About the Author
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare is usually considered the greatest dramatist and finest poet the world has
ever known. No other writer’s plays and poetry have been produced so many times or in so
many countries or translated into so many languages. One of the major reasons for
Shakespeare’s popularity is the variety of rich characters that he successfully
creates, from drunkards and paid murderers to princes and kings; and from inane fools
and court jesters to wise and noble generals. Each character springs vividly to life upon
the stage, and as they speak their beautiful verse or prose, the characters remind the
viewers of their own personalities, traits, and flaws. Shakespeare also made his characters very
realistic. The dramatist had an amazing knowledge of a wide variety of subjects, and his welldeveloped characters reflect this knowledge, whether it be about military science, the graces of
royalty, seamanship, history, the Bible, music, or sports.
It is known that he was born in Stratford-on-Avon in England, sometime in early 1564, for his
Baptism is recorded on April 26 of that year. His mother Mary had eight children, with William being the third.
His father, John Shakespeare, was a fairly prosperous glove maker and trader who owned several houses in
Stratford and became the town’s mayor when Shakespeare was a boy. The young Shakespeare probably
studied Latin, logic, and rhetoric in the local grammar school and hunted and played sports in the open fields
behind his home.
The next definite information about William Shakespeare is that the young man, at age 18, married Anne
Hathaway, who was 26, on November 28, 1582. In 1583, it is recorded that Anne gave birth to their oldest
child, Susanna, and that twins, Hamnet and Judith, were born to the couple in 1585. By 1592, the family was
living in London, where Shakespeare was busy acting in plays and writing his own dramas. From 1592 to
1594, the plague kept most London theaters closed, so the dramatist turned to writing poetry during this period,
and his poems, which were actually published unlike his plays, became popular with the masses and
contributed to his good reputation as a writer. From 1594 to the end of his career, Shakespeare belonged to
the same theatrical company, known first as Lord Chamberlain’s Men and then as the King’s Company. It is
also known that he was both a leader and stockholder in this organization, which became the most prosperous
group in London, and that he was meeting with both financial success and critical acclaim.
In 1594, Shakespeare was popular enough as an actor to perform before Queen Elizabeth. By 1596, he owned
considerable property in London and bought one of the finest houses in Stratford, known as New Place, in
1597. A year later, in 1598, he bought ten percent of the stock in the Blackfriar’s Theater, where they began to
hold productions during the winter, returning to the Globe during the summer months. Throughout the rest of
his life, Shakespeare continued to purchase land, homes, and businesses. He obviously was a busy man
between handling his business ventures, performing on the stage, and writing or collaborating on the thirtyseven plays that are credited to him.
Shakespeare’s most productive years were from 1594 to 1608, the period in which he wrote all of his great
tragedies, such as Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Romeo and Juliet. During these fourteen years,
he furnished his acting company with approximately two plays annually. After 1608, it appears he went into
semi-retirement, spending more time in Stratford and creating only five plays before his death on April 23,
1616. He was buried before the altar in Stratford Church, where his body still lies today.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Fun Facts
Background of the Play:
Unlike many of his other plays, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is unusual among Shakespeare’s works
in the sense that it lacks a written source for its plot and does not include any historical figures. The
wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta was described in Chaucer’s “Knight’s Tale” and elsewhere. The
[archetype] of a daughter who wants to marry against her father’s wishes was a common [plotline] in
Roman comedy.
What is the Tradition of A Midsummer’s Night Dream?
The feast of John the Baptist was celebrated as an English festival on June 24 (Midsummer Day). It
was believed that on Midsummer Night, the fairies and witches hald their festival. To dream about
Midsummer Night was to conjure up images of fairies and witches and other similar creatures and
supernatural events.
Forest Spirits:
Many believe that Shakespeare derived his forest spirits from oral traditions. The mysterious people
of the forest might be helpful (household chores), mischievous (pranks, illusions) or sinister. In Henry
IV, Part I, the king relates a folk legend that “some night-tripping fairy” might steal babies and leave a
fairy child or someone else’s child (ie. a “changeling”). People may have believed in the fairies
(elves, sprites, pixies, leprechauns). Puck’s aliases include “Robin Goodfellow” and “Hob Goblin”
(Robert Goblin). Shakespeare is one of the first writers to portray faerie (fairy) folk as tiny or cute.
Fun Facts:
 It is believed that A Midsummer Night’s Dream was performed in 1596, perhaps as a wedding
present for the granddaughter of the Lord Chamberlain to Queen Elizabeth.
 A Midsummer Night’s Dream inspired four-hundred years of stories and pictures of tiny,
butterfly-winged people living in the woods. Walt Disney’s fairies are their descendants.
 For over 200 years, the play was never put on stage except as adaptations.
 For years, Puck was featured at the top of many Sunday comics, with the banner “What fools
these mortals be”.
 Modern productions often depict the people of the woods as overtly erotic, savage and sinister.
 Goethe’s Faust features a burlesque of his own times as “The Golden Wedding Anniversary of
Oberon and Titania”.
 The popular movie Dead Poet’s Society (with Robin Williams) used the play as a metaphor for
young people choosing nonconformity.
 One of the best know characters, Bottom, is transformed into an ass and becomes the butt of
jokes.
 The play-within-a-play (Pyramus and Thisbe), which retells a story form Ovid, could be
Shakespeare’s parody of his own Romeo and Juliet.
 Mendelssohn’s famous Wedding March was written in 1842 for Act V of A Midsummer Night’s
Dream.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Shakespearean Drama Structure
Structure of a Shakespearean Drama:
Act 1:
 Gives setting of time and place
 Tells the background of the action, giving certain facts necessary for the understanding of the
things which will happen
 Introduces major characters
 Atmosphere of the play is established
Act II:
 Begins the growth of the action
 Introduces secondary characters
Act III:
 In some plays act three introduces a secondary plot
 Provides the climax of the plot
 Anticipates the conclusion
Act IV:
 Provides the beginning of the decline
 Suggests how it will end
 The secondary plot is ended
Act V:
 Provides a logical conclusion
 Suggests what will happen next
 The various characters have been suitably rewarded, or punishes as the case may be
Structure of a Shakespearean Comedy:
Stage 1:
 Both a young man and woman love each other.
 Their love is blocked by parents.
 There is fear of death.
 An absurd or unpleasant situation is set up.
Stage 2:
 Complications follow from step one.
 There usually is confused identity, magic and unusual events may take place
Stage 3:
 The plot twists are straightened out and everything comes right in the end.
 The opening’s situation is corrected through some gimmick (ie. a love potion)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
The Art of Analysis
.
In assessing the dramatic importance or function of any scene, or speech, ask yourself the following
questions:
About Character:
 Does it introduce a character? (directly or indirectly)
 Does it reveal something about someone’s character?
 Does it show characters in conflict?
 Does it reveal a particular relationship between characters?
 Does it explain the motivation of a character?
 Does it create sympathy for a character?
About Plot:
 Does it forward the plot?
 Does it foreshadow a future event?
 Does it create suspense or excitement?
 Does it provide background information?
 Does it comic relief?
 Does it create humour?
 Does it lay the foundation for the plot?
About Setting:
 Does it reveal the setting?
 Does it offer a contrast to the previous (or
following) setting?
Other:
 Does it engage the audience’s interest?
 Does it create the atmosphere or mood?
 Does it have anything to do with the theme?
 Does it serve to indicate the passage of time?
No single dramatic sequence will fulfill all of these
functions, of course. When you have decided upon
the most important functions served by a speech or
part of a scene, then you must go on to explain, with
specific references to the part of the play concerned,
how these functions are fulfilled. It is better to deal
with each function separately; that is name one function and show specifically how it is fulfilled, before
introducing another function. Never list unrelated functions together in a topic sentence, and hope that
your reader will be able to sort out what belongs where in the rest of you paragraph!

A Midsummer Night’s Dream
The Pastoral Convention
ck (ie. a love potion).
To understand pastoral romance, one must first understand courtly romance. Courtly love refers to
the kind of love when ladies and gentlemen falling in pure love – women are delicate – men are
honorable and protectors. Thus, the pastoral romance is a variation on courtly romance.
The conventions of a pastoral romance are:
1. Setting in forest – in nature; far away from the city
2. Forest is unreal – it is perfect (weather, the nights, always spring/summer)
3. Young lovers – come to the forest, running away from parents or a disapproving society
4. Nobility – the young lovers are or will be in line for a noble title
5. Disguises – young lovers mask who they really are
6. Mixed Up Relationships – multiple couples often become intertwined
7. Beauty of Nature – beautiful nature causes people to do thing they would otherwise not do
8. Supernatural – there is frequently fairies, magic potions, or witches who help solve problems
Convention:
Setting in Forest
Forest is Unreal
Young Lovers
Example:
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
The Pastoral Convention
Nobility
Disguises
Mixed up
Relationship
Beauty in Nature
Supernatural
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Content Questions
Act 1.1:
1. Who is Theseus? Why is he anxious for the rising of the new moon? What does he tell
Philostrate to do?
2. Why is Egeus angry? Why has he come to see Theseus?
3. What are your impressions of Hermia? Whom does she love?
4. What alternatives does Theseus offer Hermia? In what tone do you imagine him presenting
these alternatives?
5. How does Hermia change during her time alone with Lysander? Where do Lysander and
Hermia agree to meet that night? Why?
6. What is the relationship between Hermia and Helena?
7. How does Helena betray the secret Hermia tells her? Why?
8. Why do you suppose Egeus prefers Demetrius to Lysander?
9. Paraphrase Hermia’s speech, lines 150-155.
Act 1.2:
1. What is the purpose of the meeting at Peter Quince’s house?
2. Who is Nick Bottom? How does he make trouble at the meeting?
3. Briefly, what is the plot of Pyramus and Thisbe? Do you think this is an appropriate choice of
entertainment at a wedding?
4. How are Pyramus and Thisbe like Hermia and Lysander?
5. What part will bottom play?
6. How do the names of the tradesmen fit their occupations?
7. What part will snug play? What is funny about his asking whether his lines will be written out?
8. When and where do the tradesmen plan to rehearse?
9. Cite evidence that Bottom is “talking through his hat” when he pretends to know that the play is
“a very good piece of work.” Which line tells you that he isn’t really familiar with the play?
Act 2.1:
1. By what other name is puck known?
2. What does the fairy tell Puck at the beginning of this scene? What warning does he give her, in
turn?
3. Why is Oberon angry with Titania? Why does he want the boy?
4. What sorts of tricks does Puck play on humans? Why? Can you think of some other tricks he
might play – but doesn’t mention?
5. Why is Titania jealous of Hippolyta? Of whom is Oberon jealous?
6. Who do Titania and Oberon blame for recent storms and floods? Who do you think is more to
blame?
7. According to Oberon, how did the pansy become magical? Why does he tell Puck to fetch the
flower?
8. Who races after Demetrius into the woods? How does the try to stop her?
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Content Questions
9. Paraphrase Helena’s speech, lines 238-244.
Act 2.2:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
What jobs does Titania send her fairies off to do?
Why do the fairies sing charms for Titania?
Why does Oberon pronounce a spell over Titania?
Why does Lysander move away from Hermia before they sleep?
On whose eyelids does Puck press the magic nectar? Why?
What happens when Helena wakens Lysander? What does she think of his flattery?
What has Hermia been dreaming about?
Why does Hermia run off at the end of the scene?
Paraphrase Lysander’s speech, lines 141-150.
Act 3.1:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Why is bottom worried about the ladies in the audience? What solution does he offer?
What problem worries Snout? What solution does Bottom come up with?
Why does Bottom propose looking in an almanac?
Why does Quince decide to have Starveling carry a thorn bush?
How does Bottom propose that Snout make the part of the wall more realistic?
How does Puck play tricks on the actors in the woods?
How does Bottom react when he realizes that he has the head of an ass?
How does Titania react when she sees Bottom? What
orders does she give her four tiny fairies?
9. Explain Bottom’s comments to Cobweb, lines 177-179.
Act 3.2:
1. How does Oberon learn that Titania is in love with
Bottom? How does he feel about that?
2. How does Oberon realize that Puck has made a
mistake and bewitched the wrong Athenian youth?
3. What does Hermia think has happened to Lysander?
Why does she think so?
4. On whom does Oberon press the magical nectar now?
Why?
5. How does Helena react when Demetrius declares his
love?
6. Why do Hermia and Helena argue?
7. Who challenges whom to a duel? Why?
8. What does Oberon order Puck to do to set things right
on earth?
9. Paraphrase Puck’s final speech in this scene.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Content Questions
Act 4.1:
1. How is Titania showing her affection for Bottom at the beginning of this scene? Who else is
present – unnoticed by her?
2. What sort of music and food does Bottom request?
3. How does Oberon get the little boy?
4. Why does Oberon return Titania to normal?
5. How do Theseus, Egeus and the others happen to find the four lovers? Why is Theseus
surprised by their appearance?
6. What would Egeus like Theseus to do? What does Theseus do instead?
7. When they all awaken. How much do the loves and Bottom remember about the previous night?
8. What does Bottom plan to have Peter Quince write? Why? How do you feel toward Bottom,
now that he s back to “normal”? Do you pity him?
9. Paraphrase Theseus’s comments to the lovers and to Egeus, lines 176-185.
Act 4.2:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Why are the tradesmen upset? Why don’t they just assign someone else the role of Pyramus?
What news does Snug bring? How does this make the tradesmen feel?
Why does Flute say that Bottom “hath…lost six-pence a day during his life”?
How do the tradesmen find out that their play has been put on the “preferred list”/
What does Bottom tell the others to do in preparation for the play?
Explain what Snug means by lines 15-18.
Act 5.1:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Who is married in this scene?
Why does Theseus choose Pyramus and Thisbe over the other shows he might watch?
How does Quince manage to make the prologue to the play unintentionally funny?
How is Hippolyta’s reaction to the players different from Theseus’, at first?
Why does “Pyramus” (Bottom) curse the wall?
Why does “Moonshine” speak in prose instead of verse? What does he say?
How does the audience react as the suicides (of Pyramus and Thisbe) are being enacted?
What choices does Bottom give Theseus at the end of the
play? What does Theseus choose?
9. Who enters as the newly-married couples go off to bed?
What does Oberon give to each fairy? Why?
10. Explain the directions Oberon gives the fairies in line 386391.
11. What is Puck doing at the end as he describes the night?
For what does he apologize?
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Multiple Storylines
The interesting thing about A Midsummer Night’s Dream is that there is no actual main
plot. The play has three storylines or three main courses of action. The three stories
are almost entirely separate from one another. However, the storylines are connected
by the theme.
The Three Storylines:
1. A love story showing the changing relationships between four young people.
2. A comic account of amateur actors struggling to rehearse and perform a very bad
play.
3. A fairy story in which the King of the fairies quarrels with his queen, punishes her,
and then forgives her.
Write a properly formatted paragraph that discusses the theme that connects the three
storylines. Ensure that you explain how that theme makes such a connection.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Tragic Comedy
A tragicomedy is a type of drama which builds toward a tragic ending but resolves
happily. Because the tone and plot developments of tragicomedy are serious, the
upbeat conclusion can seem somewhat unexpected.
Traits of a tragicomedy include:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Unrealistic & complex storyline
Noble or highborn characters
Evil villains
Virtuous heroes
Scheming and betrayal
Disguises
Last minute rescues
Complete the following chart of tragicomedy traits for A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Traits:
Unrealistic & complex
storyline
Noble or highborn
characters
Evil villains
Examples:
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Tragic Comedy cont.
Virtuous heroes
Scheming and betrayal
Disguises
Last minute rescues
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Grouping Characters
In life we typically segregate people based on similarities and differences. We look at cultural
backgrounds, social interests, physical appearances, or personalities. As in life, the characters in
literature are also divided into categories of similarity. There are four sets of characters in A
Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Use the following chart to decide the commonalities between the characters listed in the box blow:
Puck
Theseus
Mustardseed
Hippolyta
Hermia
Character
Group
Greek
Mythology
The Lovers
Characters
Oberon
Moth
Flute
Lysander
Snug
Helena
Quince
Cobweb
Starveling
Demetrius
Characteristics of the group
Titania
Peaseblossom
Bottom
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Grouping Characters
Character
Group
The
Workers
The Fairies
Characters
Characteristics of the group
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Illusion vs. Reality
The two settings in the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Athens and the forest, help to emphasize
the major theme of illusion vs. reality.
Reality: Athens - state of being real; actuality (Athens symbolizes reason, rationality)
Illusion: The Forest - symbolizes the dream world, the subconscious, and irrationality. There is a
sense of suspended time, passion, and dreams – things happen when the characters are under a
magic spell.)

Interweaving of the two worlds: movement of the characters from city to forest and back
again represent a move from the conscious to the subconscious – between reality and
illusion.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream asks the audience/readers to invoke a “willing suspension of
disbelief”: to put aside the rational and the disbelief of an imaginative world, and to enter
freely into a world of magic and the supernatural.
Locate examples of illusion vs. reality in A Midsummer Night’s Dream:
Illusion
Reality
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Themes
A theme is an observation of life which serves as the controlling idea in a literary work. A theme is
seldom presented word-for-word but is more often found as an abstract idea, surfacing through the
actions and dialogues of characters, the use of symbols and recurring images, or the manipulation of
other literary devices. Record example from A Midsummer Night’s Dream of the following themes:
Theme:
Discussion:
The Difficulty With
Love and
Marriage
Magic
Dreams
Jealousy