Midsummer+Night's+Dream+-+Act+1+Questions


 * media type="file" key="MSND Marika and Nicole.mp3" width="240" height="20"“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”**

- Hippolyta is patient, and says that the four days will 'quickly dream away'. Theseus doesn't have the same patience as Hippolyta and just wants to get the four days over with, explaining the slow passing of time saying "How slow this old moon wanes".
 * Act I, Scene 1**
 * 1. How is Hippolyta’s reasoning concerning how quickly the next four days will pass different from that of Theseus?**

- He wants Theseus to give him permission to kill his daughter if she disobeys his orders and plans to marry Demetrius.
 * 2. Why has Egeus brought his daughter and her two suitor to Theseus? What does Egeus expect him to do?**

- They were both supposed to obey their father, and once they were married, they were to obey their husband. Theseus' rule is that she must marry Demetrius or she would be killed or sent to a nunnery.
 * 3. What was the proper role for women/daughters in Athenian society according to Egeus and Theseus? What is Theseus’s ruling concerning Hermia?**

- Lysander exclaims that Demetrius is an unreliable lover because he left Helena, so he brings up the fact that he may be unreliable with Hermia as well.
 * 4. How does Lysander’s comment about Demetrius’s previous love affair with Helena complicate things?**

- They plan to run away to Lysander's aunt's house. They tell Helena of their plans because they trust her, and they have been friends for a long time.
 * 5. What do Lysander and Hermia plan to do about this seemingly impossible situation? Why do they tell Helena?**

- She hopes by telling Demetrius of their plans, that he will love her instead of Hermia. She proves that she loves Demetrius more than she cares about her close friendship with Hermia.
 * 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?**

- The problem is that she is in love with someone, yet she is being forced against her will to marry another man for whom she has no real feelings for. Her only real choices are either to be killed, to marry a man she does not love, or to join a nunnery - so Lysander suggests that the two run away and get married.
 * 7. Identify Hermia’s basic dilemma. What are the choices outlined for her by Theseus and her father? What other choice does Lysander suggest? **


 * Act I, Scene 2**

- Nick believes he is the best actor out of all the others.
 * 8. Why does Nick Bottom want to play all the parts?**

- I think Shakespeare put this scene in to bring more humour to the play, it is funny because Nick makes a fool of himself yet is still taking himself seriously.
 * 9. In what way is this scene funny? Why do you suppose Shakespeare included this scene?**

- They plan to meet in the forest at Duke's Oak. Coincidentally, Hermia and Lysander also meet there to run away.
 * 10. Where are the actors to meet the following night? Who else is meeting there at the same time?**

- Although Nick Bottom thinks of himself as a very strong, talented actor, despite his arrogance I believe he's quite the opposite.
 * 11. How would you describe Bottom’s acting ability? What is Bottom’s own opinion of his acting ability?**


 * Act II, Scene 1**

- They explain how Oberon is jealous of Titania for having an adopted male child who he wants to train to become a night, but Titania will not let him. This causes them to fight every time they see each other.
 * 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 Hippolyta have a history, and so do Titania and Theseus. They traveled to Athens to see Hippolyta and Theseus get married.
 * 11. How have Oberon and Titania been involved in the past with Theseus and Hippolyta; why have they come to Athens?**

- It badly affected the seasons, causing it to rain constantly,**"**Small streams have been flooded and over flown there banks," which affected people's farms and all the land, "The fields have been ploughed and planted for no reason because of the rain", and "The park walk-ways are overgrown with vegetation." It also had a negative affect on nature, for example, "Crows have gotten fat eating all the drowned sheep and diseased cattle."
 * 12. What effect has their quarrel had on nature, on the seasons, on humans?**

- She had promised the boy's deceased mother, who when she was alive had been Titania's servant as well as a very close friend, that she would protect and take care of her son.
 * 13. Why won’t Titania give up the changeling to Oberon?**

- The juice from pansies, which causes a person to fall in love with the first animate object they see after taking it.
 * 14. What does Oberon send Puck to find?**

- He wants her to fall in love with some vile thing.
 * 15. What are Oberon’s plans for Titania?**

- Every time Demetrius says something rude to Helena remarking the fact that he is not in love with her and wants nothing to do with her, she loses her dignity more and more, making remarks that she will let him treat her like his dog and she will still love him no matter what.
 * 16. How does Helena react to Demetrius’s verbal abuse?**

- If he leaves her in the woods, she threatens to chase him down afterwards.
 * 17. What is her response to his threats of physical abuse?**

- Athenian women are supposed to be proper, polite and nice to everyone they meet. Helena acts in the opposite way, at least so far in the novel.
 * 18. In what way is Helena’s behaviour inappropriate for Athenian women?**

To give the pansy 'love juice' to Demetrius, so he will fall in love with Helena.
 * 19. What does Oberon tell Puck to do about Demetrius and Helena?**


 * Act II, Scene 2**

- So she will forget all about the fight which the two of them had.
 * 20. Why does Oberon want Titania to wake and fall in love with some vile thing?**

- So she can keep up a sense of modesty for the two of them, since they are not married. Also, it is indicated that she doesn't know if he is being honest with her or just trying to get something from her by telling Hermia of his feelings he has for her.
 * 21. Why does Hermia insist Lysander sleep a little ways from her?**

- To get him to fall in love with Helena. - Helena thinks it's a joke, and that Lysander is only making fun of her.
 * 22. Why does Puck anoint Lysander’s eyes?**
 * 23. How does Helena react to Lysander’s sudden love for her when he awakens?**

- Because the dream she had was of a serpent trying to eat her heart, which was symbolic of the romantic situation she was in at the time in the novel.
 * 24. How is Hermia’s dream a reflection of reality?**


 * Act III, Scene 1**

- Bottom writes a prologue stating the obvious facts that the lion is really a just man in a costume and isn't real, and that Pyramus doesn't really die. - They will let a person represent the wall, and leave a casement of the great chamber window to show the moonlight. - Because Bottom somehow suddenly has the head of an ass instead of his own, but doesn't realize it. - To turn Bottom's head into one of an ass. - He doesn't realize what is happening or why she is showing affection toward him. - He is saying that when people fall in love, they don't think about why or how it is happening, they just let it happen. He is trying to say that you don't need to think too much, because in a way love can control you instead of yourself having control over the situation.
 * 25. How are the actors going to keep from scaring the ladies when Pyramus kills himself or when the lion roars?**
 * 26. How are the actors going to manage the setting/scenery such as the moonlight and the wall?**
 * 27. Why do the rest of the actors run off when Bottom reappears?**
 * 28. What does Puck plan to do when he follows after the other actors?**
 * 29. How does Bottom react to Titania and the** other fairies?
 * 30. Bottom says, "…reason and love keep little company together nowadays." Why is this such an apt statement at this point in the play?**


 * Act III, Scene 2**

- Of murdering Lysander. - Puck will follow Oberon until they sleep, and squeeze the love potion into Lysander's eyes so he will then fall in love with Hermia. - Because Helena thinks that Demetruis is only lying and playing games with her, since he didn't have any feelings for her at all before.
 * 31. What does Hermia accuse Demetrius of doing?**
 * 32. How are Puck and Oberon going to correct Puck’s earlier mistake?**
 * 33. Why is Helena upset when Demetrius says he loves her? Isn’t this what she had wanted all along?**
 * 34. Of what does Helena accuse Hermia?**

- They had been friends since childhood. - Lysander still felt that he loved Helena, so he insulted Hermia and was very rude to her, saying "Hang off, thou cat, thou burr! vile thing, let loose, Or I will shake thee from me like a serpent!" - Hermia accuses Helena of being a 'Thief of love', because now Lysander and Demetrius both love Helena, leaving Hermia on her own and loved by no one. - Hermia is screaming and threatening Helena, who although is smaller than Helena, is much more willing to physically hurt Hermia than Helena is willing to harm Hermia. - They both fight one another for Helena, since they are both still under a spell and each convinced that they are deeply in love with her. - He tells Puck to separate them and force them to fall asleep, so he can put the love potion in Lysander's eyes so when he wakes up they can make it so that the first one he sees will be Hermia. - Oberon will tell Titania to give the Indian changeling boy to him. - Because both he and Titania have the most power, so he must not fear the coming day. - It worked out pretty well. The two men were in love with one woman, then they were both in love with another and all that happens in between.
 * 35. How close had Hermia and Helena been in the past?**
 * 36. How does Lysander treat Hermia? Why can’t she believe what he says?**
 * 37. Of what does Hermia accuse Helena?**
 * 38. Why is Helena afraid of Hermia?**
 * 39. What are Lysander and Demetrius going off to do?**
 * 40. What does Oberon tell Puck to do about the two young men?**
 * 41. What is Oberon going to do about Titania?**
 * 42. Why doesn’t Oberon fear the coming of day?**
 * 43. How well does Puck’s trickery work?**

==== **Review Question: The climax, or turning point, of //A Midsummer Night’s Dream// comes at the end of Act 3. In point form describe the major plot points of Act Three starting from when Titania falls in love with Bottom leading to the climax or turning point of the play near the end of act three.** ==== - Titania wakes and instantly falls in love with Bottom, only because of the love potion which has been given to her. -Oberon and Puck learn of Puck's mistake and plan to correct it by anointing Demetrius's eyes. -Demetrius wakes and falls in love with Helena, leading Helena to believe that both the men are mocking her. -Hermia finds the group and Helena accuses her of being part of the cruel mockery. -Hermia learns that Lysander now loves Helena and she accuses Helena of stealing Lysander's heart. -Lysander and Demetrius go to fight eachother for Helena's love. -Puck leads the two men astray, tires them out and anoints Lysander's eyes with a herb to lift the charm of the flower. -Puck leaves all the lovers sleeping.


 * Act IV, Scene 1**


 * 44. How has Bottom adjusted to the attention of Titania and her fairies?**
 * -** It is made very clear that he completly loves being the center of attention, as he treats the fairies as if they are his own servants by ordering them around.

- He will ask Quince to write him a sonnet called 'Bottom's Dream'. and, "No, he hath simply the best wit of any handicraft man in Athens", "Yea, and the best person too; and he is a very paramour for a sweet voice." Although they may not have said these things if they had known he wasn't lost.
 * 45. What is Oberon’s reaction to Titania’s infatuation with Bottom?**
 * -** Although he set it up, he becomes quite jealous of all the attention which Bottom is getting from Titania.
 * 46. What sort of explanation will Oberon make to Titania’s question about what happened to her?**
 * -** He will tell her it was only a bad dream, and that it didn't actually happen.
 * 47. Why are Theseus, Hippolyta, Egeus, and the others out in the woods so early in the morning?**
 * -** Because there is a fox hunt, (an English tradition). By including this scene in the play, it shows Shakespeare crossing the line between the 'Athenian' world he created within the play, and his own reality which is the Elizabethan era in England.
 * 48. What is Theseus’s first explanation of why the young people are asleep in the woods?**
 * -** He says it is to celebrate their manhood, because he is getting married on that day!
 * 49. What explanation does Demetrius make? Why does he compare his love for Hermia to an illness?**
 * -** He explains how he once again loves Helena and no longer loves Hermia. He compares this to a sickness by comparing his situation to the fact that when you are sick you dislike certain things, and once you are well you begin to like it again. In his case, the thing specifically being Helena. He is trying to say that since he once again has feelings for Helena, he is 'healthy' again.
 * 50. What is Theseus’s decision concerning the four young people?**
 * -** He decides to allow them to marry their real lovers at his own wedding.
 * 51. Why can’t the young people be sure whether they are awake or dreaming?**
 * -** It is a strange and unrealistic coincidence that they all had the same dream. Therefore, they aren't entirely sure if it was real or not.
 * 52. Bottom believes he too has had a dream. How is he going to use that to entertain the Duke?**
 * Act IV, Scene 2**
 * 53. What opinion do the other artisans now have of Bottom since they think he is lost?**
 * -** They begin to comment on and discuss how they all believe that Bottom is talented and well liked; saying positive things about him, like: "It is not possible: you have not a man in all Athens able to discharge Pyramus but he,"

====**‍a) The fourth act opens and ends with Bottom at center stage. What is your opinion of Bottom’s character? How might he be the antithesis, or opposite, of Theseus’s character?**====
 * 54. What do they most regret losing by not being able to perform the play?**
 * -** Not geting the money they would have goted if they had performed.
 * 55. Why must the artisans hurry to the Duke’s palace?**
 * -** The couples have all been married and must hurry in order to be able to perform.
 * ‍Extending the thought process.**
 * -** Bottom, in my opinion at least, is overly confident and arrogant despite the fact that he is also unawareably quite foolish. He puts himself first and craves all the attention from as many people as he finds possible. Bottom's character is the antithesis of Theseus' character, because Theseus is quiet and reserved, therefore is already the complete opposite of Bottom. Althogh Theseus gets quite a bit of attention from many people, he doesn't have to act boisterously or with arrogance in order to gain it, because as he is the King he is already watched very carefully and doesn't have the need to draw any more attention to himself.

**b) How do most of the dreamers respond to the dream experience upon waking? Which character is changed permanently by the dream experience?**
====**-** Initially, they all believe it was certainly a dream which they had. They start to become confused as they realize it was the same dream which they all had. Demetrius is changed permanently because he is now in love with Helena.====

**‍c) In this act, several characters** **look back at prior infatuations with disbelief. What do you think Shakespeare is saying about love and infatuation?**

 * -** I believe the message Shakespeare is trying to deliver through this play, is that throughout the early stages of both love and infatuation, they seem almost identical and it is hard to tell them apart and decide which of them you truly feel. Although, once you get past the beginning of your feelings, infatuation will easily fade or break, whereas true love will last through the obstacles. This theory demonstrated in different scenes and situations within the storyline. For example, even after Lysander had despised Hermia and treated her with such disrespect while he was under the spell, Hermia still wished he had been shielded from harm. If all she felt for Lysander was infatuation instead of love, she would most likely not have cared whether or not he had been hurt, after he hurt her.

**Act V **


 * 56. Why does Theseus dismiss the stories of the four young people? **
 * - To save time from dinner to bedtime. They will instead be dancing and watching plays and performances. **


 * 57. Why does Theseus choose to see the play about Pyramus and Thisby rather than the other entertainments? **
 * - Because he believes the other entertainers play will be ‘a tedious, brief scene and a tragical mirth.’ **


 * 58. Why does Philostrate try to keep Theseus from seeing the play? What does he say is wrong with it? **
 * - Philostrate tells Theseus that the actors are just workingmen with no talent. He didn’t want Theseus to see the play because he deemed it too badly written and performed, as it was tedious yet brief and merry in it’s tragedy. **


 * 59. What does Theseus mean by the lines, "For never anything can be amiss, when simpleness and duty tender it"? **
 * - He means that anything could be wrong with the play. Although it was simple, effort was put into it and that counts for something. **


 * 60. What is accomplished by having the Prologue tell the whole story that the actors are then going to enact? **
 * - Within the play, the whole point of the Prologue is to give their audience a summary of the play beforehand, so the ladies will be scared or shocked during the scenes when Pyramis commits suicide or when there is a lion. Shakespeare included this to mock the manner of playwrights who feel the need to give prologues like this, which therefore just insult the audience instead of being appreceated. **


 * 61. How does Shakespeare use comments from the audience to enhance the humour of the play that they are watching? **
 * - Because it causes the actors to have different emotions. For example, at a certain point, Bottom completelycomes out of character to answer what the audience was saying. **


 * 62. What is Hippolyta’s reaction to the play? **
 * - She has pity for the actors and their poorly written and presented play. **


 * 63. In what way is Thisby’s final speech humorous? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- He is very sincere and oblivious to the fact that the play was not exactly well recieved by the audience. He bids a farewell to the audience at the end, rhythmically saying ‘adieu, adieu, adieu..’ and it is very stinted, therefore humorous. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">64. What does Oberon tell the fairies to do? **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- He tells them to bless the marriage beds. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">65. What is the purpose of Puck’s final speech **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- He apologizes for the mistakes he made with the love potion and the result which came out of the whole ordeal. He also tells the audience that if they liked it, they can tell their friends, and if they didn’t, they may as well think of it as a dream. Metaphorically and symbolically, this is supposed to mean that if they liked what happened (as in the whole situation of what happened to each character), they can remember it and tell the story, but if not, they can pretend as though it never happened because everything has now been resolved and things are finally how they were meant to be. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Extending the thought process: **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">FInd at least one example of each of the following that occurs during the play within the play. Write down the quote that illustrates example. **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1a1a18; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">excessive alliteration - <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1a1a18; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“Whereat, with blade, with bloody blameful blade, he bravely broach’d is boiling bloody breast!” **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1a1a18; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">breaking the play’s illusion of reality - <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1a1a18; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Pyramus:Cursed be thy stones for thus deceiving me! Theseus: The wall, methinks, being sensible, should curse again. Pyramus: No, in truth sir, he should not. “Deceiving me” is Thisby’s cue: She is to enter now, and I am to enter through the wall. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1a1a18; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">using the wrong word or name - <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1a1a18; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> “Not Shafalus to Procrus was so true.” **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1a1a18; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">repeating a word excessively - “ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1a1a18; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Now die, die, die, die, die.” **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1a1a18; font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">ridiculous metaphor - <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1a1a18; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“To spy an I can hear my Thisby’s face. Thisby!” **

===<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">‍a) In reading the play-within-a-play, we become the audience for the drama played out by Theseus, Hippolyta, and the others. These performers, in turn, form the audience for the reenactment of Pyramus and Thisbe. How does observing another audience help you understand the relationship between audience and performers? === ===<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">‍b) Modern television shows often create comic effects by having a silly, innocent, or “clueless” character and a sarcastic, knowing, clever character play off of each other. What examples can you think of? ===
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- This is a very interesting part of the play, because seeing the audience in the play is in a way sort of like being able to view ourselves because of the fact that we are both basically in the same position. We tend to point out the flaws and strong points of a play while we are watching it- either mentally or verbally, because we like to somehow involve ourselves into the play. By observing the audience, we can see how the audience and performers in a play are closely linked, because we both have some way of involvement in the play we are either performing in or watching. **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, the characters who basically fit the description of clueless are the lovers, who have no idea what is happening when they fall in and out of love with one another. On the contrary, an example of a more sarcastic and clever character in the play would be Puck. He is really the one who controls the main conflict within the story, being the lovers’ constant change of feelings. With the power of the love potion at his disposaI, he just sees it all happen. In modern television, Spongebob Squarepants has similar characteristics to the lovers, because he embodies silliness, innocence, and he is quite a bit more clueless than some of the other characters. For example, a contrasting character such as Squidward - who is completely sarcastic and sometimes a bit too clever toward Spongebob in the cartoon. **

===<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">‍c) Identify ways in which Pyramus and Thisbe might be unsuitable for a wedding celebration. Are there any ways in which the play might be appropriate? In what ways is the play-within-a-play an ironic commentary on what the two pairs of young lovers (Demetrius and Helena, Lysander and Hermia) have gone through earlier? ===
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">- The play may not be the most suitable thing to play at a wedding celebration, because it involves two lovers having to separate themselves because of death. However, this is also one of the reasons it was appropriate at the event, because although it wasn’t cheerful at all times throughout, it showed that the power of true love is so strong that not even death can keep two people who feel that way about each other apart. In a way, it caused the lovers to question their feelings about whether they were in infatuation vs. love, by proving what real love can do and how powerful of an emotion it is - infatuation could never compare. **