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? __She thinks that the 4 days are going to pass quickly, but theseus' response is that it will be very slow.__ 2. Why has Egeus brought his daughter and her two suitors to Theseus? What does Egeus expect him to do? __He wants Theseus' to convince his daughter that she has to listen to her father or else that he has to kill her.__ 3. What was the proper role for women/daughters in Athenian society according to Egeus and Theseus? What is Theseus’s ruling concerning Hermia? __That you have to listen to your father and that she doesn't get to choose who she wants to marry, and her father wants her to marry Demetrius or she has to go to a nunnery and become a nun, or she has to be killed__. 4. How does Lysander’s comment about Demetrius’s previous love affair with Helena complicate things? __He was saying like he used to love Helena then he just changed his mind and he now loves Hermia and Lysander was saying he isn't a good man for doing that.__ 5. What do Lysander and Hermia plan to do about this seemingly impossible situation? Why do they tell Helena? __They plan on running away together so they can get married because Hermia's father won't let her. I think they also told Helena because that is Hermia's best friend__. 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? __She thinks that Hermia can still marry Demetrius instead of being killed and she doesn't want her best friend to get killed.__ 7. Identify Hermia’s basic dilemma. What are the choices outlined for her by Theseus and her father? What other choice does Lysander suggest? __She has to choose whether she wants to marry demetrius go to a nunnery and become a nun, or be killed, but Lysander said that they could run away together to his aunt's house, and that they will be safe there together and get married.__ Act I, Scene 2 8. Why does Nick Bottom want to play all the parts? __He thinks that he is the best actor and can do all the parts at the same time because he is so good at acting.__ 9. In what way is this scene funny? Why do you suppose Shakespeare included this scene? __They weren't aloud to have girls on the stage so it was played by all guys and they all had to do the girl scene's__. 10. Where are the actors to meet the following night? Who else is meeting there at the same time? __They're supposed to meet at the Duke's Oak and there also meeting Bottom there and all the other actors.__ 11. How would you describe Bottom’s acting ability? What is Bottom’s own opinion of his acting ability? __He thinks that he can play all of the parts because he is so good, but they want him to play the part of Pyramis and he says he will make the audience cry because he will play it so well.__

‍Podcast Assignment (May be done with a partner)
==‍Act 1 of A Midsummer Night’s Dream takes place in the daytime, but it contains many images of the moon that foreshadow the night to come. Using GarageBand record yourself reading the lines in Act 1 that illustrate the imagery of night/moon (find and record at least 8). Create the mood and atmosphere of act 1 by adding a musical score to the background. Your podcast should start with:==

‍Share to iTunes and upload the mp3 to your wikispace.
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? __Puck tells the first fairy not to let them see eachother because Titania made Oberon jelous by being stolen by another person when they were little.__ 11. How have Oberon and Titania been involved in the past with Theseus and Hippolyta; why have they come to Athens? __Apparently, Oberon and Titania had affairs with Hippolyta and Theseus, respectively. They have come to Athens to celebrate Theseus' wedding.__ 12. What effect has their quarrel had on nature, on the seasons, on humans? __The Quarrel between the king and queen of the fairies has affected humans by making the seasons go awry, changing the weather, ruining crops and creating starvation.__ 13. Why won’t Titania give up the changeling to Oberon? __Titania will not give up the changeling child to Oberon because she feels she is responsible for looking after it after it's mother, one of her avid followers, died__. 14. What does Oberon send Puck to find? __A flower that has special powers too it.__ 15. What are Oberon’s plans for Titania? __For her to fall in love with some vile thing.__ 16. How does Helena react to Demetrius’s verbal abuse? __She said that she will still love him no matter what and she makes these comebacks to everything.__ 17. What is her response to his threats of physical abuse? __That she can treat him like a dog or anything but she will still love him.__ 18. In what way is Helena’s behaviour inappropriate for Athenian women? __Helena's behaviour would be deemed inappropriate for Athenian women because they are generally supposed to be obedient and bend to the wishes of men, especially men who are close to them.__ 19. What does Oberon tell Puck to do about Demetrius and Helena? __To give Demetrius the love potion to fall in love with Helena.__

Act II, Scene 2 20. Why does Oberon want Titania to wake and fall in love with some vile thing?

21. Why does Hermia insist Lysander sleep a little ways from her? __She said that they aren't married yet so he has to sleep away from her.__ 22. Why does Puck anoint Lysander’s eyes?

23. How does Helena react to Lysander’s sudden love for her when he awakens? __She thinks he is jokeing and making fun of her and she runs away crying but he runs after her.__ 24. How is Hermia’s dream a reflection of reality? __Lysander isn't there for her and now because of the love potion he love's Helena which is Hermia's best friend.__

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? __Their going to write prologues.__ 26. How are the actors going to manage the setting/scenery such as the moonlight and the wall? __There going to use a person to be the wall and he stands there and makes a hole with his hand like the play says they talk through a hole in the wall, and there is supposed to be a full moon the night there filming so they are going to open a window so it shines through.__ 27. Why do the rest of the actors run off when Bottom reappears? __He comes back with a real donky head and then he doesn't realize that his head is a donky and he thinks that there just jokeing around with him.__ 28. What does Puck plan to do when he follows after the other actors?

29. How does Bottom react to Titania and the other fairies? __He welcome's it gracefully.__ 30. Bottom says, "…reason and love keep little company together nowadays." Why is this such an apt statement at this point in the play?

Act III, Scene 2 31. What does Hermia accuse Demetrius of doing? __Threatening her with physical abuse.__ 32. How are Puck and Oberon going to correct Puck’s earlier mistake? __Oberon tells puck to lead lysander and demetrius separately into the woods. And he is going to pretend to be lysander to demetrius and demetrius to lysander. He gets demetrius to go to sleep and then gets lysander to go to sleep and puts the magical herb into his eye's so he falls in love with Hermia again.__ 33. Why is Helena upset when Demetrius says he loves her? Isn’t this what she had wanted all along? __Lysander claimed that he loved her more than demetrius and now demetrius claims he loves her too.__ 34. Of what does Helena accuse Hermia? __Mocking her.__ 35. How close had Hermia and Helena been in the past? __They were best friends and they loved eachother as friends.__ 36. How does Lysander treat Hermia? Why can’t she believe what he says? __He says that he doesn't like Hermia and he loves Helena.__ 37. Of what does Hermia accuse Helena? __Stealing lysander.__ 38. Why is Helena afraid of Hermia? __She's taller and Hermia is making fun of how short Helena is.__ 39. What are Lysander and Demetrius going off to do? __There going somewhere away to fight for Helena.__ 40. What does Oberon tell Puck to do about the two young men? __Bring them separately into the woods.__ 41. What is Oberon going to do about Titania? __Oberon makes Titania let the donkey out into the woods, and then changes her back into liking him.__ 42. Why doesn’t Oberon fear the coming of day? __He is a different type of fairy and can stand both day and night.__ 43. How well does Puck’s trickery work? __It works as planned.__

Act IV, Scene 1 44. How has Bottom adjusted to the attention of Titania and her fairies? __Bottom has adjusted to the attention of Titania and her fairies quite well, regaining his old self-image and basking in the glow of all the praise and attention he has received from his new companions. Bottom even asks comical favours of the fairies, so comfortable is he.__ 45. What is Oberon’s reaction to Titania’s infatuation with Bottom? __Oberon's reaction to Titania's new obsession with Bottom is that of pity at her having to be blind to falling in love with a monster and regret for bringing her into the present situation in the first place. He vows to right things now that he has obtained the changeling child, and so frees Titania from her spell.__ 46. What sort of explanation will Oberon make to Titania’s question about what happened to her? __I think that Oberon will explain to Titania that her vision was real and that she had been under the spell of the forest.__ 47. Why are Theseus, Hippolyta, Egeus, and the others out in the woods so early in the morning? __Theseus, Hippolyta and Egeus are out in the woods early in the morning to hunt before the Duke's wedding later that night. Egeus has a chance to show off his hounds to Hippolyta, and all three exchange small talk until they find the four young lovers asleep on the forest floor.__ 48. What is Theseus’s first explanation of why the young people are asleep in the woods? __Theseus' first explanation as to why the four young lovers are asleep in the forest is that they had heard of his plans to go hunting and had been waiting for him in the forest.__ 49. What explanation does Demetrius make? Why does he compare his love for Hermia to an illness? __Demetrius' explanation of why he no longer loves Hermia but is in love with Helena is that Helena had helped him follow Lysander and Hermia into the forest, where his love for Hermia "melted as the snow". He compares it to an Illness because he now loathes it and is happy to see it has disappeared.__ 50. What is Theseus’s decision concerning the four young people? __Theseus' merciful decision concerning the young couples is that he will override Egeus and ancient Athenian law by allowing the couples to marry and live together without any interference from others.__ 51. Why can’t the young people be sure whether they are awake or dreaming? __The young people are not completely sure whether their experience in the woods was real or just a dream because it seemed so surreal and impossible that they could have actually experienced it in real life, yet they have faint memories of that contradict their reasoning thoughts.__ 52. Bottom believes he too has had a dream. How is he going to use that to entertain the Duke? __Bottom will use his "dream" to entertain the duke by having Quince compose a ballad about it, which he will sing at Theseus' wedding as part of their play.__ Act IV, Scene 2 53. What opinion do the other artisans now have of Bottom since they think he is lost? __After Bottom's "disappearance", the other actors have changed their view of him from being some egotistic madman and embarrassment to amazing actor and pitied figure.__ 54. What do they most regret losing by not being able to perform the play? __When the acting troupe believes they have no chance of performing the play, the thing they regret losing the most is A chance to gain more money than they have ever seen; especially for Bottom, who is dreams of being rich.__ 55. Why must the artisans hurry to the Duke’s palace? __They will be late for the ceremony.__

‍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?====

====‍c) In this act, several characters look back at prior infatuations with disbelief. What do you think Shakespeare is saying about love and infatuation?====

==‍Act 4 Podcast: Bottom decides to commission Peter Quince to write a ballad called “Bottom’s Dream.” On your own or with a partner, imagine that you have been asked to write the lyrics and compose the musical accompaniment. Remember that at the beginning of act 4, Bottom told the fairies that he likes to listen to the “tongs and bones” (act 4, scene 1, line 30). Tongs were pieces of metal struck against each other and bones were actual bones. These instruments were used in comical or in less sophisticated musical performances. Write the poetry for the ballad ( a minimum of 2 stanzas, 4 lines each), then put it to music!== Act V

56. Why does Theseus dismiss the stories of the four young people? __Theseus dismisses the unusual stories of the four young people as he believes that they were either made up hogwash or dreams. He is adamant that the events they described could not have happened within logical bounds (much to Hippolyta's dismay).__ 57. Why does Theseus choose to see the play about Pyramus and Thisbe rather than the other entertainments? __Theseus chooses to see the play about Pyramus and Thisbe rather than any other entertainment because he has certain reservations about the other plays (already seen it, not appropriate for a wedding, etc.). He also believes that “ Nothing can be amiss when simpleness and duty tender it,” and the workmen actors (in his mind) are the perfect example of this.__ 58. Why does Philostrate try to keep Theseus from seeing the play? What does he say is wrong with it? __Philostrate desperately tries to persuade Theseus from seeing the play because he thinks it is his duty to give “good entertainment”, and that a poor play done by common folk would be an embarrassment to him, his taste, the duke and everybody else who is to see it. Philostrate argues that for such a short play, it is too boring and tedious. Plus, nothing is rehearsed properly and the actors horrible; so much that he laughed himself crying watch the play.__ 59. What does Theseus mean by the lines, "For never anything can be amiss, when simpleness and duty tender it"? __With the line "For never anything can be amiss, when simpleness and duty tender it," Theseus is trying to say that the play deserves a chance because the simple folk have tried hard and put much effort into their play; and that even though it will be a laughable event, it is unlikely that the actors will pull off any tricks.__ 60. What is accomplished by having the Prologue tell the whole story that the actors are then going to enact? __By having the prologue summarise the whole story that the actors will enact accomplishes nothing but to bore the audience into submission and show off Quince’s atrocious writing skills.__ 61. How does Shakespeare use comments from the audience to enhance the humour of the play that they are watching? __Shakespeare uses comments from the audience to enhance the humour of the play by making them banter witty comments (probably out of boredom) criticising and questioning the play’s credibility and accuracy. The irony of seeing people within a play comment on a play just adds to the humour.__ 62. What is Hippolyta’s reaction to the play? __Hippolyta’s reaction to the play is one of disdain and scorn, as she disapproves of the actor’s abilities and the quality of the play.__ 63. In what way is Thisbe’s final speech humorous? __Thisbe’s final speech is humorous because she overdoes it; especially with the last lines of “A farewell friends! So Thisbe ends! Adieu, adieu, adieu!” since it doesn’t make sense that a Greek woman would be speaking in French.__ 64. What does Oberon tell the fairies to do? __Oberon tells the fairies to help him and Titania to bless the couples and any children they might have by singing and working magic.__ 65. What is the purpose of Puck’s final speech? __The purpose of puck’s final speech is almost to act as a disclaimer, stating that if you’re not satisfied or are offended by the play, you should pretend it is just a dream (reflecting the sentiments addressed in the play itself and thus linking the audience to the play).__

Extending the thought process:

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 breaking the play’s illusion of reality using the wrong word or name 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?=== -It gives you an idea of they mood and reactions that should be displayed.

===‍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?=== -Spongebob Squarepants and a bunch of the other characters that are in the series. that is the best example I can think of because there are many who play off of Spongebob.

===‍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?.=== -lovers die - man and woman have strong love for each other