A+Midsummers+Nights+Dream

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”

Act I, Scene 1 1. How is Hippolyta’s reasoning concerning how quickly the next four days will pass different from that of Theseus? Theseus says that time goes way too slow. Hippolyta says that time will go quickly because when you sleep night passes quickly and the day will quickly turn into night.

2. Why has Egeus brought his daughter and her two suitors to Theseus? What does Egeus expect him to do? Egeus brought his daughter and her two suitors to Theseus to explain the situation of how he wants his daughter, Hermia, to marry Demetrius but the other man Lysander has Hermia's love. Egeus expects Theseus to give him the ancient Athenian right to give her the choice of either marrying Demetrius or dying by the hands of him.

3. What was the proper role for women/daughters in Athenian society according to Egeus and Theseus? What is Theseus’s ruling concerning Hermia? The proper role for women and daughters in Athenian society according to Egeus and Theseus is to obey their father's no matter what.

4. How does Lysander’s comment about Demetrius’s previous love affair with Helena complicate things? Lysander's comment about Demetrius's previous love affair complicates things because it means that Demetrius's sways too easily by women.

5. What do Lysander and Hermia plan to do about this seemingly impossible situation? Why do they tell Helena? Lysander and Hermia plan to go to Lysander's widowed aunt who lives far away from Athens to get married. They tell Helena this to calm her down and to give her some hope in her chase for Demetrius. 6. Even though Helena loves Demetrius and is Hermia’s best friend, why does she decide to tell Demetrius of Hermia and Lysander’s plans? Helena decides to tell Demetrius because she thinks if she tells him Demetrius will give up hope on Hermia and fall for her instead. 7. Identify Hermia’s basic dilemma. What are the choices outlined for her by Theseus and her father? What other choice does Lysander suggest? Hermia's basic dilemma is that she cannot marry the man she loves. The choices that Theseus and her father suggests are to either marry Demetrius, go to a nunnery and live as a nun or die by the hands of her father. Act I, Scene 2 8. Why does Nick Bottom want to play all the parts? Nick Bottom wants to play all the parts to show everyone how great he is at acting. 9. In what way is this scene funny? Why do you suppose Shakespeare included this scene? The scene is funny because a man has to play a women's part. Shakespeare decided to include this in the scene to probably mock ancient plays.

10. Where are the actors to meet the following night? Who else is meeting there at the same time? The following actors were to meet in the woods outside of Athens. Lysander and Hermia are also meeting in the woods outside of Athens. 11. How would you describe Bottom’s acting ability? What is Bottom’s own opinion of his acting ability?

I would describe Bottom's acting ability as superb because he is confident enough to say that he wants to play all the parts. Bottom's own opinion of his acting ability is that he is very good at acting.

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10. What does the reader find out about the current relationship between Oberon, King of the Fairies, and Titania, Queen of the Fairies, from Puck and the first fairy? The reader learns that Oberon is the King of the Fairies and always has a argument with Titania, Queen of the Fairies about a changeling boy that Titania cares for. Puck is Oberon's minion and jestor. The first fairy is a fairy that follows Titania.

 11. How have Oberon and Titania been involved in the past with Theseus and Hippolyta; why have they come to Athens? In the pasts Oberon has had a love affair with Hippolyta and Titania had a love affair with Theseus. They came to Athens to celebrate Theseus and Hipployta's marriage.

 12. What effect has their quarrel had on nature, on the seasons, on humans? Their quarrels have made it impossible to grow plants. It has widen rivers to a great extent. It has made the season start at the wrong times. It effects humans greatly because the change of seasons make it harder to grow crops and the earth has been made impossible to grow anything.  13. Why won’t Titania give up the changeling to Oberon? Titania won't give up the changeling to Oberon cause the changeling was one of Titania's followers and when she was about to die she pleaded to Titania to take care of her son.

 14. What does Oberon send Puck to find? Oberon sends Puck to a find a flower that has this juice that has the power to make anyone infatuated to the first person they see when they wake up.  15. What are Oberon’s plans for Titania? Oberon's plans to dribble some of the flowers juice on Titania and when she wakes up he hopes that she will see something absolutely hideous and then she will fall in love with whatever it is.  16. How does Helena react to Demetrius’s verbal abuse? Helena reacts rather positively towards Demtrius's verbal abuse because she says whenever Demetrius neglects her she will love him even more.  17. What is her response to his threats of physical abuse? She says she will willingly be his dog if he loves her.  18. In what way is Helena’s behaviour inappropriate for Athenian women? Helena's behaviour is inappropriate for Athenian women because women were chased not to chase.

19. What does Oberon tell Puck to do about Demetrius and Helena? <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">Oberon tells Puck that an Athenian women is in love with a disdainful Athenian man in the woods and he wants Puck to wipe some juice on his eyes and to make sure that the next person he sees is that women.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> Act II, Scene 2 <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> 20. Why does Oberon want Titania to wake and fall in love with some vile thing? Oberon wants Titania to wake and fall in love with some vile thing to make fun of her because he is jealous of her always directing her attention to the changeling boy instead of him. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> 21. Why does Hermia insist Lysander sleep a little ways from her? Hermia insists that Lysander sleep a little ways from her because they are not married yet so they should still follow the rules of Athens. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> 22. Why does Puck anoint Lysander’s eyes? Puck anoint Lysander's eyes because Oberon wasn't specific about which Athenian man and he couldn't find any other Athenian man other than Lysander. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> 23. How does Helena react to Lysander’s sudden love for her when he awakens? Helena is hurt be Lysander's sudden love for her because she knows that he loves Hermia so she thinks that Lysander is mocking her. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> 24. How is Hermia’s dream a reflection of reality? Hermia's dream is a reflection of reality because the flower has taken away Lysander's love away from her. media type="file" key="Act II.m4a" width="300" height="50" By Andy Yang and Christopher Yu

Act III, Scene 1 25. How are the actors going to keep from scaring the ladies when Pyramus kills himself or when the lion roars? They are going to write a prologue to tell everyone that Pyramus is not actually Pyramus but is Nick Bottom and that the lion is not actually a lion but someone is a lion suit.

26. How are the actors going to manage the setting/scenery such as the moonlight and the wall? They are going to have someone act as the wall by having him make a hole with his fingers to represent the chink in the wall.

27. Why do the rest of the actors run off when Bottom reappears? They run when Bottom reappears because Bottom's head has been changed to a donkey's head.

28. What does Puck plan to do when he follows after the other actors? Puck plans to cause more trouble by turning into a boar, a horse, a headless bear, fire and a hound and terrorizing them with is terrifying forms. 29. How does Bottom react to Titania and the other fairies? He reacts rather confused because he just starts singing and a women just comes out of nowhere and says to him the she loves him so he thinks that everything is just a joke. 30. Bottom says, "…reason and love keep little company together nowadays." Why is this such an apt statement at this point in the play? He says this because Lysander and Hermia are in love with each other and Egeus tries to reason with Hermia to marry Demetrius.

Act III, Scene 2 31. What does Hermia accuse Demetrius of doing? Hermia accuses Demetrius of killing Lysander. 32. How are Puck and Oberon going to correct Puck’s earlier mistake? Puck and Oberon are going to put some juice from the flower onto Demetrius's eyes. 33. Why is Helena upset when Demetrius says he loves her? Isn’t this what she had wanted all along? She is upset because she now thinks that Lysander and Demetrius are part of the joke now and they're just mocking her even more. Yes it was what she wanted all along but not all of a sudden. 34. Of what does Helena accuse Hermia? Helena accuse Hermia of setting Lysander on her as a joke. 35. How close had Hermia and Helena been in the past? They had been very close almost sisters since they were children. 36. How does Lysander treat Hermia? Why can’t she believe what he says? Lysander treats Hermia rather badly. She can't believe what he says because Lysander just said a while ago that they were going to find his aunt's house to get married. 37. Of what does Hermia accuse Helena? Hermia accuse Helena of stealing Lysander's heart from her. 38. Why is Helena afraid of Hermia? Helena is afraid of Hermia because Helena is a wimp. 39. What are Lysander and Demetrius going off to do? Lysander and Demetrius are going off to fight, whoever wins gets to be with Helena. 40. What does Oberon tell Puck to do about the two young men? Oberon tells Puck to split the men apart and lead them in separate ways until they're so tired that they have to rest. 41. What is Oberon going to do about Titania? Oberon is going to return Titania to her original state and return everything to the way it should be. 42. Why doesn’t Oberon fear the coming of day? Oberon doesn't fear the coming day because he is not a normal person. So he can go around doing his business unseen. 43. How well does Puck’s trickery work? Puck's trickery worked so well that they had to rest in a short period of time. ==== **Review Question: The climax, or turning point, of //A Midsummer Night’s Dream// comes at the end of Act 3. In point form describe the major plot points of Act Three starting from when Titania falls in love with Bottom leading to the climax or turning point of the play near the end of act three.** ====

Bottom takes the sudden love from TItania as a joke but follows along. Then later Puck returns to Oberon to report in his success of his two missions. Then Demetrius and Hermia come in talking about where Lysander has went. After that Oberon was mad a Puck for screwing up then he tells Puck to get the other two Athenians so that he can get Demetrius to love Helena. After Demetrius wakes up the two start fighting over Helena while Hermia comes in. Hermia and Helena start arguing about why would they do such a mean thing to each other when they have been friends for so long. Then the two men decide to go off to fight for Helena's love and then Helena run's off. Then Oberon tells Puck to separate the two men and make them exhausted so they have to go to sleep then squeeze the juice of the flower into Lysander's eye. He then decides that later he'll restore Titania to her original self. media type="file" key="Act III.m4a" width="300" height="50"

Act IV, Scene 1 44. How has Bottom adjusted to the attention of Titania and her fairies? Bottom has adjusted pretty well because now whenever he needs something all he has to do is just ask Titania or her fairies 45. What is Oberon’s reaction to Titania’s infatuation with Bottom? Oberon is quite jealous with Titania's infatuation with Bottom. 46. What sort of explanation will Oberon make to Titania’s question about what happened to her? Oberon make up something to avoid the fact that it was him who made her adore a donkey. 47. Why are Theseus, Hippolyta, Egeus, and the others out in the woods so early in the morning? They are celebrating the first morning of May by going out for a hunt. 48. What is Theseus’s first explanation of why the young people are asleep in the woods? Theseus's first explanation of why the young people are asleep is that they have came to join them in the hunt. 49. What explanation does Demetrius make? Why does he compare his love for Hermia to an illness? He compares his love to Hermia as a sickness because it made him love Hermia instead of Helena. Now since the sickness is over he does not love Hermia anymore but Helena. 50. What is Theseus’s decision concerning the four young people? He decides that they shall wed with him on the same day as him and Hippolyta. 51. Why can’t the young people be sure whether they are awake or dreaming? They are unsure whether they are awake or dreaming because they both had the same dream about last night so they are not sure if now is a dream or not. 52. Bottom believes he too has had a dream. How is he going to use that to entertain the Duke? He is going to make his dream into a ballad and then he is going to sing his ballad to the duke after the play. Act IV, Scene 2 53. What opinion do the other artisans now have of Bottom since they think he is lost? They are going to have to withdraw from the play because they don't have anyone to play Pyramus as well as Bottom. 54. What do they most regret losing by not being able to perform the play? They regret losing their daily pension. 55. Why must the artisans hurry to the Duke’s palace? They must hurry to the Duke's palace because the Duke is ready to be entertained.

Extending the thought process.
====a) The fourth act opens and ends with Bottom at center stage. What is your opinion of Bottom’s character? How might he be the antithesis, or opposite, of Theseus’s character?====

====b) How do most of the dreamers respond to the dream experience upon waking? Which character is changed permanently by the dream experience?==== They think that they are in a dream because they all remember what happen last night. Demetrius is permanently changed from the dream experience because he now loves Helena again instead of Hermia.

====c) In this act, several characters look back at prior infatuations with disbelief. What do you think Shakespeare is saying about love and infatuation?==== He says that true love will always remain untouched but people who are infatuated by other people can easily change because they don't know a whole lot about the person so they can easily be infatuated by someone else.

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Bottom’s head transforms into a donkey He had no clue that his head was of an ass Titania wakes up and loves him like he was swanky While Bottom enjoys his life like first class

He bosses the fairies and causes an intrusion But the fairies gets annoyed and hates him with strain Oberon gets jealous and reverses the illusion And all is back to normal once again

By: Andy and Christopher

<span style="font: 12px/19px Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">Act V <span style="font: 12px/19px Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;"> 56. Why does Theseus dismiss the stories of the four young people? <span style="font: 12px/19px Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;"> He dismiss the story of the four people because their stories are too crazy for any man to believe. <span style="font: 12px/19px Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;"> 57. Why does Theseus choose to see the play about Pyramus and Thisby rather than the other entertainments? <span style="font: 12px/19px Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;"> He decides to choose Pyramus and Thisby because it's about two lovers and their struggle for love. So he decided that it was a suitable play. <span style="font: 12px/19px Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;"> 58. Why does Philostrate try to keep Theseus from seeing the play? What does he say is wrong with it? <span style="font: 12px/19px Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;"> Philostrate tries to keep Theseus from seeing the play because it is performed by 5 workmen who have not acted in their whole lives and Philostrate saw them in their auditions and he thought that they sucked. <span style="font: 12px/19px Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;"> 59. What does Theseus mean by the lines, "For never anything can be amiss, when simpleness and duty tender it"? <span style="font: 12px/19px Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;"> He means that as long as they try to entertain there won't be anything wrong with it. <span style="font: 12px/19px Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;"> 60. What is accomplished by having the Prologue tell the whole story that the actors are then going to enact? <span style="font: 12px/19px Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;"> It explains that they should not be afraid of what happens in the play. <span style="font: 12px/19px Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;"> 61. How does Shakespeare use comments from the audience to enhance the humour of the play that they are watching?

<span style="font: 12px/19px Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;"> 62. What is Hippolyta’s reaction to the play?

<span style="font: 12px/19px Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;"> 63. In what way is Thisby’s final speech humorous? <span style="font: 12px/19px Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;"> Thisby's final speech humorous because she says goodbye a couple of times after she has stabbed herself. <span style="font: 12px/19px Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;"> 64. What does Oberon tell the fairies to do? <span style="font: 12px/19px Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;"> Oberon tells the fairies to enchant the palace. <span style="font: 12px/19px Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;"> 65. What is the purpose of Puck’s final speech? <span style="font: 12px/19px Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;"> The purpose of Puck's final speech is that if anyone is offended by the play then please believe that it was a dream. If you like the play please tell everyone that the it was very good. <span style="font: 12px/19px Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;"> Extending the thought process:

<span style="font: 12px/19px Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;"> FInd at least one example of each of the following that occurs during the play within the play. Write down the quote that illustrates example. excessive alliteration Whereat, with blade, with bloody blameful blade, He bravely broach'd is boiling bloody breast;

breaking the play’s illusion of reality [Starting up] No assure you; the wall is down that parted their fathers. Will it please you to see the epilogue, or to hear a Bergomask dance between two of our company?

using the wrong word or name <span style="color: #000000; font: 12px/19px Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">This is old Ninny's tomb. Where is my love? It's supposed be Ninus's repeating a word excessively ridiculous metaphor

=== **a) In reading the play-within-a-play, we become the audience for the drama played out by Theseus, Hippolyta, and the others. These performers, in turn, form the audience for the reenactment of Pyramus and Thisbe. How does observing another audience help you understand the relationship between audience and performers?** === **The audience is more like the critics than the entertained because they have to watch the play and see if it's bad or not.**

=== **b) Modern television shows often create comic effects by having a silly, innocent, or “clueless” character and a sarcastic, knowing, clever character play off of each other. What examples can you think of? Peter Griffin - Family Guy Jake Harper - Two and a Half Men Michael - The Office** ===

=== **c) Identify ways in which Pyramus and Thisbe might be unsuitable for a wedding celebration. Are there any ways in which the play might be appropriate? In what ways is the play-within-a-play an ironic commentary on what the two pairs of young lovers (Demetrius and Helena, Lysander and Hermia) have gone through earlier?** === **It may be in appropriate because the two lovers kill themselves because of Thisby running away from the lion and dropping her mantle and the lion got blood all over it so then Pyramus decides to kill himself. Then later Thisby finds Pyramus and then she also kills herself.** **The play is like what Demetrius and Helena, Lysander and Hermia have gone through earlier because Lysander and Hermia has been prevented from marrying each other because of her father which is family. Demetrius and Helena because Hermia was a sort of wall between Helena and Demetrius.**

** COMPLETION10/10 EFFORT 8/10 CONTENT 7/10 TOTAL 25/30 **