Midsummer+Night's+Dream

media type="file" key="MY PODCAST WITH MADDY CARR CANNINGS.m4a" width="300" height="50" 17/20
 * || A Midsummer Night's Dream, CONNOR HARRISON

media type="file" key="Bottoms ballade.m4a" width="300" height="50" 19/20 Act I

1. How is Hippolyta’s reasoning concerning how quickly the next four days will pass different from that of Theseus? She convinces Theseus to wait for he wedding in the approaching days.

2. Why has Egeus brought his daughter and her two suitors to Theseus? What does Egeus expect him to do? Egeus wants his daughter Hermia to marry Demetrius.

3. What was the proper role for women/daughters in Athenian society according to Egeus and Theseus? What is Theseus’s ruling concerning Hermia? It is by law that the father had the final say on who their daughters should marry, and in this case, that is Egeus.

4. How does Lysander’s comment about Demetrius’s previous love affair with Helena complicate things? It causes a love complication: Lysander loves Hermia, Helena loves Demetrius, but Hermia is supposed to marry Demetrius.

5. What do Lysander and Hermia plan to do about this seemingly impossible situation? Why do they tell Helena? They tell Helena because they trust her. They want to escape from the marriage, but they are friends.

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? They all are stuck in a dilema of love and marriage. The best way for all of them is that they run away from Athens, and avoid the law.

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 is required to marry Demetrius, but is in love with Lysander. Her best option is to run away, and live with Lysander outside of Athens.

8. Why does Nick Bottom want to play all the parts? He is very egotistical and thinks he can play all the parts. He thinks very highly of himself.

9. In what way is this scene funny? Why do you suppose Shakespeare included this scene? I think this scene s funny is because it gives the characters their rightful personalities. It tells the audience a lot about each of them. 10. Where are the actors to meet the following night? Who else is meeting there at the same time? The actors are to meet at the forest on the out skirts of athens. In the same place where Hermia and Lysander are going to meet.

11. How would you describe Bottom’s acting ability? What is Bottom’s own opinion of his acting ability? All the actors are very full of themselves, which has them fighting over the different parts in the play.

Act II,

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? Oberon and Titania have always been fighting when around one another.

11. How have Oberon and Titania been involved in the past with Theseus and Hippolyta; why have they come to Athens? They have come to Athens to prepare themselves for the wedding between Theseus and Hippolyta.

12. What effect has their quarrel had on nature, on the seasons, on humans? Because they are magical, the fairies have a big impact on their world.

13. Why won’t Titania give up the changeling to Oberon?

14. What does Oberon send Puck to find? Oberon sends puck to find the roses which we blessed with the power of cupids arrow, the pansies that were once white are now purple.

15. What are Oberon’s plans for Titania? Oberon vows to get revenge on Titania by embarrassing her. He uses the abilities of his mentor, Puck, to get it.

16. How does Helena react to Demetrius’s verbal abuse? Helena seems to turn each insult by Demetrius right back at him. She ignores his insults.

17. What is her response to his threats of physical abuse? Helena said that it would only make her love him more.

18. In what way is Helena’s behaviour inappropriate for Athenian women?

19. What does Oberon tell Puck to do about Demetrius and Helena? Oberon wants Puck to make Demetrius fall in love with Helena, so there can be two happy marriages.

20. Why does Oberon want Titania to wake and fall in love with some vile thing? Oberon wants revenge from his past embarrassment with Titania, so he orders Puck to help him.

21. Why does Hermia insist Lysander sleep a little ways from her? She is not yet married to him, so she finds it more appropriate to sleep a distance from her.

22. Why does Puck anoint Lysander’s eyes? Puck thinks that Lysander is in fact Demetrius, but when he causes Lysander to fall in love with Helena, the plan basically backfires completely.

23. How does Helena react to Lysander’s sudden love for her when he awakens? Helena thinks that he is mocking her because no one had any true feelings for her.

24. How is Hermia’s dream a reflection of reality? Her lover was taken away from her by the pansy juice that causes Lysander to fall in love with Helena.

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? Pyramus is going to make sure that it is obvious that the lion is not real, or that the actor never really dies, and also by stating so in a prologue at the beginning of their play.

26. How are the actors going to manage the setting/scenery such as the moonlight and the wall? Separate actors shall play the Wall and the moonlight.

27. Why do the rest of the actors run off when Bottom reappears? Bottom has been transformed with an ass’s head to scare the other actors away, although he does not realize that he is in fact like that.

28. What does Puck plan to do when he follows after the other actors? He plans to change shape to scare the actors even more.

29. How does Bottom react to Titania and the other fairies? He thinks that he is dreaming, and does go along with it.

30. Bottom says, "…reason and love keep little company together nowadays." Why is this such an apt statement at this point in the play? Love seems to have affected every single one of the characters in some way up until this point. And when for example Hermia noticed Lysander’s disappearance, she immediately thought that Demetrius had murdered him. Reason was taken very differently by the characters.

Act III, Scene 2

31. What does Hermia accuse Demetrius of doing? Hermia accuses Demetrius of murdering Lysander, because she sees no other possibility of why he would have left her.

32. How are Puck and Oberon going to correct Puck’s earlier mistake? Oberon gave puck orders to squirt the juice into Lysander’s eyes so that he will fall in love once again with Hermia.

33. Why is Helena upset when Demetrius says he loves her? Isn’t this what she had wanted all along? She doesn’t believe that what he is saying is true. She thinks that he is mocking her inability to find love.

34. Of what does Helena accuse Hermia? Helena accuses Hermia of mockery aswell, she believes that the three are all mocking her.

35. How close had Hermia and Helena been in the past? They were very close friends, but now that things have changed, they are almost like enemies.

36. How does Lysander treat Hermia? Why can’t she believe what he says? Lysander has fallen deeply in love with Helena, but she believes that he is merely mocking her.

37. Of what does Hermia accuse Helena? Hermia accuses Helena of stealing her husband, and starts brutally insulting her.

38. Why is Helena afraid of Hermia? Helena still thinks that Hermia is superior to her, and tries to back down. But after the fight, Helena leaves with the two chasing her asking for her love.

39. What are Lysander and Demetrius going off to do? They are now fighting over Helena, when hours ago, they were once fighting over Hermia.

40. What does Oberon tell Puck to do about the two young men? Puck tells him to put the juice into Lysander’s eyes and in time, will hopefully cause Lysander to fall back in love with Hermia.

41. What is Oberon going to do about Titania? Oberon decides that he has seen enough, and asks Puck to change her feelings back to normal.

42. Why doesn’t Oberon fear the coming of day? Oberon sees that in the future, there may be a triple wedding held, Lysander and Hermia, Demetrius and Helena, and Thesues with Hippolyta.

43. How well does Puck’s trickery work? The four all fall asleep together in the wood, after puck tires them out. It seems as though everything will workout.

Act 3 Plot Outline?

Act IV, Scene 1

44. How has Bottom adjusted to the attention of Titania and her fairies? He is being treated like a king, and he is now getting used to that fact. Titania is madly in love with him.

45. What is Oberon’s reaction to Titania’s infatuation with Bottom?

Oberon Orders his puck to change him back into a human, and to fix Titania's infatuation with Bottom.

46. What sort of explanation will Oberon make to Titania’s question about what happened to her?

47. Why are Theseus, Hippolyta, Egeus, and the others out in the woods so early in the morning?

They are in the outskirts of Athens hunting to celebrate the wedding day.

48. What is Theseus’s first explanation of why the young people are asleep in the woods?

Theseus wakes the lovers by horns.

49. What explanation does Demetrius make? Why does he compare his love for Hermia to an illness? Demetrius stated that his love for Hermia melted away like the snow, and after realizing how much love Helena has for him, he says he must marry her. (Although we know he was drugged by the juice).

50. What is Theseus’s decision concerning the four young people? Theseus' final decision is to have the two couples married, along with Hippolyta and Theseus himself.

51. Why can’t the young people be sure whether they are awake or dreaming?

After experiencing what they had with the faeries, they are a bit dazed of the previous night.

52. Bottom believes he too has had a dream. How is he going to use that to entertain the Duke?

Bottom says he is going to write a play about his dream to try to present to the Duke for the wedding.

Act IV, Scene 2

53. What opinion do the other artisans now have of Bottom since they think he is lost? They now think he is a key part in the play, and that it requires him to act in it.

54. What do they most regret losing by not being able to perform the play? They are also upset because now that there is a third wedding, they could have made much more money than before

55. Why must the artisans hurry to the Duke’s palace? They thought that the wedding had already past, but when Bottom returns, he tells them that there still may be time to make it.

Act V 56. Why does Theseus dismiss the stories of the four young people? Theseus now sees that the lovers have found their rightful place, and agree that they shall both be married.

57. Why does Theseus choose to see the play about Pyramus and Thisby rather than the other entertainments? Theseus beleives that the play may cause some good laughs for the newly weds. It would be simple and easy for the rest of the audience.

58. Why does Philostrate try to keep Theseus from seeing the play? What does he say is wrong with it? He says that the Play, which is supposed to be sad and dark, turns out to be filled with laughter, and the actors do not emphasize the theme well.

59. What does Theseus mean by the lines, "For never anything can be amiss, when simpleness and duty tender it"? He says the play could be successful if the actors have put effort into performing and practicing it, it shall have meaning.

60. What is accomplished by having the Prologue tell the whole story that the actors are then going to enact? The Actors had the prologue so that the women in the crowd do not get scared by the lion, and the death of Pyramus.

61. How does Shakespeare use comments from the audience to enhance the humour of the play that they are watching? The audience criticizing the actors is adding humor to the play, because they know how bad the acting is.

62. What is Hippolyta’s reaction to the play? Hippolyta thinks that the play is fun to laugh at, until the final lines by Thisby.

63. In what way is Thisby’s final speech humorous? The actor who plays Thisby removes his costume at the end of the play, and stops talking in his Female voice.

64. What does Oberon tell the fairies to do?

65. What is the purpose of Puck’s final speech? Puck is trying to tell the audience that if they have offended anyone from the audience, that he is sorry.

Extending the thought Process?

Completion 20/25 Effort 20/25 Content 19/25

Total 59/75 ||