Download A Midsummer Night`s Dream Setting

Study Guide prepared by
Catherine Bush
Barter Playwright-in-Residence
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
By William Shakespeare
*Especially for Grades 6-12
The Gilliam Stage at Barter Theatre, spring 2017
(NOTE: standards listed below are for both reading A Midsummer Night’s Dream, seeing a
performance of the play, and completing the study guide.)
Virginia SOLs
English –6.1. 6.2, 6.4, 6.5, 6.7, 7.1, 7.4, 7.5, 7.7, 8.2, 8.4, 8.5, 8.7, 9.1, 9.3, 9.4, 9.6, 10.1, 10.3,
10.4, 10.6, 12.1, 12.3, 12.4, 12.6,
Theatre Arts – M.6, M.8, M.9, M.12, M.13, M.14, TI.8, TI.9, TI.10, TI.11, TI.12, TI.13, TI.16,
TI.17, TII.9, TII.11, TII.12, TII.13, TII.14, TII.15, TII.16, TII.21, TIII.7, TIII.8, TIII.9, TIII.10,
TIII.12
Tennessee/North Carolina Common Core State Standards
English/Language Arts - Reading Literacy: 6.1, 6.4, 6.7, 6.10, 7.1, 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, 7.7, 7.10, 8.1,
8.4, 8.5, 8.6, 8.7, 8.10, 9-10.1, 9-10.2, 9-10.3, 9-10.4, 9-10.5, 9-10.6, 9-10.9, 9-10.10, 11-12.1,
11-12.3, 11-12.4, 11-12.5, 11-12.7, 11-12.10
English Language Arts – Writing: 6.1, 6.2, 6.7, 6.9, 7.1, 7.2, 7.4, 7.7, 7.9, 8.1, 8.2, 8.4, 8.7,
8.9, 9-10.1, 9-10.2, 9-10.4, 9-10.6, 9-10.9, 9-10.10, 11-12.1, 11-12.2, 11-12.4, 11-12.6, 11-12.10
Tennessee Fine Arts Curriculum Standards
Theatre 6-8 – 3.2, 5.2, 6.2, 7.1, 7.2
Theatre 9-12 – 3.2, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6.2, 7.1, 7.2
North Carolina Essential Standards
Theatre Arts – 6.C.1, 6.C.2, 6.A.1, 6.AE.1, 6.CU.2, 7.C.1, 7.C.2, 7.A.1, 7.AE.1, 7.CU.2, 8.C.1, 8.C.2,
8.A.1, 8.AE.1, 8.CU.2, B.C.2, B.A.1, B.AE.1, B.CU.1, B.CU.2, I.C.2, I.A.1, I.CU.1, I.CU.2, P.C.1, P.A.1,
P.CU.2, A.C.2, A.A.1, A.CU.1, A.CU.2
Setting
Athens, Greece and the forest outside its walls…
Characters
Oberon – King of the fairies
Titania– Queen of the fairies
Puck – Oberon’s jester, mischievous prankster
Lysander – young man of Athens, in love with Hermia
Demetrius – young man of Athens, also in love with Hermia
Hermia – young woman of Athens, in love with Lysander
Helena– Hermia’s friend, in love with Demetrius
Egeus – Hermia’s father
Theseus – Duke of Athens’s
Hippolyta – queen of the Amazon’s, engaged to Theseus
Nick Bottom – an over-confident weaver
Peter Quince – a carpenter
Francis Flute– a bellows-mender
Robin Starveling – a tailor
Tom Snout – a tinker
Snug – a joiner
Philostrate – Theseus’ Master f the Revels
Synopsis
Theseus, Duke of Athens, is preparing to marry Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons.
He commissions Philostrate to find suitable amusements for the occasion.
Meanwhile the nobleman Egeus marches into Theseus’s court with his daughter,
Hermia, and two young men, Demetrius and Lysander. Egeus wishes Hermia to
marry Demetrius (who loves Hermia), but Hermia is in love with Lysander and
refuses to comply. Egeus asks for the full penalty of law to fall on Hermia’s head if
she flouts his will. Theseus warns Hermia that disobeying her father’s wishes could
result in her either the convent or death. In spite of this threat, Hermia and
Lysander plan to elope the following night. They make their intentions known to
Hermia’s friend Helena, who was once engaged to Demetrius and still loves him
even though he jilted her after meeting Hermia. Hoping to regain his love, Helena
tells Demetrius of the planned elopement. At the appointed time, Demetrius stalks
into the woods after his intended bride and her lover; Helena follows behind him.
In these same woods are two other groups of characters. The first is a band of
fairies, including Oberon, the fairy king, and Titania, his queen, who has recently
returned from India to bless the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. The second is
a band of Athenian craftsmen rehearsing a play that they hope to perform for the
duke and his bride. Oberon and Titania are at odds over a young Indian prince
given to Titania; Oberon wishes to make him a knight, but Titania refuses.
Synopsis (cont.)
Seeking revenge, Oberon sends his mischievous
servant, Puck, to acquire a magical flower whose
juice, when spread over the eyelids of sleeping
person, will make that person fall in love with the
first thing he or she sees upon waking. Puck
obtains the flower, and Oberon tells him of his
plan to spread its juice on the sleeping Titania’s
eyelids. Having seen Demetrius act cruelly toward
Helena, he orders Puck to spread some of the juice
on the eyelids of the young Athenian man. Puck
encounters Lysander and Hermia; thinking that
Lysander is the Athenian of whom Oberon spoke,
Puck afflicts him with the love potion. Lysander
happens to see Helena upon awaking and falls
deeply in love with her, abandoning Hermia. As the night progresses and Puck
attempts to undo his mistake, both Lysander and Demetrius end up in love with
Helena, who believes that they are mocking her. Hermia becomes so jealous that
she tries to challenge Helena to a fight. Demetrius and Lysander nearly do fight
over Helena’s love, but Puck confuses them by mimicking their voices, leading
them apart until they are lost separately in the forest.
When Titania wakes, the first creature she sees is Bottom, the most ridiculous of
the Athenian craftsmen, whose head Puck has mockingly transformed into that of
an ass. Titania passes a ludicrous interlude doting on the ass-headed weaver.
Eventually, Oberon obtains the Indian boy, Puck spreads the love potion on
Lysander’s eyelids, and by morning all is well. Theseus and Hippolyta discover the
sleeping lovers in the forest and take
them back to Athens to be married—
Demetrius now loves Helena, and
Lysander now loves Hermia. After the
group wedding, the lovers watch
Bottom and his fellow craftsmen
perform their play, a fumbling,
hilarious version of the story of
Pyramus and Thisbe. When the play is
completed, the lovers go to bed; the
fairies briefly emerge to bless the sleeping couples with a protective charm and
then disappear. Only Puck remains, to ask the audience for its forgiveness and
approval and to urge it to remember the play as though it had all been a dream.
A Brief History
Barter Theatre was founded during the Great Depression by Robert Porterfield, an enterprising young
actor. He and his fellow actors found themselves out of work and hungry in New York City. Porterfield
contrasted that to the abundance of food, but lack of live theatre, around his home region in Southwest
Virginia. He returned to Washington County with an extraordinary proposition: bartering produce from
the farms and gardens of the area to gain admission to see a play.
Barter Theatre opened its doors on June 10, 1933 proclaiming, “With vegetables you cannot sell, you can
buy a good laugh.” The price of admission was 40 cents or the equivalent in produce, the concept of
trading “ham for Hamlet” caught on quickly. At the end of the first season, the Barter Company cleared
$4.35 in cash, two barrels of jelly and enjoyed a collective weight gain of over 300 pounds.
Playwrights including Noel Coward, Tennessee Williams and Thornton Wilder accepted Virginia ham as
payment for royalties. An exception was George Bernard Shaw, a vegetarian, who bartered the rights to
his plays for spinach.
Today, Barter Theatre has a reputation as a theatre where many actors performed before going on to
achieve fame and fortune. The most recognized of these alumni include Gregory Peck, Patricia Neal,
Ernest Borgnine, Hume Cronyn, Ned Beatty, Gary Collins, Larry Linville and Frances Fisher. The list
also included James Burrows, creator of Cheers, Barry Corbin, and the late Jim Varney
Robert Porterfield passed away in 1971. His successor, Rex Partington, had been at Barter in the 1950s as
an actor and in the 1970s as stage manager. Rex returned as chief administrator from 1972 until his
retirement in 1992. In March 2006, he passed away.
Richard Rose was named the producing artistic director in October 1992. In that time, attendance has
grown from 42,000 annual patrons to more than 163,000 annual patrons. Significant capital
improvements have also been made. Including maintenance to both theatres, and in 2006, the addition of
The Barter Café at Stage II and dramatic improvements to Porterfield Square.
Barter represents three distinct venues of live theatre: the Gilliam Stage at Barter Theatre (formerly
known as Main Stage), Barter Theatre Stage II and The Barter Players. The Gilliam Stage with over 500
seats, features traditional theatre in a luxurious setting. Barter Stage II, across the street from the Gilliam
Stage and beyond Porterfield Square, offers seating for 167 around a thrust stage in an intimate setting
and is perfect for more adventurous productions. The Barter Players is a talented ensemble of actors,
producing plays for young audiences throughout the year.
History is always in the making at Barter Theatre, building on legends of the past; Barter looks
forward to the challenge of growth in the future.
Biography of the Playwright
William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in
Stratford-upon-Avon in England, and his
birthday is traditionally celebrated on April 23.
At the age of eighteen he married Anne
Hathaway, with whom he had three children.
By 1592, he was living in London and working
as an actor and playwright. He was part owner
of the acting company, the Lord Chamberlain’s
Men (later called the King’s Men), which built
and performed in the Globe Theatre. Over the
course of his career Shakespeare wrote 37
plays, 154 sonnets and many other poems. He died on April 23, 1616, and was
buried at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford.
Vocabulary Words – define each word and use it in a sentence
nuptial
wanes
dowager
nimble
melancholy
pomp
vexation
bewitch
cloister
sovereignty
austerity
prosecute
edict
destiny
lodestars
visage
beguile
perjure
interlude
joiner
tinker
tyrant
condole
discretion
sprite
quern
tarry
wanton
changeling
promontory
dulcet
vestal
Leviathan
girdle
adamant
spurn
impeach
eglantine
roundel
surfeit
heresy
prologue
casement
lament
mechanicals
misprision
scorn
confederacy
contrive
derision
counterfeit
chronicle
shrewish
spurn
vixen
flout
officious
harbinger
coy
dotage
coronet
dispatch
conjunction
enmity
expound
paragon
WORD SEARCH
Find the following words below: midsummer, Puck, Oberon, Titania, Lysander,
Hermia, Demetrius, Helena, Theseus, Hippolyta, fairies, magic, dream,
Athens, wedding, mortals, painted maypole, love, forest, jealousy, Nick
Bottom, rude mechanicals, Robin Goodfellow
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Brush Up Your Shakespeare
Using the clues below, fill in the blanks with the appropriate title of one of the following
Shakespeare plays: Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, Othello, The Taming of the Shrew, Henry V, Much
Ado About Nothing, Julius Caeser, A Midsummers Night Dream, The Merchant of Venice, As You
Like It, Cymbeline, Richard III, Timon of Athens, Antony and Cleopatra, Henry VI Part II, Twelfth
Night, Henry IV Part I, Henry IV Part II, The Tempest,
The Merry Wives of Windsor
Across
Down
1. Out, damned spot
3. To be or not to be
5. Has three daughters
6. a pound of flesh
9. All the world's a stage
14. If we shadows have offended
16. Rome meets Egypt
17. the game is up
18. Et tu, Brute?
19. the Moor
20. Viola and Orsino
21. kill all the lawyers
2. We have seen better days
4. the stuff dreams are made on
7. Kate and Petruchio
8. Beatrice and Benedick
10. the world's my oyster
11. O, for a Muse of fire
12. eaten out of house and home
13. The winter of our discontent
15. give the devil his due
True and False
Write T if the statement is True and F if the statement is False.
1. ____ Puck’s real name is Robin Goodfellow.
2. ____ Theseus is engaged to marry Cleopatra, queen of the Nile.
3. ____ Hermia is in love with Demetrius.
4. ____ Lysander and Helena plan to elope.
5. ____ Oberon is the king of the fairies.
6. ____ Nick Bottom’s head is transformed into the head of an elephant.
7. ____ Oberon and Titania are feuding over an Indian boy.
8. ____ If Hermia doesn’t marry Demetrius, she must join a convent or be put to death.
9. ____ The play put on by the Rude Mechanicals is entitled “Antony and Hippolyta.”
10. ____ Puck is Titania’s jester.
11. ____ Hermia refers to Helena as a “painted maypole.”
12. ____ Titania becomes smitten with Lysander.
13. ____ The flower used for the magic potion was struck by an arrow from Cupid’s bow.
14. ____ In Puck’s opinion, mortals are very sensible creatures.
Matching
Match the person or place in the first column with the corresponding description in the second.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Bottom
Puck
Titania
Oberon
Hippolyta
Hermia
Helena
Lysander
Demetrius
a. a painted maypole
b. one wooed by two, then wooed by none
c. donkey head
d. planned to elope with Hermia
e. Puck’s master
f. Lord, what fools these mortals be!
g. threw Helena over for Hermia
h. queen of the fairies
i. queen of the Amazons
Questions/Activities
1. This play is set on “midsummer’s night.” What is the actual date of midsummer?
When did it start being celebrated and by whom? Why was this an important date
to those cultures? By what other names is it known? How is it celebrated? Why do
you think Shakespeare chose to set this play at this time? Discuss.
Comedy vs. Tragedy
comedy: a dramatic work that is light and often humorous or
satirical in tone and that usually contains a happy resolution of
the thematic conflict.
tragedy: A drama or literary work in which the main character
is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow, especially as a
consequence of a tragic flaw, moral weakness, or inability to
cope with unfavorable circumstances.
Given these definitions, would you categorize A Midsummer’s Night
Dream as a comedy or a tragedy? Cite three samples from the play to
support your position. How much does a character’s point-of-view
determine whether an event is comic or tragic? For example, how
might Egeus’ opinion on the play’s end differ from that of Lysander?
Discuss.
2. Shakespeare borrowed the characters of Theseus and Hippolyta from Greek
mythology. Using the Internet, research these two characters, their history and
their relationship to each other. What role did they play in Greek myths? What was
their function in this play? How does their relationship compare to that of Oberon
and Titania? Present your findings to the class.
3. What is a fairy? What is the difference between a fairy, a gnome and an elf?
When did fairies first appear in literature? What is it about them that still makes
them part of our pop culture today? What is the relationship between fairies and
humans? What is the function of the fairies in A Midsummer Night’s Dream?
Blank Verse
Shakespeare wrote much of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in “blank verse.”
blank verse: unrhymed verse having a regular meter, usually of iambic pentameter.
iambic pentameter: a common meter in poetry consisting of an unrhymed line
with five feet or accents, each foot containing an unaccented syllable followed by
an accented syllable
Consider the lines that Hippolyta speaks to Theseus in act 1, scene 1:
“Four days will quickly steep themselves in night;
Four nights will quickly dream away the time…”
Can you count the five stressed accents in each line? Do you notice how the word
“four” at the beginning of each line is unstressed?
What is the difference between poetry and prose?
How does Shakespeare use both in this play?
ACTIVITY
Pick one of the monologues written in prose from A Midsummer Night’s Dream
and rewrite it in blank verse. Present it to your class.
4. Who wrote the original story of Pyramus and Thisbe? When was it written?
What is its plot? How does it compare to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet? Was
Romeo and Juliet written before or after A Midsummer Night’s Dream?
EXTRA CREDIT!
Name the contemporary musical play
whose major plot point involves two
lovers talking through a wall!
5. Characters in a play or a book always have a reason for doing what they do. This
is referred to as their “motivation.” What motivates Egeus to force his daughter to
marry Demetrius when she prefers Lysander? What is Oberon’s motivation for
trying to help Helena reclaim Demetrius’ love? What motivates Puck to replace
Nick Bottom’s head with the head of an ass? Discuss.
Make a list of the characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Next to
each name write that character’s primary action in the play and their
motivation. Cite passages from the play to support your reasoning. Did
interactions with the other characters change or alter their motivations?
If so, how did this affect the plot? Discuss.
6. Who is the hero (protagonist) of A Midsummer Night’s Dream? What makes
him or her a hero? Discuss.
“It’s all Greek to me…”
Individually or in groups, use the internet to research
the history of one of the following Greek topics:
The Parthenon
Theatre of Dionysus
Achilles’ Heel
Plato
Socrates
The Olympics
Sophocles
Aristotle
the alphabet
Aeschylus
Aphrodite de Milos
Zeus
the Midas Touch
Apollo
Euripedes
Laocoon and His Sons
Athena
Poseidon
Present your findings to the class in an
oral report!
7. Who are the “Rude Mechanicals?” What are their various occupations? What is
their function in this play? Discuss.
8. Pick your favorite scene from A Midsummer Night’s Dream and design a set for
it. Keep in mind time, place and location. Is it in the forest? In the city of Athens?
Is it day or night? Also consider the entrances and exits of your characters. How do
they enter the scene? How do they exit? Draw a picture of what your set should
look like. Then make a model of it and present it to your class, explaining how
it will work when built.
9. Nick Bottom insists on writing a “prologue” to Pyramus and Thisbe. What was
he hoping to accomplish with it? What is the purpose of a prologue?
10. Write a critique of Barter’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Be sure to include descriptions and analyses of the individual performances, the
directing/staging choices, and the design elements (costume, set, props, sound).
Why do you think some of these artistic choices were made? How would you have
done it differently?
11. Breaking into groups, pick a scene from A Midsummer Night’s Dream,
rehearse it and perform it for your class. Now pick another scene and rewrite
it in contemporary English for a contemporary setting. Rehearse and perform it for
your class. Compare the two experiences.
Back in the good ol’ days…
A Midsummer Night’s Dream was written and first
produced circa 1596. Using the internet, research how
the original production would have looked – set,
costumes, acting style, etc. How does it compare and
contrast to Barter’s production?
12. How would knowing the geography and history of
ancient Greece better help you understand this play?
How does the setting of this play affect the
characters and the plot? How does knowledge of the
different poetic styles and meters – and Shakespeare’s
use of them – make the play more accessible? Discuss
how the various subjects studied in school often
overlap.
13. What was your personal response to Barter’s
production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream? Were
you entertained? What did this play teach you about the human experience? How
did it compare to reading the play? Discuss.
Compare and Contrast!
A Midsummer Night’s Dream centers on the trials and
tribulations of love, with special focus on the young lovers
Hermia and Lysander. Consider some of Shakespeare’s other
famous couples below:
Benedick & Beatrice
Petruchio & Kate
Orsino & Viola
Much Ado About Nothing
Taming of the Shrew
Twelfth Night
Pick one of these couples and write a paper
comparing and contrasting their circumstances,
relationship, etc. with Hermia and Lysander’s.
14. Lysander wants to marry Hermia, but Hermia’s father, Egeus, is determined
that she should marry Demetrius. Imagine that you are Lysander; write a letter
persuading Egeus to allow your marriage to his daughter.
Suggested Reading/Links
Books about William Shakespeare
Shakespeare: The Biography by Peter Ackroyd
Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare by Stephen Greenblatt
Shakespeare: An Ungentle Life by Katherine Duncan-Jones
Soul of the Age: A Biography of the Mind of William Shakespeare by Jonathan Bate
Shakespeare Links
To find out more about William Shakespeare, his life and his works, check out the
links below…
Folger Shakespeare Library
http://folger.edu/template.cfm?cid=863
Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet
http://shakespeare.palomar.edu/