A Midsummer Night's Dream: Introduction
Probably composed in 1595 or 1596, A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's early comedies but can be distinguished from his other works in this group by describing it specifically as the Bard's original wedding play. Most scholars believe that Shakespeare wrote A Midsummer Night's Dream as a light entertainment to accompany a marriage celebration; and while the identity of the historical couple for whom it was meant has never been conclusively established, there is good textual and background evidence available to support this claim. At the same time, unlike the vast majority of his works (including all of his comedies), in concocting this story Shakespeare did not rely directly upon existing plays, narrative poetry, historical chronicles or any other primary source materials, making it a truly original piece. Most critics agree that if a youthful Shakespeare was not at his best in this play, he certainly enjoyed himself in writing it.
The main plot of Midsummer is a complex contraption that involves two sets of couples (Hermia and Lysander, and Helena and Demetrius) whose romantic cross-purposes are complicated still further by their entrance into the play's fairyland woods where the King and Queen of the Fairies (Oberon and Titania) preside and the impish folk character of Puck or Robin Goodfellow plies his trade. Less subplot than a brilliant satirical device, another set of characters—Bottom the weaver and his bumptious band of "rude mechanicals"—stumble into the main doings when they go into the same enchanted woods to rehearse a play that is very loosely (and comically) based on the myth of Pyramus and Thisbe, their hilarious home-spun piece taking up Act V of Shakespeare's comedy.
A Midsummer Night's Dream contains some wonderfully lyrical expressions of lighter Shakespearean themes, most notably those of love, dreams, and the stuff of both, the creative imagination itself. Indeed, close scrutiny of the text by twentieth-century critics has led to a significant upward revision in the play's status, one that overlooks the silliness of its story and concentrates upon its unique lyrical qualities. If A Midsummer Night's Dream can be said to convey a message, it is that the creative imagination is in tune with the supernatural world and is best used to confer the blessings of Nature (writ large) upon mankind and marriage.
Persons Represented:
THESEUS, Duke of Athens.
EGEUS, Father to Hermia.
LYSANDER, in love with Hermia.
DEMETRIUS, in love with Hermia.
PHILOSTRATE, Master of the Revels to Theseus.
QUINCE, the Carpenter.
SNUG, the Joiner.
BOTTOM, the Weaver.
FLUTE, the Bellows-mender.
SNOUT, the Tinker.
STARVELING, the Tailor.
HIPPOLYTA, Queen of the Amazons, bethrothed to Theseus.
HERMIA, daughter to Egeus, in love with Lysander.
HELENA, in love with Demetrius.
OBERON, King of the Fairies.
TITANIA, Queen of the Fairies.
PUCK, or ROBIN GOODFELLOW, a Fairy.
PEASBLOSSOM, Fairy.
COBWEB, Fairy
MOTH, Fairy.
MUSTARDSEED, Fairy.
PYRAMUS, THISBE, WALL, MOONSHINE, LION } Characters in the
Interlude performed by the Clowns.
Other Fairies attending their King and Queen.
Attendants on Theseus and Hippolyta.
SCENE: Athens, and a wood not far from it.
A Midsummer Night's Dream: Historical Background
In order for the title to have any meaning for the contemporary student of Shakespeare’s play, its origin must be explained. At the time the play was written, only three seasons were observed: autumn, winter, and summer—which included what we now consider spring and began in March. Therefore, the play, whose action takes place on the eve of May Day, actually is in midsummer as Shakespeare knew it. This was the time of year when animals were traditionally let out to pasture and the spirits of nature were thought to be abroad. The action takes place in the fairy wood, which may be what the...
A Midsummer Night's Dream: Introduction
William Shakespeare Biography
Reading Shakespeare
List of Characters
Historical Background
One-page Summary
Summary and Analysis
Critical Commentary
Character Analysis
Principal Topics
Essays
Criticism
Pictures
A Midsummer Night's Dream: Note on the Character Analysis
Note: While the older couples in A Midsummer Night's Dream have greater depth than the Athenian youths and their female mates, none of the characters in this play is truly three-dimensional. True, Theseus presides, but he is absent from the three central acts of the work, while the majestic Oberon and Titania are so caught up in respectively causing and being victimized by the magic at hand that their characters are adumbrated. Above all, lyrical language and imagery is much more important in A Midsummer Night's Dream than in virtually any of Shakespeare's other works,...
Bottom
Nick Bottom, the weaver, first appears in I.ii, with the other mechanicals, or clowns (Quince, Snug, Flute, Snout, and Starveling), as they are sometimes called. It is often noted that the mechanicals' names reflect their work. "Bottom," critics explain, refers to the bottom, or skein, around which yarn is wound. Bottom directs Quince to tell the group which play they will be performing and to tell everyone which parts they will be playing. Quince assigns the role of Pyramus to Bottom. Bottom seems enthusiastic about playing this part, and he volunteers also to play the role of Thisby and...
Demetrius
Demetrius first appears in I.i with Egeus, Hermia, and Lysander. Egeus speaks highly of Demetrius, calling him "my noble lord" (I.i.24), and telling Theseus that it is Demetrius who has his consent to marry Hermia, Egeus's daughter. After Hermia has expressed her desire to marry Lysander, and the duke has outlined her choices (death, nunnery, or marriage to Demetrius), Demetrius asks Hermia to ''Relent'' and Lysander to ''yield / Thy crazed title to my certain right" (I.i.91-92). Lysander replies that Demetrius has in fact "Made love to … Helena, / And won her soul" (I.i.107-08). Theseus...
Helena
In the first scene of the play, we are introduced to Helena's problem: she desperately loves Demetrius, but he is in love with her friend Hermia. Both Lysander and Helena herself reveal that Demetrius was at one time involved with Helena. Lysander tells Theseus that Demetrius "Made love to … Helena, / And won her soul" (I.i.107-08). Helena says that before Demetrius looked upon Hermia, "He hail'd down oaths that he was only mine" (I.i.242-43). In an attempt to win back some of Demetrius's affection, Helena tells him of Hermia's plan to meet in the wood and elope with Lysander. According to...
Hermia
Hermia's dilemma is introduced early in the first scene of the play, as her father Egeus complains to the duke that she refuses to marry Demetrius. She maintains that she is in love with Lysander, who she argues is as worthy as Demetrius. Claiming that she does not know "by what power I am made bold'' (I.i.59), she asks Theseus what will happen to her if she does not comply with her father's wishes by marrying Demetrius. Theseus gives her two options: death or lifelong imprisonment in a nunnery. Remarking that she would rather live in a convent all her life than be with Demetrius, Hermia...
Hippolyta
The play opens as Hippolyta and Theseus are discussing their upcoming marriage. Theseus comments that he
woo'd thee [Hippolyta] with my sword,
And won thy love doing thee injuries;
But I will wed thee in another key,
With pomp, with triumph, and with revelling.
(I.i.16-19)
Theseus is referring to the fact that he conquered Hippolyta in his war with the Amazons. Hippolyta's only lines in this act are in response to Theseus's comment that they will be wed in "Four happy days" (I.i.2). She says simply, in a few lines, that the...
Lysander
Lysander first appears in I.i with his love Hermia, her father Egeus, and his competitor for Hermia's love, Demetrius. Egeus accuses Lysander of bewitching his daughter, of writing poems for her, exchanging love tokens with her, singing to her by moonlight at her window. After Hermia is given the choice of death or imprisonment in a convent if she refuses to marry Demetrius, Lysander pleads his own worth to Egeus: ''I am, my lord, as well deriv'd as he, / As well possess'd; my love is more than his; / My fortunes every way as fairly rank'd" (I.i.99-101). Furthermore, he accuses Demetrius of...
Oberon
Oberon, the king of the fairies, first appears in II.ii. He is arguing with his queen, Titania, over a changeling (a child exchanged by fairies for another) who she possesses and he desires. When she refuses to give up the changeling, Oberon devises a plan to steal it from her. He sends Puck off to find a certain flower whose juices, when squeezed on the eyes of Titania, will make her fall in love with the next creature she sees. Oberon plans to take the child when Titania is so spellbound. After outlining this plan, Oberon observes Helena's pursuit of Demetrius and his scornful dismissal...
Puck
Puck, a sprite also known as Robin Goodfellow, first appears in II.ii as he and a fairy discuss the troubles Oberon and Titania are having. The fairy gives us some indication of Puck's character as she describes how Puck "frights the maidens of the villagery" (II.ii.35) among other activities. When Titania refuses to give up the changeling Oberon wants, he comes up with a plan to steal the child, and enlists Puck's aid in doing so. Puck's first task is to retrieve the very special flower, which he does quickly. Meanwhile, Oberon has learned of the trouble between Demetrius and Helena, and...
Theseus
The play opens as Theseus and his bride-to-be, Hippolyta, are discussing their upcoming marriage. Theseus comments that he ''woo'd thee [Hippolyta] with my sword, / And won thy love doing thee injuries" (I.i.16-17), referring to the fact that he conquered Hippolyta in his war with the Amazons. But now they are to be married, and their discussion is interrupted by Egeus, who comes to Theseus for help in sorting out the affairs concerning Egeus's daughter, Hermia. After hearing Egeus present his case, he points out to Hermia that she should be obedient to her father and that Demetrius "is a...
A Midsummer Night's Dream: Principal Topics
Focusing on such issues as love, dreams, and reality, A Midsummer Night's Dream has been regarded by critics as Shakespeare's first mature comedy, a work which addresses fundamental questions about life. Since love triumphs at the end of the play, dispelling the chaotic magic of the night, the drama seems almost conventional. Thus a traditional reading of the play tends to emphasize the joyful outcome, regarding the supernatural elements as the natural background for a story which celebrates life. However, a rather different interpretation was suggested in 1961 by the eminent Polish...
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