William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream

1. A Midsummer Night’s
Dream
William Shakespeare

2. >Midsummer- performed on June 24,
feast of St. John
>Dream- dreamy vagueness of the
play

3. Sources of the Plot:
>Works of Plutarch, Chaucer, Ovid

4. • Work: Play
• Genre: Comedy
• POV: Objective Third Person
(uses dialogue and without author’s commentary)
• Literary Period Written:
>Renaissance, Reign of Elizabeth I
• Literary devices Used: antiphony

5. Historical Background:
Characterization:
> heroines must resemble Queen
Elizabeth (tall and fair)
> inferior characters resemble her
cousin Mary, Queen of Scots (short and dark)

6. Anachronism:
> Vestal Virgins took vows of chastity
Society:
> Daughters must obey their fathers.
Greek Mythology:
>The names Theseus and Hippolyta
>Existence of the Amazons

7. >The attempt of Leicester to win the Queen in
marriage (1576). (Cupid’s misdirected arrow.)

8. Setting:
>Time: Mythical Period
>Place: Athens, Remote Romantic
City-State

9. Act I
>Wedding preparations of Theseus and Hippolyta
>Egeus enters and asks for Theseus help
>Theseus sided with Egeus and left
>Lysander and Hermia planned to elope
>Helena decided to inform Demetrius
>Amateur actors meet up for the Duke’s request

10. Act II
>Titania and Oberon arrived from India
>They quarreled over an Indian boy
>End up accusing each other out of jealousy
>Oberon ordered Puck to get a Pansy plant for his
revenge
>Oberon saw Helena’s unrequited love for
Demetrius

11. >Puck arrived and Oberon instructed him to
drop the juice on an Athenian Man
>Hermia and Lysander can’t find their way and
decided to wait for the daylight
>Puck drops the juice into Lysander’s eyes, so
does Oberon to Titania
>Helena stumbles upon the sleeping Lysander,
woke him up

12. Act III
>Titania sleeps in the bush
>The amateur actors arrived to rehearse
>During rehearsals, Puck turned Bossom’s
head into an ass.
>Other actors ran away while Puck played
tricks on them
>Bossom wakes Titania with his singing

13. >Oberon and Puck realizes their mistake
>Oberon anoints Demetrius’ eyes
>The quarreling Helena and Lysander arrived
>Demetrius awakens and declares her love for
Helena
>The two men quarreled over Helena

14. >The two women exchanged harsh words.
>Helena admitted her mistake and begs for
peace.
>Tension escalates, Hermia ran after Helena
as the two men rushed for their combat.
>Oberon instructed Puck to correct his
mistake as he looks for Titania to offset the
power of the charm.
>Puck did what he was told.

15. >Titania, Demetrius and Lysander were
released from the charm.
>The four were put to sleep by the King and
Queen of Fairies.
>Day of Hippolyta and Theseus Wedding
>Bottom went missing for a while.

16. Act V
>The four lovers told the newlywed their
strange experience in the woods.
>Theseus asks the players to start.
>Theseus liked the play.
>The fairies came in the midnight to bless the
newlywed.

17. SUMMARY:
>Oberon instructed Puck to help the lovers
>Puck anointed the wrong man; complication
arises
>Titania fell in love with an ass; Puck realized
his mistake
>Oberon and Puck correct their mistakes
>Theseus and Hippolyta’s wedding took place

18. Conflicts
>Man vs Man (Demetrius vs Lysander)
(Egeus vs Hermia)
(Hermia vs Helena)
>Man vs Supernatural
(The Actors vs Puck)
(The Lovers vs Oberon)

19. >Man vs Fate
(Theseus and Hippolyta)
(Lysander and Hermia)
(Demetrius and Helena)
(Hippolyta and the throne of Athens)
>Supernatural vs Supernatural
(Oberon and Titania)

20. CHARACTER ANALYSIS

21. THESEUS
>The intelligent Duke, experienced warrior
>gives chances to the offender before giving a
verdict
>sees being emotional as madness
>does not believe in the supernatural

22. HIPPOLYTA
>aloof Queen of the Amazons
>accepts the decree of fate upon her
>matured and self-controlled like her
husband

23. EGEUS
>an aristocrat who lacks fatherly sympathy
>harsh in nature
>accepts the Duke’s final decision

24. DEMETRIUS
>has a confused mind
>deserted Helena for Hermia
>arrogant, lacking in character

25. LYSANDER
>gentler, poetic, romantic lover
>a contrast of Hermia’s fierce nature

26. HERMIA
>fierce
>the opposite of Helena
>blunt

27. HELENA
>timorous betroth of Demetrius
>hungry for a moment’s attention
>envious of Hermia’s beauty
>leaves everything to fate

28. OBERON
>impersonal
>though he is King, he has limitations
>he had to depend on fate for the charm to
take effect
>immature
>wanderer

29. TITANIA
>more concerned with human welfare
>does not hold resentment like Oberon
>envied by Oberon

30. PUCK
>alongside Bossom, contributed much to the
humor of the play
>Spirit of Activity and Speed

31. BOTTOM (Nick Bottom)
>unconscious of his egotism
>loquacious
>has speech defect

32. QUINCE (Peter Quince)
>has superior intelligence over the others
>patient manager of the play

33. Theme: >The tremendous power of
vision and the dangers of relying
on it.
>The lawlessness of love.
Morals: When you made a mistake,
make it right.

34. References:
>Roberts, James L. Shakespeare A Midsummer
Night’s Dream. © 1960. Cliffsnotes Incorporated
>(ed. Beaty, et.al.). The Norton Introduction to
Literature 8th Ed. ©2002. W.W. Norton Company

35. Elaine Antonette P. Gunsi
4 AB English A
European Literature

36. William Shakespeare
A Midsummer Night’s Dream