Remember to read the answers carefully to see if the students would get two marks or not. Also, remember on the test, you'll be required to write an essay on dramatic purpose, which means writing proper paragraphs!
Act Three opens with the workmen preparing to rehearse their play. Before they begin, they identify a number of problems.
Ladies "cannot abide" the killing. The solution: Write a prologue which tells the audience that Bottom is simply Bottom the Weaver and not Pyramus and that they "will do no harm with their swords."
"A Lion among ladies is a most dreadful thing." The solution: Have the Snug explain that he's not really a lion, but simply an actor.
They need moonlight since Pyramus and Thisbe meet by moonlight. Tee solution: Have an actor play "Moonshine."
There must be a wall in the chamber. The solution: Have an actor play "Wall."
After finding these solutions, Bottom goes off stage to rehearse. Puck transforms him to have a donkey's head. When he returns to the stage, the workmen are frightened and run away screaming.
Bottom, thinking he's being tricked, begins to sing, which awakens Titania. She falls immediately in love with Bottom. He is given fairies to wait on him and is quite delighted by their, and Titania's, company.
In Act 2, Scene, we see Titania giving instructions to her fairies to stand guard while she sleeps for the night. After she falls asleep, Oberon puts the love potion on her eyes and wishes that she'll "wake when some vile thing is near."
Afterwards, Hermia and Lysander are "faint with wandering in the wood." They lie down to rest for the night. Lysander tries to lie down right next to Hermia and she asks him to "lie further off." He pretends to be offended; they are, after all, about to be married.
Puck, with his instructions to find "the Athenian man", sees the sleeping couple. He mistakes Lysander for Demetrius and places the love potion on his eyes.
Helena stumbles on the scene awakening Lysander and causing him to fall immeditately in love with her. He makes oaths of loves. She believes he's making fun of her and becomes annoyed and angry. She runs off with him hot on her tail.
Hermia, after having a nightmare, awakes to find herself alone in the wood. She doesn't believe that Lysander would abandon her and so "death or [him she'll] find immediately."
Using the same character that you chose for your first blog post, Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius, or Helena, write about what this character is feeling now that Act 2 is over.
Remember, Lysander is now in “love” with Helena, Hermia has been “abandoned,” and Demetrius is wandering aimlessly unable to find anyone but Helena.
Consider the following:
What is this person: Thinking? Feeling? Anticipating?
What do their actions reveal about their personality?
The speaker, the act, and scene will be given to you. To analyze the quote, you need to:
Think about what is happening (i.e., plot) in the given Act & Scene.
Identify who is listening.
Explain what is happening when the lines were spoken.
Explain the quote’s dramatic purpose. OR, explain why the quote is important:
Does it reveal character traits?
How does it move the plot forward?
Does it reveal a theme?
Does it create humour? (Comic Relief)
Does it develop conflict?
Example #1:
… O methinks, how slow This old moon wanes! She lingers my desire, Like to a step-dame or dowager Long withering out a young man’s revenue. Theseus, 1.1
1. Who is listening?
2. What is happening in the play?
3. Why is the dramatic purpose of this quote?
Example #2:
Stand forth, Lysander. – And my gracious duke, This man hath bewitched the bosom of my child. – Thou, thou, Lysander, thou hast given her rhymes, And interchanged love tokens with my child. Egeus, 1.1.
In act 2, scene 1, we learn quite about about these three characters: PUCK OBERON TITANIA Let's start with Puck ... He's a trickster, who is Oberon's jester and charged with making him laugh. At the beginning of the scene, through his conversation with another Fairy (one of Titania's followers whose task is to drop the dew on flowers) we learn about some of his tricks -- tricking a fat horse into believing a beautiful filly is interested; causing an old woman (a "gossip") to spill her drink all over her chin ("withered dewlap"); and causing someone telling a sad tale to fall from a "three-footeth stool". Next is Oberon ... We learn that he's feeling quite jealous about Titania's affection for the young Indian boy (who is also referred to as the Changeling boy). Oberon wants the young boy to train as a knight in his service, but Titania refuses to give him up. In addition, Oberon is jealous of Titania's affection for Theseus. We also learn that Oberon has asked Puck to find the Little Western Flower to place on Titania's eyes. Since this flower was hit with one of Cupid's arrows, it has the power to cause someone to fall in love with whomever they see first. His plan is to place it on Titania's eyes so she'll fall in love with some beast and then Oberon can steal away the Indian Boy. Finally, Titania ... She is also feeling quite jealous about Oberon's comings and goings. She accuses him of wooing Phillida, but also of being in love with Hippolyta. More importantly, she explains why she has such an attachment to the Indian Boy and why she won't give him up. The boy is the child of one of Titania's followers. They were close friends and would gossip together while watching the trading ships in India come and go. Because this woman was a human, and not a fairy, she died giving birth to the boy and Titania promised to keep him safe. Therefore, she refuses to give him to Oberon. In addition, she is growing quite tired of all the fighting with Oberon. She tells him about all the disruptions in nature that are occurring because they are fighting -- the seasons are changing, crops are dying, rivers are overflowing, and there are lots of diseases killing people. She entreats Oberon to finish the fight, but he refuses to give up his quest for the Indian boy. In the second part of the scene, Oberon observes the interaction between Helena and Demetrius. She is chasing after him, relentlessly pursuing him as he searches for Hermia and Lysander. She tells him that she is like her spaniel (yes, she encourages him to think of her as his DOG!) and that she loves him so much that she just can't leave him alone. He threatens her and her virginity and runs away from her. Oberon ends the scene by giving Puck instructions to find the Athenian man and place the Little Western Flower's juice on his eye so that when he awakens, he may
Bottom -- he is a weaver (someone who makes cloth) and is the principal actor in the workman's acting troupe.
He is to play Pyramus in the play for the Duke's wedding, but he believes he can play all the parts better than anyone else!
Peter Quince -- he is a carpenter and in charge of organizing and writing the play.
He is to play the part of Thisbe's mother, but ends up playing the part of of the Prologue.
Snug -- is a joiner (someone who joins wood together without using nails) and is also an actor.
He is to play the part of Lion.
Francis Flute -- is a bellows mender and is also an actor.
He is to play the part of Thisbe, the woman Pyramus loves. He is to speak in a "monstrous little voice."
Remember that when Shakespeare was alive, women weren't allowed to be actors. It was considered unseemly. Thus, the parts of women were played by young men whose voices hadn't changed.
Robin Starveling - is a tailor and an actor.
He is to play the part of Thisbe's mother. However, he ends up playing the part of Moonshine.
Tom Snout -- is a tinker (someone who fixes small metal items) and an actor.
He is to play the part of Pyramus' father. However, he ends up play the part of wall.
Remember that the workmen's scenes are supposed to provide some comic relief. They are supposed to be rather stupid and oafish, especially Bottom.
Act 1, Scene 1 of A Midsummer Night's Dream starts out with a many surprising and dramatic situations.
Firstly, we find out that Theseus and Hippolyta are to be married in four days time. Theseus is, in fact, quite impatient for the wedding day to arrive.
Next, Egeus arrives at Theseus' palace with his daughter and her suitors in tow. He wants Hermia to marry Demetrius, and she is absolutely refusing to obey.
He "begs the ancient right of Athens" to have Hermia put to death if she persists in rebelling against his wishes.
Theseus lays down the law. Hermia has three options:
She can obey her father and marry Demetrius.
She can disobey her father and be put to death.
She can become a nun.
Obviously, none of these options are particulary appealing to Hermia. Theseus gives her until his wedding day to decide. Theseus leaves with Hippolyta, Demetrius and Egeus, leaving Hermia and Lysander alone to consider her fate.
After discussing how awful it can be to be in love, Lysander comes up with a rather remarkable plan. He has a widowed aunt who lives outside of Athens who thinks of him as her son. He proposed they run away to her home where they can marry and be together without the "yoke" of Athenian law. Hermia happily agrees.
Their bliss is rather short-lived when a gloomy Helena arrives on the scene. She sad and depressed because Demetrius no longer loves her, but loves Hermia instead. She compares her face, voice, and eyes to Hermia - she just can't be happy now that Demetrius no longer loves her. Hermia claims it's not her fault since she frowns at Demetrius and tells him to essentially get lost.
Lysander and Hermia share their plans with Helena and quickly leave in order to prepare for their departure tomorrow night.
Helena, left alone, continues on her gloomy thought train and thinks about how awful love can be and how awful it is that love is blind. She thinks that Demetrius never would've stopped loving her if he hadn't had some encouragement from Hermia. Thus, she decides to tell Demetrius of her plans to run away with Lys