A Midsummer Night's Dream | Shakespeare: Plays & Sonnets | Educator.com Shakespeare: Plays & Sonnets Test names are the registered trademarks of their respective owners. Said owners are not affiliated with Educator.com. Enter your Sign on user name and password. Username Shakespeare: Plays & Sonnets A Midsummer Night's Dream II. Plays: Lecture 6 | 30:12 min Lecture Description In this lesson, our instructor Rebekah Hendershot teaches A Midsummer Nights Dream. Youll go over the complete background of the play, the setting, and the characters. Rebekah explains each character in detail, including Theseus, Hippolyta, Hermia, Lysander, Helena, Demetrius, Titania, Oberon, Puck and everyone in between. Youll learn each element of the plot from the lovers escape to the final group wedding. Themes, major passages, and essay topic jumping-off points are also discussed. With Rebekah youll discuss topics such as the development of dreams, love, rules, sex, and honesty. The lesson concludes with a few secrets to make understanding Shakespeare a lot easier.

Start learning today , and be successful in your academic & professional career. Start Today! Loading video... This is a quick preview of the lesson. For full access, please Log In or Sign up . For more information, please see full course syllabus of Shakespeare: Plays & Sonnets Next Lecture Share this knowledge with your friends! Our free lessons will get you started ( Adobe Flash® required). Get immediate access to our entire library. Unlimited access to our entire library of courses. Search and jump to exactly what you want to learn. *Ask questions and get answers from the community and our teachers! Practice questions with step-by-step solutions. Download lesson files for programming and software training practice. Track your course viewing progress. Download lecture slides for taking notes. Learn at your own pace... anytime, anywhere! A Midsummer Night's Dream First Things First This lesson will teach you how to read and understand a play by William Shakespeare, one of the greatest playwrights in the history of the English language (and the man who invented quite a lot of it). These videos are not a substitute for reading Shakespeare, listening to Shakespeare, or watching Shakespeare performed. Seriously. Don’t be that guy.

Background Written 1590 – 1596 (maybe 1594?) Possibly written for an aristocratic wedding or a holiday First published in 1600 Athens—Theseus and Hippolyta are about to be married The woods around Athens Fairyland—in the woods? Not in the woods? Who knows? Athens in Shakespeare does not mean actual Athens. Characters Hermia—a pretty girl, Lysander’s girlfriend Lysander—Hermia’s boyfriend Helena—Hermia’s less-pretty friend; loves Demetrius Demetrius—another young man; loves Hermia.

Egeus—Hermia’s father Quince, Flute, Starveling, Snout, Snug—more actors Oberon—King of the Fairies Titania—Queen of the Fairies Puck—Oberon’s sidekick (a fairy trickster) Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Moth, Mustardseed—fairy servants of Titania Plot A wedding or an execution The lovers run away Helena and Demetrius run after them Everybody gets lost in the woods Titania and Oberon are fighting Flower juice Oberon feels sorry for Helena Stupid actors in the forest Puck “helps” Lysander falls in love with Helena Everyone runs around in circles Demetrius falls in love with Helena Duels, tears, and more running in circles The actors rehearse Puck, Bottom, and the donkey head Titania in love “And it was all a dream!” Themes Love—including its dark side Shape-shifting and loss of identity Dreams “The course of true love never did run smooth.” -Act I, Scene 1, 132-134 “Therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.” -Act I, Scene 1, 227-235 “

Lord, what fools these mortals be!” -Act III, Scene 2, 115 “I have had a most rare dream …” -Act IV, Scene 1, 199-209 “If we shadows have offended …” -Act V, Epilogue, 1-8 Jumping-Off Points How does Shakespeare develop the idea of dreams in this play?

Who dreams, and when? Which dreams are true, and how true are they? How does love affect the various characters in this play? Is love a force for good or evil in this story? What is Shakespeare’s attitude toward rules and traditional roles? Many characters in this play change their shape, their appearance, or their attitudes—sometimes through magic, sometimes not. When and why does Shakespeare make these changes? What role do sex and coarse jokes play in this story? Only two characters (Puck and Bottom) appear in all three of the main story threads of this play (the lovers, the fairies, and the actors). How do they move the story along? How do Puck and Bottom interact with each other? Throughout the play, Puck deceives and plays tricks on other characters, yet at the end he calls himself “an honest Puck.” What does it mean to be “honest” in a story like this? Why did Shakespeare choose to set a play within his play? What effect does this have? What does this play say about Shakespeare’s sense of humor, or that of his audience? The Secret of Understanding Shakespeare Watch it performed (or on film if you can’t get to a theatrical production).

All of Shakespeare makes more sense when it’s spoken by actors who have lived his words and know, bone-deep, what he’s talking about. Never underestimate the power of performance. Remember that this is how Shakespeare meant his work to be seen … A Midsummer Night's Dream Lecture Slides are screen-captured images of important points in the lecture. Students can download and print out these lecture slide images to do practice problems as well as take notes while watching the lecture. Download All Slides Quince, Flute, Starveling, Snout, Snug Oberon A wedding or an execution The lovers run away Helena and Demetrius run after them Everybody gets lost in the woods Titania and Oberon fight Oberon feels sorry for Helena Stupid actors in the forest Puck helps Lysander falls in love with Helena Everyone runs around in circles Demetrius falls in love with Helena Duels, tears, and more running around Plot, cont. 18:32 Puck, Bottom, and the donkey head Titania in love Lovers go back to normal Discovery And it was all a dream!

Themes 20:54 Act I, scene 1, 132-134 Act I, scene 1, 227-235 Act III, scene 2, 115 Act IV, scene, 199-209 No Fear Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Characters A Midsummer Night’s Dream Act 1, Scene 1 Theseus The duke of Athens. Theseus is a hero from Greek mythology—he refers to the fact that he’s Hercules' cousin at one point—so his presence signals to the reader that the play takes place in a mythical Greek past. At the beginning of the play, Theseus has recently returned from conquering the Amazons, a race of warrior women, and is about to marry the conquered Amazon queen, Hippolyta. Because of this impending wedding, the mood of the play is one of holiday festivity, characterized by a heightened sense of erotic expectation and anticipation. Theseus himself projects confidence, authority, and benevolent power. Hippolyta The legendary queen of the Amazons, engaged to marry Theseus.

Although Hippolyta is marrying Theseus because he defeated her in combat, she does not act at all like an unwilling bride. Theseus is very courtly in his manner toward Hippolyta, and she is unfailingly deferential toward him. Egeus A respected nobleman in Theseus’s court. Egeus complains to Theseus that his daughter, Hermia, refuses to marry Demetrius, Egeus’s choice for her. Egeus’s wish to control his daughter is quite severe—he asks Theseus to impose the death penalty on her if she refuses to marry Demetrius. Theseus, however, reduces the penalty for noncompliance from death to life as a nun. Hermia Egeus’s daughter. Hermia is a beautiful young woman of Athens, and both Demetrius and Lysander are in love with her. Hermia defies her father’s wish that she marry Demetrius because she is in love with Lysander. She is unusually strong-willed and independent—refusing to comply even when Theseus orders her to obey her father—and resolved to elope with Lysander. Hermia is also the childhood friend of Helena.

Lysander A young nobleman of Athens in love with Hermia. Although Hermia’s father refuses to let her marry Lysander, Lysander believes that love must conquer all obstacles, so he persuades Hermia to run away from her home and family with him, into the forest. Demetrius A young nobleman of Athens. In the past, Demetrius acted as if he loved Helena, but after Helena fell in love with him, he changed his mind and pursued Hermia. Emboldened by Egeus’s approval of him, Demetrius is undeterred by the fact that Hermia does not want him. Helena A young woman of Athens in love with Demetrius. Helena has been rejected and abandoned by Demetrius, who had claimed to love her before he met her best friend, Hermia. Consequently, Helena tends to speak in a self-pitying tone. Moreover, she puts herself in dangerous and humiliating situations, running through the forest at night after Demetrius even though Demetrius wants nothing to do with her.

Robin Goodfellow A “puck” or mischievous fairy who delights in playing pranks on mortals; he is sometimes referred to simply as Puck. Robin is Oberon’s jester, and his antics are responsible for many of the complications that propel the play. At Oberon’s bidding, Robin sprinkles “love juice” in the eyes of various characters to change who they love, but he makes mistakes in his application that create conflicts Oberon never intended. Though Robin claims to make these mistakes honestly, he enjoys the conflict and mayhem that his mistakes cause. Oberon The king of the fairies. Oberon begins the play at odds with his wife, Titania, because she refuses to relinquish control of a young Indian prince whom she has kidnapped, but whom Oberon wants for a knight. Oberon’s desire for revenge on Titania leads him to send Robin to obtain the love-potion flower that creates so much of the play’s confusion and farce. Titania The beautiful queen of the fairies. Titania resists the attempts of her husband, Oberon, to make a knight of the young Indian prince whom she has taken.

Until Oberon gives up his demand, Titania has sworn to avoid his company and his bed. She is less upset by the fact that she and Oberon are apart than by the fact that Oberon has been disrupting her and her followers' magic fairy dances. Nick Bottom The overconfident weaver chosen to play Pyramus in a play that a group of craftsmen have decided to put on for Theseus’s wedding celebration. Bottom is full of advice and self-confidence but frequently makes silly mistakes and misuses language. His simultaneous nonchalance about the beautiful Titania’s sudden love for him and unawareness of the fact that Puck has transformed his head into that of an ass mark the pinnacle of his foolish arrogance. Peter Quince A carpenter and the nominal leader of the craftsmen’s attempt to put on a play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Quince is often shoved aside by the abundantly confident Bottom. During the craftsmen’s play, Quince plays the Prologue. Francis Flute The bellows-mender chosen to play Thisbe in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration.

Forced to play a young girl in love, the bearded craftsman determines to speak his lines in a high, squeaky voice. Robin Starveling The tailor chosen to play Thisbe’s mother in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Robin Starveling ends up playing the part of Moonshine. Tom Snout The tinker chosen to play Pyramus’s father in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Tom Snout ends up playing the part of Wall, dividing the two lovers. Snug The joiner chosen to play the lion in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Snug worries that his roaring will frighten the ladies in the audience. Philostrate Theseus’s Master of the Revels, responsible for organizing the entertainment for the duke’s marriage celebration. Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Mote, and Mustardseed The fairies whom Titania orders to wait on Bottom after she falls in love with him. A Midsummer Night's Dream 3.1 - Puck gives Bottom the head of an ass Explanatory Notes for Act 3, Scene 1 From A Midsummer Night's Dream. Ed. K. Deighton.

London: Macmillan & Co. 2. Pat, pat, in the very nick of time; cp. Haml. iii. 3. 73, "Now might I do it pat." Skeat says, "This can hardly be other than the same word as pat, a tap. ... But the sense is clearly due to an extraordinary confusion with Du. pas, pat, fit, convenient in time"...: marvellous, used adverbially; see Abb. � 1. 4. hawthorn-brake, thicket formed of hawthorn bushes: tiring house , house for attiring ourselves, dressing-room: to 'tire,' an abbreviation of 'attire,' is used specially of dressing the head; do it in action, act it. 7. bully, properly a blustering fellow, but frequently used by Shakespeare in a familiarly patronizing sense. 10. abide, endure; more properly 'aby,' as in iii. 2. 175, the word in this sense being from the A.S. abicgan, to pay for, while in the sense of 'wait for' it is from the A.S. abidan to expect. 10, 1.

How answer you that? What answer will you make to that? How will you meet that objection? 12. By'r lakin, by our little lady, i.e. the Virgin Mary, used in an affectionate sense; cp. Temp. iii. 3. 1: parlous, a contraction of 'perilous'; always used by Shakespeare with a certain comic sense. 13, 4. when all is done, after all; more commonly in modern speech 'when all is said and done.' 15. Not a whit, not in the least; by no means; whit, "a thing, a particle, a bit. The h is in the wrong place; whit stands for wiht = wight, and is the same word as wight a person" ... (Skeat, Ety. Dict.): to make all well, to set everytning straight; to obviate the difficulties you fear. 16. seem to say, merely Bottomese for 'say.' Wright compares Launcelot's language, M. V. ii. 4. 11, "An it shall please you to break up this, it shall seem to signify." 18.

more better, for the double comparative, see Abb. � 11. 22. written in eight and six, in verses alternately of eight and six syllables. 25. afeard, afraid; though in affeard a- represents a corruption of the A.S. intensive of, the E. E. form of the verb being offeren, while 'afraid' is the participle of affray, to frighten. 26. I fear ... you, I fear they will be afraid, I can assure you. 27. consider with yourselves, ponder the matter among you. 28. God shield us! God protect us! Bottom is horrified at the very idea. Malone compares a real occurrence at the Scottish Court in the year 1594, at the christening of Prince Henry, when a triumphal chariot was drawn in by a blackamoor because it was feared that the lion by which it was intended to be drawn might frighten the spectators, or the lighted torches drive the lion to fury. 29. wild-fowl, of course for 'wild-beast:' living goes with wild-fowl, not with lion. 30.

ought to look to 't, ought to be careful what we are doing. 35. defect, effect. 37, 8. my life for yours, I stake my life for yours; I pledge you by my life that there is no reason for you to fear. 38, 9. it were ... life, it would be a thing I should regret most bitterly; or perhaps of my life = I swear on my life; the phrase with 'of' as here, or 'on,' is frequent in Shakespeare; e.g. M. M. ii. 1. 77, T. N. ii. 5. 14; for of = as regards, see Abb. � 174. 40. there, at that point in his speech. Malone thinks there is here an allusion to a contemporary incident.

"There was a spectacle presented to Queen Elizabeth upon the water, and among others Harry Goldingham was to represent Arion upon the dolphin's backe; but finding his voice to be verye hoarse and unpleasant, when he came to perform it, he tears off his disguise, and swears he was none of Arion, not lie, but even honest Harry Goldingham; which blunt discoverie pleased the queene better than if he had gone through in the right way"... (Merry Passages and Jeasts, M.S. Harl, 6395). 41. Joiner, carpenter. 42. there is, for the inflection in -s preceding a plural subject, see Abb. � 335, though here probably we have an intentional vulgarism. 46. calendar, almanac; from "Lat. calendarium an account book of interest kept by money-changers, so called because interest became due on the calends (or first day) of each month; in later times a calendar" ... (Skeat, Ety. Dict.). 49.

casement, window; properly the frame forming a window, or part of a window, which opened on hinges attached to the upright side of the frame in which it was fixed. 53. disfigure, figure, personate. 56. did talk ... wall, in the story, Pyramus and Thisbe, living in adjoining houses, made a hole in the partition wall through which to carry on their love-making. 60. rough-cast, plaster mixed with small pebbles. 61. or is altered by Collier's M.S. Corrector into and, a reading which Dyce, Delius and the Camb. Edd. adopt, but which does not seem to be necessary. Bottom mentions two alternative ways in which the wall may be symbolized; first, by the actor appearing daubed with marks of his occupation; secondly, as the story was so well known, by his holding his hand out with the first and second fingers separated from the third and fourth to signify a chink in the wall. It is true that in the representation both means are adopted, but it does not follow that this was the original intention. 64. every mother's son, every one of you. 66.

brake, the thicket at the side represents the 'wings' of the stage behind which the actors retire when they have played their parts: cue, according to some, from F. queue, a tail; according to others from Q, a note of entrance for actors, because it was the first letter of the Latin word quando, when, showing when to enter and speak. 67. What hempen ... here, what rude rustics do I find ranting and strutting about here? 'Homespun' is literally coarse cloth spun at home, and 'hemp' is one of the materials used in the manufacture. 68. So near ... queen? Puck resents their daring to approach so near the resting place of his sovereign. 69. toward, in preparation; cp. Haml. v. 2. 876, "What feast is toward thine eternal cell?" 72. savours, though there are many instances in Shakespeare of the third person plural in -s, Bottom's illiterate speech is probably indicated here. 76. a While, for a time, for a minute or two. 77. by and by, almost directly; cp. Oth. ii. 3.

309, 10, "To be now (i.e. at one moment) a sensible man, by and by (i.e. a short time afterwards) a fool, and presently (i.e. almost immediately after that) a beast!" 78. here, Steevens supposes a reference to the theatre in which the piece was being acted; played, acted, represented. 80. marry, a corruption of 'Mary,' i.e. the Virgin Mary, the Mother of Christ; a petty adjuration. 81. goes but ... heard, Quince means that Bottom has gone to find out how the noise he heard had been caused, but of course the absurdity of seeing a noise is intentional; cp. below, iv. 1. 206, 7; V. 1. 338, 9: is to come, will come, may be certainly expected to come. 82, 3. Most ... brier, whose complexion combines the delicate white of the lily and the brilliant red of the rose; cp. Constance's poetical description of Arthur's beauty , K. J. iii. 1.

53, 4, "Of Nature's gifts thou may'st with lilies boast And with the half-blown rose": triumphant, rearing itself aloft. 84. juvenal, youth; an imitation of euphuistic language, as in L. L. L. i. 2. 8, "my tender juvenal": eke, also, from the verb eke, to augment: Jew, for the sake of the alliteration with juvenal, though in L. L. L. iii. 1. 136, Costard addresses Moth as "my incony (i.e. delicate) Jew," as though in compliment. 85. yet, i.e. however far he might go. 89. cues and all, including the cues. 89, 90. It is ... tire, i.e. you should enter to speak your speech directly. Flute has uttered the words 'never tire.' 93. If I were fair, Malone thinks we ought perhaps to punctuate If I were, fair Thisby, i.e. if I were as true, etc.: I were only thine, I would dedicate myself wholly to your love. 96.

I'll lead ... round, I will lead you a pretty dance; about, adverb. 97. Through bog ... brier, to complete the metre, Johnson, would insert 'through mire,' after bog, Ritson 'through burn', Lettsom 'through brook.' 102, 3. this is ... afeard, this is one of their knavish tricks played in order to make me afraid; for afeard, see note on 1. 25, above. 106. you see ... do you? do you see as great a fool as yourself? Bottom is as yet unconscious of Puck's transformation of him by the ass' head on his shoulders. 108. translated, transformed. 112. do what they can, whatever they may do to frighten me. 113. that, so that: shall, the future where we should use the subjunctive; see Abb. 348. 114. ousel cock, the male blackbird, whose bill is of a bright orange colour. 116.

throstle, the song-thrush, which, like the blackbird, has a very sweet note; the word is "a variant of throshel [a form not found], a diminutive of thrush" ... (Skeat, Ety. Dict.), 117. quill, pipe, i.e. throat-pipe. 121. plain-song cuckoo, the cuckoo whose note is without variation; plain-song, "the uniform modulation or simplicity of the chaunt was anciently distinguished, in opposition to prick- song or variegated music sung by note" (Warton). 122. Whose note ... mark, the cry of the bird, 'cuckoo!' was of old supposed to be connected etymologically with the word 'cuckold,' a man whose wife has been unfaithful to him, and, when uttered, to point at some man thus situated. 123. dares not utter nay, is unable to repel the charge. 124. set his wit... bird, oppose his wit to, challenge, the cuckoo by denying its slanderous accusation; cp. T. G. i. I.

94, "Will you set your wit to a fool's?" 125. give a bird the lie, tell a bird that it is lying: though ... so, however often it might cry 'cuckoo!' 127. of, with. 128. enthralled to thy shape, led captive by the beauty of your form. 129. thy fair ... me, the overpowering modesty which restrains you from urging your love, compels me, etc. 130. On the first view, hers is love at first sight, as we say: to swear, not merely to say, but even to swear. 132, 3. reason ... now-a-days, are not often found together in these times. 133. the more the pity, all the greater pity is it. 134. will not ... friends, will not do their best to bring them more together. 135. gleek, jeer, joke in a satirical way; cp. H. V. v. 1.

78, "I have seen you gleeking and galling at this gentleman twice or thrice." Staunton remarks, "The all-accomplished Bottom is boasting of his versatility. He has shown, by his last profound observation on the disunion of love and reason, that he possesses a pretty turn for the didactic and sententious; but he wishes Titania to understand that, upon a fitting occasion, he can be as waggish as he has just been grave"; 'gleek,' "sc. glaiks, reflection of the rays of light from a lucid body in motion; to cast the glaiks on one, to dazzle, confound; glaik a deception, trick; to play the glaiks, get the glaiks, to cheat, be cheated. To glaik, to trifle; glaiking, folly, wantonness; O. N. leika to play; O. E. to lake, to play; lakin, plaything" (Wedgwood, Dict.): upon occasion, when the occasion calls for a joke. 137. wit, wisdom. 138. to serve mine own turn, to suit my purpose.

141. rate, estimate; cp. Temp. i. 2. 92, "With that which ... O'erprized all popular rate." 142. The summer ... state, the very summer is my slave and follows me wherever I go; still, ever; state, regal greatness, majesty; cp. Temp. iv. 1. 101, "High'st queen of state." 145. Jewels from the deep, Steevens compares R. III. 1. 4. 31, "reflecting gems That woo'd the shiny bottom of the deep." 146. pressed flowers, flowers strewed as a bed for you. 148. go, move about: here, fly as spirits do. 150. Where shall we go? on what errand do you wish to send us? 152. Hop ... eyes, dance before him as he walks, and display your gambols to amuse him. 153. apricocks, from "F. abricot, ...from Port, albricoque, an apricot ...

These words are traced, in Webster and Littre, back to the Arabic al-barquq ... where al is the Arabic definite article, and the word barquq is no true Arabic word, but a corruption of the Greek borrowed from the Lat. proecoqua, apricots... 154. mulberries, a garden fruit, resembling blackberries, though a good deal larger in size. 155. honey-bags, the small cysts in which the honey is carried: humble-bees, humming bees; to 'humble' is to hum, from M. E. humbelen; also called 'bumble-bees' from O. Du. bommelen, to buzz. 156. And for ... thighs, and crop their thighs of the wax with which they are laden, to serve as tapers; the pollen which is borne home by the bees on the outside of their legs being apparently taken by Shakespeare for wax: and waxen thighs not meaning literally made of wax, but laden with wax. 157. at the ...

eyes, as the light of the glow-worm is in its tail, Johnson thought he had here caught Shakespeare napping, but, as Mason points out, 'eye' is here used poetically for the luminous point. 158. To have ... arise, to conduct my love to his bed, and to wait on him when he gets up; cp. C. E. ii. 2. 10, "Your mistress sent to have me home to dinner." 159. painted, gaudily decorated. Character Directory THESEUS Theseus is the Duke of Athems. Theseus' wedding to Queen to Hippolyta is the climax towards which the play moves. He is a sympathetic lover, though, as a middle-aged man, he is not given to the passions of youth. He is responsive to Hippolyta's moods, noting, for example, her distress at the plight of Hermia in 1.1.122. Hermia's situation disturbs Theseus, too; it raises an issue that was important to Shakespeareï¿½the relationship between authority and the law.

Theseus is a model ruler who respects the laws of his domain, but he regrets the harsh consequences that they may entail for Hermia. He will attempt to help her by persuading Egeus and Demetrius with 'private schooling' (1.1. 116); but if that effort fails, he is committed to carrying out the law. Theseus is a constitutional monarch, as the Tudor rulers of England declared themselves to be. Thus he is associated with Queen Elizabeth. A closer identification of the two is implied in 5.1.89-105, in which Theseus proclaims that he responds favorably to his citizens' speeches of welcome, even when, hopelessly tongue-tied, they fail to speak at all. Elizabeth was known to take great pride in doing the same thing, and this passage is thought to embody a compliment to the sovereign and thus to suggest that she was present to receive it at the first performance of the play. Many modern productions double this role up with the part of Oberon. EGEUS Egeus is the father of Hermia.

Egeus' angry demand for severe punishment of his daughter for refusing to marry Demetrius interrupts the blissful anticipation of marriage with which the play opens. Duke Theseus hopes to persuade Egeus to abandon his intentions, but we see in 4.1, when Egeus and the Duke discover the sleeping lovers in the enchanted woods, that his attempts have not succeeded. Egeus insists that Lysander be executed for having tried to elope with Hermia. His harshness makes him no more sympathetic to the Duke than to the audience, and Theseus takes evident pleasure in announcing, 'Egeus, I will overbear your will' (4.1.178). Shakespeare apparently took the name Egeus from Chaucerï¿½s 'The Knight's Tale', in which Egeus is Theseus' father. LYSANDER Lysander is the lover of Hermia. When mistakenly anointed with a magical love potion, however, his affections are transferred to Helena. Lysander is the least distinctive of the lovers in the play.

His love interest changed from one young woman to another and back again by the magic of Oberonï¿½s herbs, Lysander is merely a pawn in Shakespeare's game of rotating lovers. DEMETRIUS Demetrius is the lover of Hermia whose affections are magically diverted to Helena. Chosen by Egeus to be Hermia's husband, Demetrius had wooed Helena earlier, before the opening of the play, but had abandoned her. In addition to fickleness, Demetnus shows in unpleasant shortness with Helena, who pursues him, but on the whole he isï¿½like Hermia's beloved, Lysanderï¿½a colorless young man who exists merely to be manipulated by Oberonï¿½s spells. PHILOSTRATE Philostrate is the Master of Revels under Duke Theseus. Philostrate arranges the entertainment for the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta and presents the Duke with a list of prospective acts. A pompous courtier, Philostrate argues against Theseus' selection of the artisans' production of Pyramus and Thisbe on the grounds that it is blatantly undignified.

Shakespeare apparently took the name Philostrate from Chaucerï¿½s The Knight's Tale', in which one character uses it as an alias. In many modern productions this role is doubled with the part of Puck. QUINCE Quince, Peter is a a carpenter and the director of the comical production o Pyramus and Thisbe, performed by several artisans of Athens. Quince organizes an Interlude to be performed at the wedding of Duke Theseus and Queen Hippolyta. Though overshadowed by his leading man, Bottom, he directs the performances of Snug, Flute, Snout, and Starveling, and he reads the Prologue himself. Despite the supposedly Athenian setting of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Quince and his fellows are typical English artisans, excellent representatives of the humorous workers Shakespeare was fond of creating. Quince comically performs several of the tasks of a real Elizabethan acting company. Not only the director, he has also written the script and is responsible for the properties and staging. He is something of a pedant, given to such high-flown locutions as 'I am to entreat you, request you, and desire you . .

.' (1.2.92-93), but he is a tactful director, flattering Bottom into accepting his role in 1.2.79-82, and a resourceful reviser, prepared to create additional dialogue in 3.1. Less talented as an actor, he misreads his initial speech (5.1.108-117). (Quince's comical mispunctuation of the passage was a standard Elizabethan routine dating from the first English Comedy, Nicholas Udallï¿½s Ralph Roister Doister [c. 1553].). The name Quince refers to certain tools of the carpentry trade, wooden wedges called 'quoins' or 'quines'. Quince is thought to have been originally played by Richard Cowley. SNUG Snug is a joiner of Athens and a performer in the comical amateur production of Pyramus and Thisbe staged at the wedding of Duke Theseus and Queen Hippolyta.. Snug plays the Lion in the Interlude, which is directed by his fellow artisan Peter Quince.

Snug presents himself as 'slow of study' (1.2.63), and he is mute during the rehearsal scene (3.1), but he carries off his role commendably at the performance in 5.1. In the woodworking trades, Snug's name means 'tightly fitting', an appropriate name for a joiner. BOTTOM Bottom, is a weaver of Athens. His comical ignorance and his tendency to mangle language make Bottom a typical Shakespearean Clown. He is repeatedly placed in ludicrous situations, but his supremely good opinion of himself is unshakeable. As the leading player in the amateur production of Pyramus and Thisbe, Bottom cuts a silly figure as a know-it-all who is unaware of his true ignorance. Given the head of an ass by the fairy Puck, Bottom temporarily becomes the beloved of the magically charmed Titania, and his decorum in this extraordinary situation is ridiculous. However, Bottom is a sympathetic figure as well. He is not pompous, and he is unfailingly civil to everyone.

He is not patronizing to his fellow artisans when he lectures them (preposterously) on stagecraft, and he is courteous to his fairy attendants, Peaseblossom,, Cobweb, Moth, and Musterseed. His self-confidence, though humorous in its fog-like densrfy, is not entirely misplaced: he is a leader among his fellows, as they are quite aware, and we can believe he is surely an excellent craftsman. His comedy lies in the contrast between his circumstances and his lack of awareness, but he is not a victim. His courage makes him admirable as well as amusing. It is ironic that Bottom, who remains absurdly unperturbed, is the only mortal who actually meets any of the fairies. Yet in the end, he is plainly moved by his experience. Awakening from what he calls 'a most rare vision' (4.1.203), he discovers that he cannot quite recollect it. He expresses his bafflement in comically garbled terms that reflect, among other things, St Paul's description (1 Cor. 2:7-9) of the 'hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world'.

We do not need to know the source to sense the power of these words. Bottom aptly observes of his vision, 'It shall be called "Bottom's Dream", because it hath no bottom' (4.1.214-215); he has sensed that something profound has happened to him. Bottom's name refers to a tool of his trade, the core on which a skein of yarn is wound or, figuratively, theskein itself; its suggestions of the fundamental or basic element of something are equally appropriate to this representative of the common man. To 'get to the bottom' of a subject is to find its essential quality, and Bottom displays the combination of practicality, courage, and blind confidence that underlies much human achievement. The word had no anatomical connotations in Elizabethan English. Boult Minor character in Pericles, brothel employee responsible for training and advertising the kid napped Marina. The energetic Boult ('Performance shall follow' [4.2.59], he says proudly) pretends to be cruel and cynical.

When he speaks of Marina's modesty, he declares that 'these blushes others must be quench'd with some present practice' (4.2.122-124). However, though he threatens to destroy her innocence through rape, in 4.6, she recognizes that she can appeal to his inner revulsion at his profession, and tells him his job would shame 'the pained'st fiend / Of hell' (4 6.162-163). He can only plead, 'What would you have me do? go to the wars, would you? Where a man may serve seven years for the loss of a leg, and have not money enough in the end to buy him a wooden one?' (4.6.169-172). This brief, compelling outburst demonstrates the breadth of Shakespeare s humanity: he transforms a minor character's crisis into a striking commentary on a pervasive scandal of his times- the distressing status of military veterans. Boult agrees to help Marina escape the brothel, which we later learn she does. In addition to helping Marina, Boult also contributes to the comic relief from melodrama provided by the brothel scenes.

FLUTE Flute is a bellows-mender of Athens and a performer in the comical amateur production of Pyramus and Thisbe staged at the wedding celebration of Duke Theseus and Queen Hippolyta. Flute plays Thisbe in the Interlude, which is directed by Peter Quince. In 1.2 Flute resents being cast as a woman, asserting that he has 'a beard coming' (1.2.43-44). His objection makes clear that in fact he is still a beardless youth. Flute's name, like those of his fellow artisans, refers to his trade; the flute is the nozzle through which a bellows expels air. The name also suggests the high-pitched quality of the character's voice, and Shakespeare may well have selected the name, and then the occupation, to suit the player of Thisbe. SNOUT Tom Snout is a tinker of Athens and a performer in the comical amateur production of Pyramus and Thisbe staged at the wedding of Duke Theseus and Queen Hippolyta. Snout plays the Wall in the Interlude, which is directed by his fellow artisan Peter Quince.

Snout's name, like that of his fellow artisans, refers to his trade; a tinker's most common task was repairing the spouts, often called snouts, of kettles and teapots. STARVELING Robin Starveling is a tailor of Athens and a performer in the comical amateur production of Pyramus and Thisbe staged at the wedding of Duke Thesus and Queen Hippolyta. Starveling plays the Moonshine in the Interlude, which is directed by his fellow artisan Peter Quince. The least competent of the actors, Starveling can utter only two of his lines before reverting to prose to inform the audience what the rest of his verses would have said. Starveling's name refers to the proverbially skinny nature of tailors, and Shakespeare's choice of name and occupation probably reflects the presence in the acting company of John Sincklo, a strikingly thin actor who is presumed to have played the part. HIPPOLYTA Hippolyta's role is Small, but she is a sympathetic figure who contributes to the play's theme of domestic love. In 1.1 her distress at the prospect of Hermiaï¿½s punishment highlights the young lovers' plight.

In 5.1 she disagrees with Theseus about the lovers' accounts of their experiences in the enchanted wood. He has doubted their story, but she observes that 'all the story of the night told over /. . . grows to something of great constancy / . . .strange and admirable' (5.1.23-26). Her mythical origins as leader of the Amazons are hinted at only fleetingly, in her recollected acquaintance with Hercules and Cadmus, in 4.1. Shakespeare took her name and gentle nature from a character in Chaucerï¿½s 'The Knight's Tale'. In many modern productions this role is often doubled with Titania. HERMIA Hermia is one of the four lovers whose adventures in the enchanted wood are the centre-piece of the play. In 1.1, when Hermia's father, Egeus, demands that she be punished for refusing to marry Demetrius, her civil but firm response reveals a determined nature. Her first words, a straightforward assertion other beloved Lysamderï¿½s virtues, indicate that she will not easily be deterred.

When Lysander's love is magically diverted to Helena, Hermia is prepared to fight for her man, and she drives her friend away. Several remarks indicate that Hermia is a brunette with a dark complexion, and she has often been associated with the 'Dark Lady' of Shakespeare's Sonnets, which he was writing at about the same time. HELENA Helena is the lover of Demetrius. Helena is obsessed with Demetrius, who has betrayed her, and while she realises she is shaming herself, she cannot stop pursuing him, even to the extent of betraying her friend Hermia. That she has lost her self-respect is evident in her first words, 'Call you me fair? That fair again unsay!' (1.1.181). When, through Oberonï¿½s magic, both men woo her, she can only construe their praise as ridicule. Her frustration leads her to insult Hermia viciously in the four-way quarrel in 3.2.

Her flawed personality has nothing to do with her finally winning Demetrius, as she knows; she treats the outcome as a miracle, saying, 'I have found Demetrius like a jewel, / Mine own, and not mine own' (4.1.190-191). OBERON Oberon is the Fairy King who works the magic that ensures the triumph of love that is the focus of the play. Oberon gives an unpleasant first impression in 2.1, quarrelling with his queen, TitaniaI, and resolving to 'torment' her (2.1.147) because she will not surrender to him a changeling he desires to raise. However, it is clear that he intends his revenge, a dose of a magic aphrodisiac, to be only temporary. Once he knows he will have his way, he is a gentle king, overseeing the confusions of the lovers' plot with good-natured amusement. When Titania, magically enchanted with the ass-headed Bottom, has surrendered the changeling, he feels sorry for her and lifts his spell, as he had said he would.

For the remainder of the play, he is a benign figure, blessing the marriages and the palace of Duke Theseus. Oberon was the traditional King of Fairies, and Shakespeare must have known of him from several sources, though the one most prominent in the play is a 13th-century French adventure tale, Huon of Bordeaux. TITANIA Titania is the Fairy Queen, wife of Oberon and, temporarily, the magically charmed lover of Bottom. Titania's infatuation with Bottom is Oberon's revenge on her for having persisted in keeping a changeling whom he wants. She asserts that she will keep the boy in memory of his mother, who died in childbirth. She is icily haughty and insists on having her way, although, since she and Oberon are elemental forces of nature, their dispute is causing bad weather, as she vividly describes in 2.1.88-117. During her enchantment she is a vapid lover, and afterwards she merely serves a decorative role. Her chief qualities are regal pride and grand diction. She is a highly stylized character, generally magnificently costumed, who symbolizes the supernatural at its most glamorous.

PUCK Puck (Robin Goodfellow) is a fairy and aide to Oberon, the Fairy King. Puck is a powerful supernatural creature, capable of circling the earth in 40 minutes (2.1.176) and of manipulating the elementsï¿½for example, he summons a fog in 3.2ï¿½but he is more mischievous than awe-inspiring. He reminds us of a small boy when he boasts of his talents as a trickster in 2.1.42-57 and when he calls out,'I go, I go, look how I go!' (3.2.100). Like Bottom, he is a humorous character, but where Bottom is a Clown, intended to be laughed at, Puck more closely resembles a Fool, like Shakespeare's jesters Touchstone and Feste. He is removed from the practical world and expresses himself through an idiosyncratic sense of humour. He prefers 'things that befall prepost'rously' (3.2.121).

There is some malice in Puck's taste for pranks, and Puck reminds us that the fairy world is not all sweetness and light; this contributes to an undertone of potential evil that makes the comedy, while still benign, a more richly textured tale. He speaks in horrifying terms of the cruel and awesome world that is also the domain of the fairies (5.1.357-373), only to assure us that 'we fairies ... / Now are frolic'. However, when his error in anointing Lysander causes trouble, Puck is immune to Oberon's regret that this has happened, replying only, 'Then fate o'er-rules' (3.2.92). He is coolly indifferent to human suffering. While Puck explicitly calls himself a fairy in 5.1.369, quoted above, and elsewhere, there is some ambiguity in his relationship to the FAIRY in 2.1, and in 3.2.399 he is identified as a 'goblin'. Shakespeare did not care about such minor inconsistencies, and they do not interfere with Puck's effectiveness in the drama.

They do, however, reflect the fairy lore known to Shakespeare, who combined in Puck two supernatural creatures that had earlier been thought of as separate beings: Robin Goodfellow, a name interchangeable with Puck in the 16th century, was a household spirit also associated with travellers; a 'puck' was not a fairy, but a small elf or goblin fond of playing practical jokes on mortals, especially at night. The puck was originally a Norse demon, identified in England with the devil. PEASEBLOSSOM Peaseblossom is a fairy attendant to the fairy Queen Titania. In 3.1 Titania assigns Peaseblossom to the retinue of the comical rustic Bottom, whom the Queen has been magically induced to love. Bottom has been endowed by Puck with the head of an ass, but he does not know of his new adornment, and Peaseblossom serves him in 4.1 by scratching his strangely itchy face. COBWEB Cobweb is a fairy, an attendant to the Fairy Queen Titania. In 3.1 Titania assigns Cobweb to the retinue of the comical rustic Bottom because the Queen has been magically induced to love him.

Cobweb serves Bottom by hunting for honey in 4.1. His name suggests the spider's short-lived weaving; Bottom also refers to the ancient use of cobwebs to stop small cuts from bleeding (3.1. 176); perhaps the name suggests that Cobweb possesses medicinal lore. MOTH Moth is a fairy attendant to the Fairy Queen Titania. In 3.1 Titania assigns Moth to the retinue of the comical rustic Bottom, whom the Fairy Queen has been magically induced to love. As the smallest and least important fairy in the group attending Bottom, Moth is never addressed by his'temporary master and is given no particular task. His name meansï¿½and in Elizabethan English was pronouncedï¿½'mote' and suggests the tiny size of a speck of dust. MUSTARDSEED Mustardseed is a fairy attendant to the Fairy Queen, Titania. Titania assigns Mustardseed to the retinue of the comical rustic Bottom, whom the Queen has been magically induced to love. Bottom has been endowed by Puck with the head of an ass, but he does not know of his new adornment, and Mustardseed serves him by helping to scratch his strangely itching face.

The fairy's name suggests the several references to the tiny mustard seed in the Gospels (e.g., Luke 17:6). Shakespeare's Words | A Midsummer Night's Dream | William Shakespeare A Midsummer Night's Dream clown (n.) yokel, rustic, country bumpkin; also: low comic character [in a play] marvellous (adv.) very, extremely, exceedingly See Topics: Frequency count pat (adv.) 2 spot on, on the dot, very timely action as we will do it before the Duke. What sayest thou, Bully Bottom? bully (n./adj.) [especially as a warm form of address] fine fellow, good friend See Topics: Address forms

Question: In which Shakespeare play does the character Mustardseed appear?
Answer: A Midsummer Night’s Dream