A Midsummer Night’s Dream

September 2024

Reading as part of the Fall 2024 Shakespeare course — see general notes for more.

Contents

Precis of A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Theseus, ruler of Athens, is to marry Hippolyta, conquered Amazon Queen, in four days. Two men, Demetrius and Lysander, are interested in Hermia; Hermia is promised to Demetrius, but is in love with Lysander. Helena, her friend from childhood, is in love with Demetrius, but he spurns her. Oberon and Titania, King and Queen of the Faeries, are amidst a long quarrel over an Indian boy. Oberon engages the Puck, Robin Goodfellow, to enchant Titania, and while he’s at it, tells puck to enchant Demetrius so that he will love Helena. Puck enchants the wrong person, Lysander, and then the right person, Demetrius, so that they are now both in pursuit of Helena, much to Hermia’s distress. Helena believes neither Lysander nor Demetrius, nor Hermia when she says she believes its true. Eventually Puck releases Lysander from the enchantment, and the marriage matches are now aligned.

Throughout the play, some humble townsfolk have been preparing a play for Theseus and Hippolyta’s marriage, interrupted only by Puck enchanting Bottom, the chief player, by turning his head to that of an ass. After Puck releases Bottom, the play is performed, and it is so bad that it amuses the wedding party. Puck concludes with a speech about creativity and airy nothings.

The Play Itself, and Its Characters

There are four groups of characters. In these notes I describe each, and go on to describe the action that occurs with respect to them.

Note that this play has few sources for its plots, though some of its characters are well known.

1. The lovers (Hermia, Helena, Demetrius, Lysander)

Hermia is short in stature and long in foresight, and very straightforward
Helena, her friend from childhood, is tall in stature, but has little foresight and does things against her own interest
Demetrius, contracted to marry Hermia (who does not want him) is straightforward
Lysander is a romantic and poetic, and loves to talk; he has wooed Hermia and won her heart. Much (all?) that Lysander says is in rhyme.

The Action:

Hermia Is contracted to marry Demetrius, but is in love with Lysander; her father wants her marry Demetrius, and asks Theseus to put her to death if she does not go through with it (Theseus offers her the alternative of becoming a nun).
Helena is in love with Demetrius, but he has no interest in her, and tells her so to no effect. Hermia tells Helena she would gladly see Demetrius transfer her affections to Helena; but Helena seems angry
Hermia and Lysander decide to elope, and will take refuge with Lysander’s Aunt, a rich dowager 20 miles (7 leagues) away from Athens who does things according to her own rules (cf. Queen Elizabeth
Hermia and Lysander tell Helena of their plans to elope; Helena tells Demetrius hoping to win his favor.
Hermia and Lysander rendezvous in the woods (at a place where she and Helena exchanged confidences as children)
Demetrius, in search of Hermia, is pursued by Helena, who repeatedly declares her love for him and is spurned.

2. The Fairies

Oberon, King of the fairies (from Edmund Spencer’s The Farie Queen)
Titania, Queen of the fairies, from Ovid’s* Metamorphosis
* Ovid: The story of the Thisbe and Piramisius from the play within a play is also from Ovid). Ovid’s writing also portrayed the god’s as nonchalant, and mischievious towards humans.
Robin Goodfellow, aka Puck. A mischievious goblin or sprite from English folk tradition

The Action:

Oberon and Titania are quarreling over an “Indian Boy” whom Titania was ‘keeping.’ Oberon decides to enchant Titania into falling in love with a beast, and while she is enchanted will get her to give him the boy.
Oberon also notices Helena’s pursuit of Demetrius, and instructs Puck to enchant him so that ‘the Athenian’ will fall in love with Helena.
Puck encounters the would-be players in the woods, and gives Bottom the head of an ass. Puck enchants the wrong Athenian, and so Lysander drops Hermia and switches his love to Helena. PWhen Oberon see’s what this, Oberon instructs puck to enchant Demetrius, and now both D & L are in love with Helena, while Hermia is spurned by both.
Helena, however, does not believe any of this, and instead concludes that first D, then L, and finally Hermia, are all conspiring to mock her.

3. The Players

Bottom (weaver). Plays the Pyramus, the hero/lover. An especially foolish and narcissistic character.
Flute (the Bellows-Maker) – Plays Thisbe, the love interest.
The others: Snout (Tinker) plays wall; Snug (joiner) plays lion; Robin Starveling (tailor)plays Moonlight,, Peter Quince (carpenter) delivers the prologue.

The Action:

The players decide which parts are to be taken; they go to the woods to rehearse; Bottom is enchanted by Puck to have the head of an ass; the other players arrive, and flee in terror. Titania awakes and, enchanted, falls in love with Bottom. Titania is unenchanted, and Bottom awakens alone, and decides that what transpired must have been a dream. He returns to town, just in time, and joins the others to produced the play, which Theseus has selected for the evening’s entertainment (against Philostrate’s advice).
The play: Pyramus and Thisbe exchange words through a gap in the wall that separates their houses (their families are enemies). They plan to elope, meeting at a tomb outside town: Thisbe encounters a lion with a fresh kill, and flees, dropping her cloak or veil in the process – the lion mouths it, and leaves it with blood stains. When Pyramus arrives he believes Thisbe has been killed by a lion. He kills himself with his sword, and then Thisbe finds his body and kills herself as well. This happens beneath a mulberry tree, and the blood turns the fruits purple. ChatGPT: “The Mechanicals’ rendition of “Pyramus and Thisbe” is intentionally comical due to their lack of theatrical skill. Their overacting, mispronunciations, and unnecessary explanations turn the tragic tale into a source of amusement for both the characters watching the play and the audience of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The performance highlights themes of love, misunderstanding, and the fine line between comedy and tragedy.”
The Performance. The play is performed poorly, with many errors and malapropisms, and the audience finds it so bad that it is funny.

4. The Athenians

Theseus: Count of Athens, and hero famous for slaying the Minotaur and defeating the Amazons.
Hippolyta: Queen of the Amazons, taken captive in their defeat, to be married to Theseus.
Egeus: Hermia’s farther who has contracted her marriage to Demetrius, and wishes her to be executed if she refuses to marry him.
Philostrate, Master of the Revels to Theseus. Tries to warn Theseus away from Pyramus and Thisbe play.

The Action:

Theseus is eager to marry Hippolyta; not so Hippolyta who is a captive, a trophy of war. Theseus gives a speech about how slow the four days until the wedding will pass; Hippolyta corrects him with a speech about how quickly the time will pass. Furthermore, the end of the speech seems to have veiled wish fulfillment, with the crescent moon being seen as a (drawn) bow (the Amazon’s weapon) that will behold (it is being pointed at) the wedding. And, in another layer of allusion, the goddess Diana is associated with moon, and is also a huntress who favors the bow:

THESEUS
Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour
Draws on apace. Four happy days bring in
Another moon. But, O, methinks how slow
This old moon wanes! She lingers my desires
Like to a stepdame or a dowager
Long withering out a young man’s revenue.

HIPPOLYTA
Four days will quickly steep themselves in night;
Four nights will quickly dream away the time;
And then the moon, like to a silver bow
New bent in heaven, shall behold the night
Of our solemnities.

Other Comments

Rhyming

It is no doubt obvious, but in reading the play I’ve noticed that there is a hiearchy of structure: The fairies always speak in rhyming verse; the ‘gentle’ characters speak in 10 syllable lines; the ‘workmen’ aka players, speak in prose, and when they attempt meter or rhyme get it wrong. I’m curious if there is more structure here.

Rhyming vis a vis characters

Lovers. The lovers slip into rhymed verse during passionate or dramatic moments, reflecting the intensity of their emotions. Hermia 1.1.174 when she agrees to meet Lysander to elope; Trialog between Helena, Hermia and Lysander, when they reveal their plancs, 1.1.85 on.
Lysander, the poet, often speaks in rhyme, except when he is enchanted.
Fairies. The consistent use of rhyme by the fairies sets them apart from the human characters, emphasizing the ethereal and otherworldly aspects of the fairy realm.
The craftsmen‘s awkward use of rhyme during their play-within-a-play satirizes amateur theatrical productions and adds layers of humor. Their dialog, unlike the others, is NOT in 10 syllable unrhymed verses, but simple prose.

Loose ends and oddities

Loose ends

Someone said, Shakespeare’s comedies end just in time. In ‘Dream’ there are a lot of loose ends; many of these result from the enchantments, and the fact the mortals do not know of them:

Demetrius marries Helena, but his ‘love’ is enchantment-induced — Will his enchantment ever fade? What then? And surely Helena remembers Demetrius’ harsh words to her. What made her decide that Demetrius’ declaration of love was not a ruse?
Lysander marries Hermia; this is true love, but surely Hermia remembers the period during which he spurned her for Helena, and she does not know of the enchantment responsible for his betrayal.
Oberon and Titania appear to have been reconciled. But how does she make sense of giving the boy to Oberon, which she strongly resisted before?
What do Hermia and Helena, life-long friends, make of their quarrels? Why was Hermia never angry at Helena for revealing her plan to elope with Lysander?

After all of this, it is hinted that they are confused and perhaps think they dreamed? Bottom, too, decides that he dreamed. Does Titania think she dreamed? That would seem unlikely

Oddities

At the beginning of Act V, Theseus gives a wonderful speech about poetry and imagination, but this seems odd: he, who ‘woo’ed Hipolyta with his sword,’ does not seem the poetic type.

In the epilogue, Puck says “If I am an honest Puck…” Is he? He is mischieveous and tricks people for fun, with no regard for their feelings. And what, exactly, is the epologue apologizing for (“If this play should offend…”)