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    A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream
    A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream
    A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream
    Ebook50 pages39 minutes

    A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream

    By Gale and Cengage

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    About this ebook

    A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Shakespeare for Students.This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Shakespeare for Students for all of your research needs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCengage Learning - Gale
    Release dateSep 21, 2015
    ISBN9781535816885
    A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream

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      Book preview

      A Study Guide for William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream - Gale

      1

      A Midsummer Night's Dream

      William Shakespeare

      1595

      Introduction

      A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of William Shakespeare's earliest romantic comedies, and it has been considered one of his most successful and best-loved works throughout the centuries. It has spawned some of his most memorable and imitated characters, such as Puck, the fairy sprite with a penchant for mischief; and Bottom, a weaver who becomes such a ham when rehearsing with the local theater group that a magical spell is cast to give him the head of a donkey. Ever since the play was written in approximately 1595, there have been versions for the stage that have adapted Shakespeare's multiple plot lines, emphasizing one or another character or putting a minor theme out in front of the play. Shakespeare combined elements of stories that were well-known in his time, drawing from Roman poets and folk tales; it is a sign of his skill as a writer that echoes of this play can be heard in works throughout modern culture.

      In writing A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare diverted from his custom of retelling a familiar story, instead weaving together diverse elements into a coherent and satisfying whole. There are two sets of lovers, two royal couples, tradesmen (or Mechanicals) who are actors, and fairies who cannot be seen by any humans but one. A father disapproves of his daughter's romance, two men are put under magic spells to love the same woman, and a queen humbles herself by falling in love with a man who has the head of an ass. And the whole show ends with one of Shakespeare's funniest scenes, as the inept but well-meaning actors struggle to put on a serious play, in the process showing everything that Shakespeare thought was wrong with the theater. A Midsummer Night's Dream remains a thought-provoking meditation on love and perception, as well as a wonder for audiences worldwide.

      Plot Summary

      Act 1, Scene 1

      A Midsummer Night's Dream begins in the palace of Theseus, Duke of Athens, who is making arrangements to marry Hippolyta, the queen of the Amazons. As they plan their wedding with Philostrate, who will be in charge of the ceremony, Egeus enters. He is an old man and has a petition to ask of the duke: Egeus has promised his daughter Hermia to a young man, Demetrius, but she wants to go against her father's wishes and marry Lysander, another young gentleman. In the ensuing discussion, Hermia points out that Demetrius can marry Helena, who is in love with him.

      Theseus hears the case and determines that Hermia must follow her father's order and marry Demetrius. Hermia is given a choice: in four days, which happens to be the date of Theseus and Hippolyta's own wedding, she can either marry Demetrius, or she will have to go and live in a convent for the rest of her life, and remain a virgin forever. She chooses the convent but is given the following days to think about it.

      When all of the others leave, Hermia and Lysander concoct a plan: they will sneak away from Athens the next night, to the house of Lysander's aunt out into the woods—beyond the duke's legal jurisdiction—and be married. They see Helena passing and tell her of their plans, to help her quit worrying

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