A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
UNIVERSAL SCHOOL SUMMER READING PACKET
Honors British Literature
Swift as a shadow, short as any dream; Brief as the lightning in the collied night.
A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1. 1
For this play, we will not just read and discuss. For the most part, you are
doing the reading and analyzing on your own as you read the play at home, and
then we will discuss when you get back. However, you will have a focus and
guided questions to help steer you in the direction we will go by in class. This is a
book-noting packet, which means whatever directions or questions that are posed
in this packet will not be answered on a paper. You will highlight, mark up, and
tab them in your own book. I will collect the book for an assignment grade. I
know it sounds like a lot of work, but it’s actually not.
Now, of course, we will not discuss everything in Shakespeare’s A
Midsummer Night’s Dream—that’s not possible with the time we have—but that’s
the point of this packet. It basically tells you what our focus is. So what do you
have to do? It’s simple. Buy book tabs and a highlighter. Yes, you must use tabs.
It’s easier for both you and me. It’s organized, and it’s required. Then read the
notes in the packet and follow the directions in highlighting, noting, and/or
tabbing anything on the Tasks page.
You will enjoy reading this play. It’s light and funny yet powerful.
NOTES for you:
.......Shakespeare probably wrote the play between 1594 and 1596. It was published in 1600 and 1619
quarto editions and then in 1623 as part of the First Folio, the first authorized collection of
Shakespeare's plays.
Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence – Henry Louis Mencken
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Vocabulary List
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Highlight in YELLOW anytime any of these words appear in the play
1. austerity
2. beguile
3. cloister
4. dote
5. extenuate
6. feign
7. reveling
8. dissemble
9. flout
10. progeny
11. promontory
12. wanton
13. bequeath
14. chide
15. derision
16. entreat
17. rebuke
18. recompense
19. sojourn
20. spurn
21. discourse
22. enmity
23. paragon
24. audacious
25. gait
26. premeditated
27. reprehend
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Themes
 Love has many faces. The different types of love and that love ultimately triumphs in the
end. Despite all the obstacles they face, the central characters eventually unite with the ones
they love.
 Love presents pitfalls. All of the lovers encounter mishaps before they achieve their heart's
desire—marriage to the one they exalt above all others. As Lysander tells Hermia in Act I,
Scene I, "The course of true love never did run smooth" (Line 134).
 Appearances vs Reality. Again and again—thanks in part to Puckish pranks—reality wears a
deceptive mask.
 Imagination And Transformation. All the characters imagine things to be one way. Ex: The
imaginations of Hermia and Lysander lead them to believe that they will be happy running away
together.
 Father does not always know best. Egeus orders his daughter Hermia to marry a man she does
not love. Hermia protests and runs away. In the end, Egeus is proven wrong.
 We are such stuff as dreams are made on. Bottom, Snug, Snout, Quince and Flute—all
bumbling comic characters—fancy themselves great actors and wits. So they put on a play. The
moral: Dare to dream and your dream will come true—or at least you will have fun and enjoy
life.
The heart has its reason, of which the mind knows nothing – Blaise Pascal
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ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS—for you to think about …………….
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Love is blind: What does this sentence mean to you and do you agree with it?
When Hermia’s father opposes her choice of husbands, Duke Theseus tells her not to go
against her father’s wishes, saying, “To you.your father should be as a god.” Is Theseus right?
Puck’s magic spells cause several characters to fall in love with the wrong persons. Are there
“magic spells” in real life that affect people this way?
What is the role of judgment in love? Perception?
 What is the power of dreams? Can dreams have an effect
on “reality”?
 What is the relationship between dreaming and the
imagination?
 What is the difference between sight (eyes) and perception?
 What is the common perception of true love vs. love at first
sight?
LAYERS IN A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
A Midsummer Night's Dream is the most original and varied of
Shakespeare's early comedies. In structure it is rather like a
layered cake, each layer seemingly separate, but all contributing
to the overall flavour.
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The top layer: Oberon, Titania, and Puck
As supernatural beings, Oberon and Titania seem appropriately to be the top layer of the festival
cake that is A Midsummer Night's Dream--but they spend most of their time wrangling in an alltoo-human way.
They do seem, however, to have a profound influence over the human world, not only in the way
that they intermingle with it through the magic juice, but in the way that their actions influence
the very seasons of the year. Their argument, according to Titania, has frighteningly changed the
world, in the way that the macrocosm of nature influences the human microcosm.
Puck seems to have less power, and to be nothing more than a michief-maker with a slightly bent
sense of humour*. But this charming Shakespearean Puck, with broom*, hunting horn, and ears that
look like the asses' ears he gave Bottom was actually more threatening as he was imagined by others
in the period.
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The top human layer: Theseus and Hippolyta
The mortal pair at the top of the hierarchy, Theseus and Hippolyta, play a minor part in the
comedy. They hunt, they celebrate the midsummer festival*, and they get married.
But Theseus, like Oberon*, seems to be concerned to maintain male supremacy. He reminds
Hippolyta, who is after all an Amazon, the strongest of women:
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. . . I wooed thee with my sword,
And won thy love, doing thee injuries
(1.1.16-17)
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The middle layer: the lovers
The centre of the plot is rather like a Roman comedy--with romantic trimmings. There are two
young lovers, hindered in their love by the crusty old man, the senex*, and they plot to escape his
tyranny.
But the second plot, the misdirected love of Demetrius and Helena, and the whole invention of a
love-juice, is wholly new, and much more in the tradition of romantic comedy. Even in this one
plot, Shakespeare has created different layers--Roman and romantic--in the recipe for comedy.
Like the lesser plot of Theseus and Hippolyta, the situation and character of the lovers draws
attention to the traditional relationship between the sexes*.
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The Bottom layer: the "rude mechanicals"
Bottom the weaver and his fellow tradesmen are called, rather patronizingly, "hempen homespuns"
and "rude mechanicals*" by Puck, and "hard-handed men" (because they work with their hands; see
5.1.72) by Philostrate, the master of the revels at the court of Theseus.
The ancient tradition of the mystery plays was that a single guild of workmen would put on each
play. Shakespeare, however, has created an acting company made up of several different trades--of
which there were many in the City of London.
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The play-within-the-play
A tedious brief scene of young Pyramus
And his love Thisbe; very tragical mirth.
In Pyramus and Thisbe, Shakespeare parodies earlier plays, and presumably earlier acting styles.
Bottom, who would have been played by the renowned clown, Kempe, claims to be especially
knowledgeable about both acting (he wants all the parts), and props--even the kind of beard to
perform in.
By Shakespeare's time, far more sophisticated plays were being acted before royalty--often by
companies of child actors. In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Francis Flute has to play the female part
because he is the youngest--despite his protest: "Nay, faith, let me not play a woman. I have a beard
coming" (1.2.48-49).
As you may have noticed, the language of the characters likewise occurs in a layer or mix: (1) the
verse or poetry of the love-struck couples and (2) the homespun—and often humorous—prose of
the bumbling tradesmen as shown in the above quote.
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THE DURATION OF THE ACTION IN A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
by: P.A. Daniel
The following article was originally published in Transactions of the New Shakespeare
Society, 1877-79, Pt. II. p. 147.
DAY 1.--Act I. sc. i. Athens. In the first two speeches the proposed duration of the action seems
pretty clearly set forth. By [them] I understand that four clear days are to intervene between the
time of this scene and the day of the wedding. The night of this day No. 1 would, however, suppose
five nights to come between.
DAY 2.--Act II., Act III., and part of sc. i. Act IV., are on the morrow night in the woods, and are
occupied with the adventures of the lovers; with Oberon, Titania, and Puck; the Clowns. Daybreak
being at hand, the fairies trip after the night's shade and leave the lovers and Bottom asleep.
DAY 3.--Act IV. sc. i. continued. Morning. May-day. Theseus, Hippolyta, etc., enter and awake the
lovers with their hunting-horns.
In Act I. it will be remembered that four days were to elapse before Theseus's nuptials and Hermia's
resolve; but here we see the plot is altered, for we are now only in the second day from the opening
scene, and only one clear day has intervened between day No. 1 and this, the wedding day.
Act IV. sc. ii.--Athens. Later in the day.
Act V.--In the Palace. Evening.
According to the opening speeches of Theseus and Hippolyta in Act I., we should have expected the
dramatic action to have comprised five days, exclusive of that Act; as it is, we have only three days
inclusive of it.
Day 1.--Act I.
Day 2.--Acts II., III., and part of sc. i. Act IV.
Day 3.--Part of sc. i. Act IV., sc. ii. Act IV., and Act V.
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Not With the Eye, But With the Mind
The key passage in the play is Theseus's speech on "the lunatic, the lover, and the poet" (V.i.5-22).
Mentally ill people hallucinate, lovers see ugly people as beautiful, and poets create an imaginary
world to give life to ideas ("giving to airy nothing a local habitation and a name"). Fear can make
even a normal person in dim light can mistake a bush for a bear.
As you read the play, focus on the theme of how emotions, however irrational, color perception.
Shakespeare is writing about how fantasy and imagination influence how we see the world, and
how we see and behave toward each other.
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Egeus accuses Lysander of being insincere, and using evil magic to win Hermia's love (I.i.2732). Actually, it's Egeus who's fantasizing.
Hermia says, "I wish my father looked but with my eyes", to which Theseus replies "Rather
your eyes must with his judgment look" (I.i.56-57). No two people see the world in the same
way.
Helena knows Demetrius is a jerk, says he has bad taste in women, etc., etc. But Helena loves
him anyway (I.i.226-233). She reflects on love's blindness and sudden changeability (234245).
Demetrius, who remains under the influence of the love juice, remarks after talking with
Theseus in the woods that he doesn't know what he dreamed, and what really happened.
Theseus says that even the best theatrical productions are "shadows", and that imagination
can "amend" (mend, repair) a bad play so it seems good. Notice that Theseus is himself a
character in a play.
At the end, Puck invites the audience to believe that, if they didn't like the play, they just
dreamed it.
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TASKS
1. Keep track of the four plots ((1)the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta; (2) the mixed-up love
affairs of Lysander, Hermia, Demetrius, and Helena; (3) the preparation and performance of
the play by the Athenian tradesmen; (4) and the quarrel between Oberon and Titania) as
they emerge in the play. Note where the plots meet and overlap. Use YELLOW tabs here and
distinguish them by numbering them 1, 2, 3, 4.
2. Make note and highlight in GREEN of each time the word “dream” is used in the play and
how it is used. For example, Hippolyta in her first speech says, “Four nights will quickly
dream away the time,” (I, i) in
reference to time passing until
her wedding with Theseus.
Here is an example of what your book should look like when
Lysander says, “…short as any
you mark it.
dream,” (I, i) in explaining to
Hermia how quickly their hopes
for a life with each other are
dashed.
3. Make note and highlight in
ORANGE of each time the word
“moon” is used in the play and
how it is used. For examples,
Theseus mentions moon in I, i, in
reference to the stages of the
moon. He says the old moon
lingers and is impatient for the
new moon to come so he can get
married. Hippolyta says the new
moon will soon behold their
marriage ceremony (I, i).
4. Review the themes in this play.
As you read, find examples
(quotes) to support the following
themes and highlight in BLUE.
Also number the themes as well
as highlighting them. (1)
Appearance versus Reality, (2) Love has many faces, (3) Love presents pitfalls
5. Mark any shift in time or place in the play in PINK. Note what effect it has on the plot
development, tone, etc.
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**Not every page will be marked. Please do not go overboard. These are five simple things and let’s keep it simple and
just focus on these things.
SOURCES:
www.cummingsstudyguides.net/xMidsummer.html
www.wvup.edu/elamb/Emily'sPDFfiles/English%20Shakespeare
www.teachervision.fen.com/drama/activity/3362.html?page=2
www.theatrehistory.com/british/midsummer005.html
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