon and Titania?
Act III
Pyramus and Thisbe is the Roman story (by Ovid) of two lovers in the city of Babylon who occupy
connected houses/walls, forbidden by their parents to be wed, because of their parents' rivalry.
Through a crack in one of the walls, they whisper their love for each other. They arrange to meet
near Ninus' tomb under a mulberry tree and state their feelings for each other. Thisbe arrives first,
but upon seeing a lioness with a mouth bloody from a recent kill, she flees, leaving behind her veils.
When Pyramus arrives he is horrified at the sight of Thisbe's veil, assuming that a fierce beast had
killed her. Pyramus kills himself, falling on his sword in proper Roman fashion, and in turn
splashing blood on the white mulberry leaves. Pyramus' blood stains the white mulberry fruits,
turning them dark. Thisbe returns, eager to tell Pyramus what had happened to her, but she finds
Pyramus' dead body under the shade of the mulberry tree. Thisbe, after a brief period of mourning,
stabs herself with the same sword. In the end, the gods listen to Thisbe's lament, and forever
change the color of the mulberry fruits into the stained color to honor the forbidden love.
What famous story does this remind you of?? ______________________________________________________________
Date: _________________
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ACT III, SCENE I
1. How are the actors going to keep from scaring the ladies when Pyramus kills himself or
when the lion roars?
2. How are the actors going to manage the setting/scenery such as the moonlight and the
wall?
3. Why do the rest of the actors run off when Bottom reappears?
4. What does Puck plan to do when he follows after the other actors?
5. How does Bottom react to Titania and the other fairies?
6. Bottom says, “…reason and love keep little company together nowadays.” Why is this
such an appropriate statement at this point in the play?
7. Some critics see Bottom as a fool. Others think he is wiser than he appears. What is your
opinion of Bottom?
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ACT III, SCENE II
1. What does Hermia accuse Demetrius of doing?
2. How are Puck and Oberon going to correct Puck’s earlier mistake?
3. Why is Helena upset when Demetrius says he loves her? Isn’t this what she had wanted
all along? In your opinion, why does Helena refuse to believe her friend and her would-be
lovers?
4. Of what does Helena accuse Hermia?
5. How does Lysander treat Hermia? Why can’t she believe what he says?
6. Of what does Hermia accuse Helena?
7. Why is Helena afraid of Hermia?
8. What are Lysander and Demetrius going off to do?
9. What does Oberon tell Puck to do about the two young men?
10. What is Oberon going to do about Titania?
11. Why doesn’t Oberon fear the coming of day?
12. How well does Puck’s trickery work? Think of characters from television or the movies
who are tricksters like Puck. Why might audiences enjoy watching the antics of such
characters?
Date: _________________
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ACT IV, SCENE I
1. How has Bottom adjusted to the attention of Titania and her fairies?
2. What is Oberon’s reaction to Titania’s infatuation with Bottom?
3. How does Titania respond when Oberon asks for the fairy child this time? What does this
reveal about the strength of the love potion?
4. Why are Theseus, Hippolyta, Egeus, and the others out in the woods so early in the
morning?
5. What is Theseus’s first explanation of why the young people are asleep in the woods?
6. What explanation does Demetrius make? Why does he compare his love for Hermia to an
illness?
7. What is Theseus’s decision concerning the four young people? How does Theseus’s
current decision regarding Hermia and Lysander contradict his earlier statement?
8. Why can’t the young people be sure whether they are awake or dreaming?
9. Which character is changed permanently by the dream experience?
10. Bottom believes he too has had a dream. How is he going to use that dram to entertain
the Duke?
Date: _________________
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ACT IV, SCENE II
1. What opinion do the other artisans now have of Bottom since they think he is lost?
2. What do they most regret losing by not being able to perform the play?
3. Why must the artisans hurry to the Duke’s palace?
4. Why does Bottom tell them so little about his experience? Do you think he is simply
unwilling to do so, or is he simply unable to express himself clearly?
5. In this act, several characters look back at prior infatuations with disbelief. What do you
think Shakespeare is saying about love and infatuation?
Date: _________________
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ACT V
1. Why does Theseus dismiss the stories of the four young people?
2. Why does Theseus choose to see the play about Pyramus and Thisby rather than the
other entertainments?
3. Why does Philostrate try to keep Theseus from seeing the play? What does he say is
wrong with it?
4. What does Theseus mean by the lines, “For never anything can be amiss, when
simpleness and duty tender it”?
5. What is accomplished by having the Prologue tell the whole story that the actors are then
going to enact?
6. How does Shakespeare use the comments from the audience to enhance the humor of the
play that they are watching?
7. What is Hippolyta’s reaction to the play?
8. In what way is Thisby’s final speech humorous?
9. What does Oberon tell the fairies to do?
10. What is the purpose of Puck’s final speech?
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