Download The Love Triangle Plot Themes

Plot
The Love Triangle
Themes:
Act 1 Scene 1: Theseus passed judgement on Hermia, who refuses
to marry Demetrius and agrees to run away with Lysander. They tell
Helena, who is already in lovewwith Demetrius.
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Egeus wants his daughter Hermia to marry Demetrius.
LOVE:
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However, Hermia wants to marry Lysander.
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Hermia plans to runs away with Lysander.
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She tells her friend Helena of her plans.
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However, Helena loves Demetrius and tells him that Hermia is
planning to run away with Lysander. Demetrius follows the pair as
they run into the woods. He is followed by Helena.
APPEARANCE AND REALITY: Sometimes things are not quite what
they seem. Sometimes we fail to see situations as they really are.
People often pretend to be something that they’re not, hiding their
true selves.
Act 1 Scene 2: Some Athenian workmen plan to produce a play for
the wedding of Duke Theseus.
Act 2 Scene 1: Oberon and Titania, are quarreling, but the fairy king
sends Puck to fetch a magic flower-which will also help Helena to
secure the love of Demetrius.
Act 2 Scene 2;:Oberon sprinkles juice on Titania’s eyes; Puck
mistakes Lysander for Demetrius, and anoints his eyes so that he
falls in love with Helena. Hermia is left alone in the forest.
Act 3 Scene1: The workmen meet in the forest to rehearse their
play, but Puck interrupts there rehearsal and turns Bottom into a
Donkey and leads him to Titania-who falls in love with him.
Act 3 Scene 2: Oberon discovers Puck’s mistake and tries to correct
it by sprinkling juice on Demetrius’ eyes. Now Helena thinks she is
being mocked by Hermia and the two men. Oberon orders Puck to
keep the two rivals apart until the situation is fixed.
Parental Love – The love a parent feels for one’s child.
Romantic Love- kind of love that occurs between people who
really, genuinely, deeply care for each other.
Unrequited Love – Love in which one person does not return
the love of another.
ORDER AND DISORDER: Much of the comedy of A Midsummer
Night’s Dream comes from the chaos created when the natural
order of things is disrupted. But there’s a darker side too. There’s
not one character that isn’t relieved when Oberon finally restores
the midnight world to a happier one by day.
Devices:
Iambic Pentameter: Rhythm of 5 sets 2 beats, traditionally spoken
by characters of nobility
Act 4 Scene 1: Oberon takes the spell off Titania who realises she’s
fallen in love with a donkey. Bottom wakes up.
Act 4 Scene 2: Bottom returns to Athens.
Blank Verse: verse without rhyme, especially that which uses
iambic pentameters
Act 5: The other four lovers are united happily (Lysander with
Hermia and Demetrius with Helena) and watch the workmen’s
performance of Pyramus and Thisbe.
Prose: written or spoken language in its ordinary form, without
metrical structure. Often used in Shakespeare by characters of
lower social status.
Characters
Theseus: Duke of Athens
Hippolyta: His wife
Egeus: A nobleman, Hermia’s father
Hermia: in love with Lysander
Assessment
How does Shakespeare present love conflict
throughout the play?
Classical Allusion: a reference to a particular event or character
in classical works of literature, such as ancient Roman or Greek
works. For example, ‘cupid’ in 'Love looks not with the eyes, but
with the mind,/ And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.'
Helena: in love with Demetrius
Metaphor: a word or phrase for one thing that is used to refer to
another
Lysander and Demetrius: young noblemen
Oberon: King of the fairies
Homework
Titania: Queen of the fairies
Puck: Oberon’s jester
Bottom: One of the rude mechanicals; turned into a donkey
Rude Mechanicals: Group of Athenian workmen, performing a
play.
You will be regularly tested on your
knowledge of grammar using weekly
homework tasks.
Dramatic Irony: When the audience knows something which
characters in the play do not