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Thinking about A Midsummer Night’s Dream,
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THINKING ABOUT A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
Introduction
Notes on the Text
Sources
Quizzes
Quotations
Characters
Themes
Audio Recordings
Links to YouTube Videos
Essays and Projects
The Reconciliation of Titania and Oberon, Joseph Noel Paton, 1847
A Midsummer Night's Dream – Introduction
• It is unknown when MND was first
written or performed, but it is usually
dated between 1594 – 1596.
• May have been written for an
aristocratic wedding or to celebrate
the Feast of St. John
• Midsummer Eve, or St. John’s Eve,
was celebrated on June 23.
• Categorized as a comedy, it is one of
Shakespeare’s most popular works.
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Titania Embracing Bottom, Henry Fuseli (1793)
A Midsummer Night's Dream – The Text
• First quarto edition published in 1600
by Thomas Fisher.
• Second quarto edition published in
1619 by William Jaggard, as part of
“False Folio.”
• Included in First Folio of 1623.
• First documented performance
occurred at Court on Jan. 1, 1605.
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Title page of first quarto, 1600
A Midsummer Night's Dream – Sources
• MND has no single source.
• Unlike many of Shakespeare’s plays,
it’s not an adaptation of another
work.
• Pyramus and Thisbe comes from
Ovid’s The Metamorphosis.
• Wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta
comes from Chaucer’s Canterbury
Tales.
• Other aspects of the play are derived
from Roman comedic tradition and
English folk tales.
Thisbe, John Waterhouse (1909)
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A Midsummer Night's Dream - Quizzes
Act I
Act II
Act III
Act IV
Act V
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Edwin Landseer (1848)
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MND: Act I Quiz
Click the  for an answer.
1. Explain why Egeus has come to Theseus to complain about his
daughter, Hermia. 
2. Why do Hermia and Lysander plan to visit his aunt who lives
outside of Athens?
3. Who is Helena, and why does she decide to tell Demetrius about
Hermia and Lysander’s plan?
4. What part will Bottom play in “Pyramus and Thisbe,” and how
does Peter Quince convince Bottom to accept the part?
5. Why are the tradesmen worried about the lion’s part in their
production?
Quizzes
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1. Explain why Egeus has come to Theseus to complain about
his daughter, Hermia.
Click anywhere for the answer.
Egeus has promised Hermia in marriage to Demetrius, who is in
love with her.
However, Hermia has fallen in love with Lysander and refuses to
obey her father.
Egeus demands that Hermia be punished if she refuses to obey
his order to marry Demetrius.
Quizzes
Next Question
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A Midsummer Night's Dream - Quotations
Act I
Act II
Act III
Act IV
Act V
Titania Awakening, Henry Fuseli (1785-89)
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MND: ACT I QUOTATIONS
CLICK THE  FOR AN ANSWER.
1. Hippolyta, I woo'd thee 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. 
2. Full of vexation come I, with complaint
Against my child, my daughter…
3. The course of true love never did run smooth;
4. I will roar you as gently as any sucking dove; I will roar you, as
'twere any nightingale.
Quotations
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1. Hippolyta, I woo'd thee 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.
Click anywhere for the answer.
Theseus explains that although he won Hippolyta’s love by
conquering her in battle, their marriage will have a different
tone, one of lavish celebration.
Quotations
Next Question
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A Midsummer Night's Dream - Characters
Theseus
Oberon
Hippolyta
Titania
Demetrius
Egeus
Hermia
Nick Bottom
Lysander
The Tradesmen
Helena
The Fairies
Puck
Changelings
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Titania, Henry Meynell Rheam, date unknown
Puck - 1
• Also known as Robin Goodfellow, based
on a figure from English mythology.
• A mischievous fairy or spirit who delights
in causing trouble for humans.
• With Bottom, the only character in the
play involved in all three plots.
• Oberon’s servant, sent to obtain the
magic flower struck by Cupid’s arrows.
• Mistakenly doses the sleeping Lysander,
instead of Demetrius, causing the comic
confusion among the four Athenian
lovers.
Characters
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Vince Cardinale as Puck from the Carmel
Shakespeare Festival production of A
Midsummer Night's Dream, Sept., 2000
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Puck - 2
• Changes Bottom’s head to that of a
donkey, causing Titania to fall in love
with a beast and allowing Oberon to take
the changeling boy from her.
• Puck later separates Demetrius and
Lysander by imitating their voices, and
corrects his earlier mistake by causing
Lysander to fall back in love with Hermia.
• The four lovers awake believing the
events of the previous night were a
dream.
• Puck ends the play suggesting that if the
audience was offended, they should just
pretend it was all a dream.
Characters
Back
Puck, Joshua Reynolds, 1789
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The Fairies
• Fairies in medieval and Renaissance
folklore were often described as having
human form and magical powers.
• Fairies have also been depicted in
folklore as tall angels, short wizened
trolls, tiny figures with wings or even
small children.
• Many stories revolve around humans
protecting themselves from their
malicious pranks or magic potions by
avoiding locations they are known to
inhabit.
• Fairies were thought to disguise their
appearance in the presence of humans.
Lily Fairy, Luis Ricardo Falero, 1888
Characters
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A Midsummer Night's Dream - Themes
Dreams
Gender Relationships
Love
Magic
Order and Disorder
The Power of Theatre
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act IV Scene I, Henry Fuseli, 1796
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Love - 1
• Love is the central theme of the play.
• Shakespeare examines many aspects of love by showing the behavior
of six pairs of lovers:
• Theseus and Hippolyta
• Helena and Demetrius
• Hermia and Lysander
• Oberon and Titania
• Titania and Bottom
• Pyramus and Thisbe
• Although the Athenian lovers and Titania are under Puck’s magic
spell, Shakespeare is making fun of the way lovers act in real life.
• Lovers are shown to be fickle and foolish.
• Passionate love is brief and often based on appearances.
• These themes have also been treated by Shakespeare in tragedies,
such as Romeo and Juliet.
Themes
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Love - 2
• Lysander’s oft-quoted comment in the opening scene sets the
tone for the lovers’ struggles:
• The course of true love never did run smooth;
• Although the play focuses on the foolishness of lovers, the tone is
lighthearted, as is appropriate for comedy.
• Even the tragic story of the lovers, Pyramus and Thisbe, as
performed by the tradesmen, is a source of humor and
entertainment.
• The theme is resolved by the reconciliation of Oberon and
Titania and by the triple wedding at the end of the play.
Themes
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A Midsummer Night's Dream – Audio Recordings
Audio Files are not available in the preview version.
Act I
Act II
Act III
Act IV
Click a Sound icon to play
the entire act.
Click into the bar to
advance the recording.
Cast
All audio files are downloaded from
LibriVox.org and are in the public
domain. More info.
Act V
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A Midsummer Night's Dream – You Tube Videos
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A Midsummer Night's Dream – Essays & Projects
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