A Midsummer Night’s Dream

by William Shakespeare

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

I

THECHARACTERS

In A midsummer night’s dreamwe meet several groups of people:

In A midsummer night’s dreamwe meet several groups of people:

Some noble women and men from Athens

The queen of the Amazons, the Duke of Athens and some young

people.

In A midsummer night’s dreamwe meet several groups of people:

Some noble women and men from Athens

Hippolyta and Theseus

Theseus fought against Hippolyta and her Amazons.

Now they are going to marry

and seem to have made it up but… have they really?

In A midsummer night’s dreamwe meet several groups of people:

Some noble women and men from Athens

Hermia and Lysander

Hermia and Lysander are a young couple

in love.

In A midsummer night’s dreamwe meet several groups of people:

Some noble women and men from Athens

Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius and Egeus

But Demetrius loves Hermia too and her

father, Egeus, has promised her to him.

In A midsummer night’s dreamwe meet several groups of people:

Some noble women and men from Athens

Helena and Demetrius

Meanwhile, Helena,

Hermia’s friend, loves Demetrius,

who despises her.

In A midsummer night’s dreamwe meet several groups of people:

A group of craftsmen

They want to act in a play at

the royal wedding.

In A midsummer night’s dreamwe meet several groups of people:

A group of craftsmen

Quince

Peter Quince is the nominal leader of the craftsmen.

In A midsummer night’s dreamwe meet several groups of people:

A group of craftsmen

Bottom

But Bottom thinks that HE is the big star and wants to play all the

roles.

In A midsummer night’s dreamwe meet several groups of people:

The fairiesThey are the spirits of the

woods: animal and vegetal.

But… BE CAREFUL!

Where there are fairies there’s

always trouble!

In A midsummer night’s dreamwe meet several groups of people:

The fairies

Titania and Oberon

The queen and king of the fairies.

They are very upset, fighting over a boy they both want as a

servant.This is like the

story of Ganymede!

In A midsummer night’s dreamwe meet several groups of people:

The fairies

Puck

Robin Goodfellow (Puck) is a

“mischievous” spirit: even

when he wants to help all he

does ends up in disaster.

In A midsummer night’s dreamwe meet several groups of people:

And the characters in the playThe play is the

sad story of Pyramus and

Thisbe.A doomed

love, similar to Romeo and

Juliet.

In A midsummer night’s dreamwe meet several groups of people:

And the characters in the play

Thisbe and Pyramus

Flute and Bottom, two of the craftsmen,

play the unfortunate

lovers.

In A midsummer night’s dreamwe meet several groups of people:

And the characters in the play

Lion

Snug plays a fearsome lion.

In A midsummer night’s dreamwe meet several groups of people:

And the characters in the play

The moon

Starveling, with a lantern and a dog, is “the man in the moon”.

In A midsummer night’s dreamwe meet several groups of people:

And the characters in the play

And a wall

And Snout is a wall. Thisbe

and Pyramus try to talk and kiss through a

hole in it.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

II

SOME REMARKABLE SITUATIONS

THEMES AND SYMBOLSThe law of Athens

Theseus tells Hermia that she must obey her

father and marry Demetrius or

become a nun.

THEMES AND SYMBOLSThe enchanted wood

So Hermia and Lysander run away,

far from Athens. Helena and

Demetrius go after them.

But they all get lost in a wood full of

fairies and magic.

THEMES AND SYMBOLSThe juice of the pansy

Oberon tells Puck to use the pansy’s

magic and help the mismatched couples but he

only makes everything worse.

THEMES AND SYMBOLSTitania loves an ass

Puck also gives Bottom an ass’s head.

Oberon had put the pansy’s juice on

Titania’s eyes so she falls in love with the beast! – A nasty trick to make her forget

the little servant boy.

THEMES AND SYMBOLSThe lovers fight

Now everything is wrong.

Oberon decides to put the lovers to

sleep and fix everything while

they are sleeping.He also cures

Titania.

THEMES AND SYMBOLSThe fairies make up

Titania and Oberon make amends and

want to bless Hippolyta and Theseus’s

marriage. They’ll dance at their wedding and in their palace so

the queen and king will love each other and

live happily ever after.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

III

THEMES ANDSYMBOLS

THEMES AND SYMBOLSMidsummer’s eve

June, 23 is the longest day of the

year.Nature is in full bloom and all

cultures celebrate rites of fertility and

transformation.http://www.amazon.com/Midsummers-Eve-500-Piece-Puzzle/dp/B000OAY1YW

THEMES AND SYMBOLSNight and day, darkness

and lightLight and day are

symbols of reason and knowledge.

Night and darkness are symbols of passion and

instinct.As two sides of the same reality, they symbolize the interdependence of

reason and passion.https://pixabay.com/p-297261/?no_redirect

THEMES AND SYMBOLSDreams

In this play, problems are solved during

dreams. They may get worse for some time, but they wouldn’t be

solved by reason.Therefore, aren’t dreams more real than reality itself?

https://pixabay.com/es/mariposa-bokeh-magic-sue%C3%B1o-sue%C3%B1os-407746/

THEMES AND SYMBOLSMagic

Some flowers, like pansies, have the

power to make people fall in love.Magic is what links all the themes in

this play.http://orig01.deviantart.net/6f98/f/2012/177/f/a/poses_with_roses_magic_pen_2_by_alrine21xe-d550c1c.jpg

THEMES AND SYMBOLSThe supernatural world

Though people don’t know it, evereything in the play is caused by supernatural powers: they make the right

couples, they give them an ass’s head, they

dance in the palace to make Hippolyta and

Theseus end their fights. . .https://c1.staticflickr.com/7/6073/6081237977_d0cbbc8dc8_b.jpg

THEMES AND SYMBOLSThe wood

The wood is the place outside the town where

laws don’t apply.When the young lovers

arrive there, rules change and so they can

solve their problems, joining «the right Jack

with the right Jill.»https://pixabay.com/p-945405/?no_redirect

THEMES AND SYMBOLSLaw and Order vs. Instinct

and ChaosHippolyta and Theseus,

and Titania and Oberon, are mirrored

couples – they represent opposite sides of the same

themes: The town, with its law and order,

against nature with its instincts and chaos.

THEMES AND SYMBOLSThe play within the play

«Pyramus and Thisbe» reflects many situations

in «reality»: the hardships of love, the

influence of the night and the moon . . .

Maybe life is only a play some higher powers

write, watch and even laugh at while we act the

roles.https://www.google.es/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjysZGVw7XJAhVMSRoKHZPEAVkQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2Falexbrn%2F3735287592&psig=AFQjCNHzAQrNHQfH2HqoWGw2RxSsKwZdDg&ust=1448882526034742

THEMES AND SYMBOLSGender issues

In AMND there are many oppositions

between women and men.

Against Shakespeare’s time’s social rules, women here stand

their ground, give their opinion and are not

humble or submissive.

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAMBy William Shakespeare

IES Pedro Floriani, RedondelaDepartment of Philosophy

Department of English

School Library Project 2015-16: THE LIGHT

All images used for educational purposes only.Please contact us through http://avellanacova.blogspot.com.es/ to claim Copyright

Ownership.

All references to filmic version: The Globe production:Shakespeare's Globe on Screen: A Midsummer Night's Dream, 2014.