Introduction
of A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream was written in a highly creative period
in Shakespeare's career, when he was moving away from the shallow plots that
characterized his earlier drama and discovering his more mature style. Most
critics believe the play was written for and performed at an aristocratic
wedding, with Queen Elizabeth I in attendance. Scholars estimate the play was
written in 1595 or 1596 (when Shakespeare was 31 or 32 years old), at
approximately the same time as Romeo
and Juliet and Richard II. Obvious plot links
exist between A Midsummer
Night's Dream and Romeo and Juliet, and critics
disagree about which play was written first. Not only do both dramas emphasize
the conflict between love and social convention, but the plot of "Pyramus
and Thisbe," the play-within-the-play of A
Midsummer Night's Dream, parallels that of Romeo and Juliet. Critics have
wondered if Romeo and Juliet is a serious reinterpretation of the
other play, or just the opposite: Perhaps Shakespeare is mocking his tragic
love story through the burlesque of "Pyramus and Thisbe."
Sources
and Allusions
Unlike most of Shakespeare's dramas, A Midsummer Night's Dream does not have a single written
source. The story of "Pyramus and Thisbe" was originally presented in
Ovid's The Metamorphosis,
making it one of many classical and folkloric allusions in the play. Other
allusions include Theseus and Hippolyta's wedding, which is described in
Chaucer's "Knight's Tale" in The
Canterbury Tales, while the theme of a daughter who wants to marry the man
of her choice despite her father's opposition was common in Roman comedy. The
fairies that dance and frolic throughout this play were most likely derived
from English folk tradition. On the one hand, these creatures have a sinister
side — Puck, for example, is also known as Robin Goodfellow, a common name for
the devil — but they can also be viewed as fun-loving nature spirits, aligned
with a benevolent Mother Nature. The interaction of this eclectic array of
characters — from the classically Greek royalty such as Theseus (derived from
Plutarch's tale of "Theseus" in hisLives of the Noble Grecians and
Romans) to more traditionally Celtic fairies such as Puck — emphasizes
Shakespeare's facility in using elements of the old to create something
completely new.
Performance
History
The first Quarto edition of the play, printed in 1600, announces
that it was "sundry times publickely acted, by the Right honourable, the
Lord Chamberlaine his seruants." Indeed, this drama has seen
"sundry" performances over the past 400 years. Its spectacle and its
emphasis on dance and magic and song have led it to be interpreted and performed
in a variety of ways. For example, numerous composers have been inspired by
Shakespeare's Dream. In
1692, Purcell wrote an operatic version, The
Fairy Queen, although it contains little of Shakespeare's original story
line. In 1826, Mendelsohn composed an overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream,
which is still popular. The play has also seen many famous, and often infamous,
interpretations. For example, the 1900 Beerbohm Tree production had live
rabbits hopping around the stage, while Peter Brook's 1970 production was presented
on a bare stage that looked like a big white box. Most modern productions of
the play, including the 1999 film, emphasize its erotic, savage undertones.
Structure
of the Play
Showing
his usual dexterity in creating coherent dramatic frameworks, Shakespeare here
interweaves four separate plots and four groups of characters. Theseus, the
Duke of Athens, and Hippolyta, the Queen of the Amazons and Theseus' fiancée,
are the first characters introduced. Theseus is a voice of law and reason in
the play, as shown by Egeus' entrance into the drama: Egeus needs Theseus to
adjudicate a dispute he is having with his daughter, Hermia. The second plot
features Hermia and her three friends, Helena, Demetrius, and Lysander. These
young lovers stand on the boundaries of the law; like many adolescents,
Lysander and Hermia rebel against authority, in this case, by refusing to
accept Theseus' laws and, instead, planning to escape from Athenian tyranny.
Although the lovers have one foot in the conventional world of Athens, the play
forces them to confront their own irrational and erotic sides as they move
temporarily into the forest outside of Athens. By the end of the play, though,
they return to the safety of Athens, perhaps still remembering some of the
poetry and chaos of their night in the forest. This irrational, magical world
is the realm of the play's third group of characters: the fairies. Ruled by
Titania and Oberon, the enchanted inhabitants of the forest celebrate the
erotic, the poetic, and the beautiful. While this world provides an enticing
sojourn for the lovers, it is also dangerous. All of the traditional boundaries
break down when the lovers are lost in the woods. Finally, the adventures of
Quince, Bottom, and the other amateur actors compose the play's fourth plot
layer.
Shakespeare
dexterously weaves these four worlds together, by having characters wandering
in and out of each other's world, by creating echoes and parallels among the
different groups. For example, the themes of love and transformation
reverberate through all levels of the play, creating coherence and complexity.
Coherence is also produced by the play's emphasis on time. The action is
associated with two traditional festivals — Midsummer Eve and May Day — both
allied with magic, mayhem, and merriment. To emphasize further the connections
between the different groups, many modern directors of the play cast the same
actor for the roles of Theseus and Oberon, and for those of Hippolyta and
Titania.
Theme
While
the play rejoices in the magical power of love to transform our lives, it also
reminds us of love's excesses and foolishness. More ominously, it tells of the
violence often perpetrated in the name of lust: Mythological references to the
tales of Philomela and Perogina, for example, remind us that desire results not
only in happy, consensual union, but also in rape. In addition to love's combat
with violence, the play shows passion's conflict with reason. For example, Egeus'
rigid, patriarchal view of the world clashes with his daughter's notion of love
and freedom. Another important theme is the duality between fantasy and
reality. Indeed, the play highlights the imagination and its inventions:
dreams, illusions, and poetry.
One
of the central quotes in the play is Theseus' statement that lovers, madmen,
and poets share the same propensity to fantasize (V.1, 7-8). Shakespeare is
concerned with the relationship between imagination and reality and with the
way our emotions alter our perceptions. Early in the play, for example, Egeus
accuses Lysander of bewitching Hermia with love charms and intriguing songs
(I.1, 27-32), but the perceptive reader knows this is simply Egeus creating a
fantastic excuse to justify his cruel treatment of his daughter. Similarly,
Helena recognizes love's blindness and fickleness when she argues that strong
emotions such as love can make the vile beautiful (I.1, 232-236) — our
perceptions are too often skewed by capricious emotion.
Besides
weaving together various themes, the play is also intriguing as a spectacle of
dance, music, and costume. Numerous critics have noted the important role of
dance in this drama, suggesting that the rhythm of the play's poetry and the
movement of the characters in and out of scenes have an underlying dance
rhythm.
The
Elizabethan Theater
Attending
the theater in Shakespeare's time was quite unlike attending a professional
performance today. First, the theaters were of two distinct kinds: public and
private. The government closely regulated both, but particularly the public
theaters. Public theaters such as the one in which Shakespeare made his
livelihood were fairly large open-air structures, able to hold about 3,000
people.
In
order to compete with rival theaters, as well as the popular pastimes of
bullbaiting and bearbaiting, acting troupes changed their show bills often,
generally daily. They introduced new plays regularly, helping partially explain
why about 2,000 plays were written by more than 250 dramatists between 1590 and
the closing of the theaters in 1642. Public performances generally started in
the mid-afternoon so spectators could return home by nightfall.
Because
of weather, plague, Puritan opposition, and religious observances, theaters
often advertised on a day-to-day basis (unlike today when we know in advance
the dates a show will run). One of the most memorable advertising techniques
troupes employed involved running a specific flag atop the theater to signal a
performance that day (a black flag for a tragedy, a red flag for a history, and
white flag for a comedy). Scholars estimate that during the first part of the
seventeenth century, performances in public theaters took place about 214 days
(about 7 months) each year.
Although
we commonly associate elaborate lighting and scenery with producing plays, in
the public playhouses of Elizabethan England, the only lighting came from
natural sources. All action took place in front of a general three-tiered
façade, eliminating the need for elaborate sets. Public theaters varied in
shape (circular, octagonal, square), yet their purpose was the same: to
surround a playing area in such a way as to accommodate a large number of
paying spectators. Most theaters had tree-roofed galleries for spectators, one
above the other, surrounding the yard. Each theater was also made up of three
distinct seating areas, each increasingly more expensive: the pit (standing
room only, used primarily by the lower classes), the public gallery (bench
seats for the middle classes), and the box seats (appropriate for the Puritan
aristocracy).
The
private theaters of Shakespeare's day offered a definite alternative to the
more common public playhouse. These venues were open to the public, but special
considerations made it unusual for commoners to attend. First, the private
playhouses accommodated only about 300 spectators. In addition, they provided
actual seats for patrons, helping to justify a considerably higher admission
than the public theaters. Unlike the open-air theaters, private theaters were
roofed and lit by candles, allowing for evening performances (a time when most
commoners needed to be doing chores around their own homes). During
performances, too, the private theaters would often separate the acts with
musical interludes rather than performing the entire play without any
intermissions, as they did in the public theaters.
Theseus Duke
of Athens, who is marrying Hippolyta as the play begins. He decrees that Hermia
must marry Demetrius or be sentenced either to death or to life in a convent.
At the end of the play, he insists that all of the lovers marry along with him
and Hipployta and provides a humorous commentary to accompany the performance
of "Pyramus and Thisbe."
Hippolyta Queen
of the Amazons, she is betrothed to Theseus. These two were once enemies, and
Theseus won her in battle. In this play, she seems to have lost much of her
fighting spirit, though she does not hesitate to voice her opinion, for
example, following Theseus' choice of the play "Pyramus and Thisbe."
Lysander Hermia's
beloved. Egeus does not approve of Lysander, though we don't know why. Lysander
claims to be Demetrius' equal, and the play supports this claim — the
differences between the two lovers are negligible, if not nonexistent — yet
Egeus insists Hermia marry Demetrius. Rather than lose his lover in this random
way, Lysander plans to escape with her to his widowed aunt's home. During a
night in the forest, Lysander is mistakenly doused by Puck with Oberon's love
juice, causing him to fall briefly in love with Helena. Realizing the mistake,
Oberon makes Puck reverse the spell, so by the end of the play, Lysander and
Hermia are once again in love and marry.
Demetrius He is
in love with Hermia, and her father's choice of a husband for her. Similar to
Lysander in most ways, Demetrius' only distinguishing characteristic is his
fickleness in love. He once loved Helena but has cruelly abandoned her before
the play begins. Not only does he reject Helena's deep love for him, but he vows
to hurt, even rape, her if she doesn't leave him alone. With the help of
Oberon's love juice, he relinquishes Hermia and marries Helena at the end of
the play. Demetrius is the only character who is permanently affected by
Oberon's love juice.
Hermia Although
she loves Lysander, her father insists she marry Demetrius or be put to death
for disobedience of his wishes. Theseus softens this death sentence, declaring
that Hermia choose Demetrius, death, or life in a convent. Rather than accept
this dire fate, Hermia agrees to run away with Lysander. During the chaotic
night in the woods, Hermia is shocked to see her beloved abandon her and
declare his love for Helena. She is unaware of the mischief Oberon's love juice
is playing with Lysander's vision. By the play's end, Puck has reversed the
spell, and Lysander's true love for Hermia has been restored. Despite her
father's continued opposition to their union, the two marry with Theseus'
blessing.
Helena She
is the cruelly abused lover of Demetrius. Before the play begins, he has
abandoned her in favor of Hermia. Helena doesn't understand the reason for his
switch in affection, because she is as beautiful as Hermia. Desperate to win
him back, Helena tries anything, even betraying Hermia, her best childhood friend,
by revealing to the jealous Demetrius Lysander and Hermia's plan to escape
Athens. With the help of Oberon's love juice, Demetrius finally falls back in
love with Helena, and the two are married at the end of the play.
Oberon The
King of the Fairies, Oberon is fighting with Titania when the play begins
because he wants custody of an Indian boy she is raising. He hatches a plan to
win the boy away from her by placing love juice in her eyes. This juice causes
her to fall rashly in love with Bottom. During her magic-induced love affair,
Oberon convinces her to relinquish the boy, who Oberon will use as a page. Once
he has the boy, Oberon releases Titania from her spell, and the two lovers are
reunited. Oberon also sympathizes with Helena and has Puck place love juice in
Demetrius' eyes so he falls in love with her. After Puck mistakenly anoints
Lysander, Oberon insists Puck fix his mistake so that the true lovers are
together by the end of the play. In the final scene, he and Titania bless all
of the newlyweds.
Titania Oberon's
wife, she is Queen of the Fairies. Because of Titania's argument with Oberon,
the entire human and natural world is in chaos. Oberon wants the Indian boy she
is protecting, but Titania refuses to give him up because when his mother died
in childbirth, she agreed to raise the boy. Following Oberon's application of
the love juice to her eyes, Titania falls in love with Bottom, and Oberon takes
the Indian boy from her. Once he has the boy, Oberon releases the spell, and he
and Titania are reunited.
Puck, or Robin Goodfellow Oberon's jester, Puck is responsible for
mistakenly anointing Lysander with the love juice intended for Demetrius. Puck
enjoys the comedy that ensues when Lysander and Demetrius are both in love with
Helena but follows Oberon's orders to reunite the correct lovers. Puck has the
final words of the play, emphasizing that the entire play was just a dream.
Nick Bottom A
weaver, Bottom plays Pyramus. He is the most outgoing of the group of actors,
wishing to play all of the characters in "Pyramus and Thisbe." Puck
transforms him into an ass, and Titania falls in love with him. When Puck
returns Bottom to his normal self, Bottom can't speak about what happened to
him but vows to have Peter Quince write about it in a ballad to be called
"Bottom's Dream."
Egeus Hermia's
tyrannical father. He capriciously declares that she must marry Demetrius or be
put to death for disobedience; according to the law of Athens, daughters must
obey their fathers or forfeit their lives. At the end of the play, he is
shocked to learn that Lysander and Hermia tried to flee Athens and insists they
should be punished. Theseus overrules him, making the lovers marry instead.
Philostrate Theseus'
Master of Revels, he arranges the selection of performances for Theseus'
wedding. He tries to dissuade the wedding party from choosing "Pyramus and
Thisbe" but is overruled by Theseus.
Peter Quince A
carpenter and the director of the group of actors who perform "Pyramus and
Thisbe," which he has written for the celebration following Theseus and
Hippolyta's wedding.
Francis Flute A
bellows-mender, Flute plays the role of Thisbe. He is displeased to be given a
woman's role because he wants to let his beard grow, but Quince assures him
that he can play the part in a mask.
Tom Snout Snout
is a tinker and plays the role of Wall in "Pyramus and Thisbe."
Snug A
joiner, he plays the lion in "Pyramus and Thisbe."
Robin Starveling A
tailor, he represents Moonshine in "Pyramus and Thisbe."
Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Moth, Mustardseed Titania's fairies.
MH
This poem is a lyric written by Tennyson as a kind of children's song. He tries to employ nature in order to symbolize death. This poem is sung by a mother to her baby during his sleep. It is about the departure or death of the father. The tone has a sense of melancholy and regret for the loss of the father. Moreover, it may have a sense of hope that the father may be back one day. Tennyson wrote about political reference as the Victorian Age was characterized with colonization and discovery. 
