M

18 THE RENAISSANCE - D r a m a

A Midsummer Night's Dream

by William Shakespeare

Choose one of the situations below and write a letter to a problem page asking for help with your dilemma. Add
as many details as you like.
Situation A
Your father does not approve of the person you love
and you know he will never give you his consent to
get married. He has someone else in mind that he
believes would make a better match but you do not
love the other person.
Situation B
You are going to get married. You like your fiance/e
and you know that the marriage will be good but you
are really in love with someone else.
Situation C
You are in love with a man who is already engaged to
be married. Another man has declared his love but you
cannot forget your true love.
Situation D
You have been in love with a woman and planning
to marry her but suddenly you fall in love with another
woman and now you have no feelings for your
fiancee.

Each of the situations refers to one of the four main characters in A Midsummer Night's Dream: Hermia, Helena,
Lysander and Demetrius. When you have finished working on the play try to match each character to a situation.

INTRODUCTION • Shakespeare had great powers of i m a g i n a t i o n and his plays deal w i t h a vast range of
topics a n d situations. In A Midsummer Night's Dream t h e world o f fairies c o m e s i n t o c o n t a c t w i t h t h e
h u m a n world a n d s o m e very strange things h a p p e n .

THE STORY
The play takes place on the day and night before the wedding between Theseus and
Hippolyta. Egeus wants his daughter Hermia to marry Demetrius. She, however, is in love

CHARACTERS
with Lysander and so she refuses to do as her father says. Egeus asks Theseus to help him.
Theseus tells Hermia that under Athenian law a daughter must obey her father, and orders
Humans:
• Theseus, Duke of her to marry Demetrius within four days or face death.
Athens Hermia decides to escape from Athens with Lysander to a wood outside the city. Helena,
• Hippolyta, Queen
of the Amazons,
Hernia's close friend, is in love with Demetrius. The two had been lovers but had broken up.
engaged to Theseus Helena, however, wishes to restore their love and tries to win Demetrius's favour by telling
• Egeus, Hernia's him of Hermia and Lysander's plan to elope. Demetrius, followed by Helena, enters the wood
father
• Hermia, in love to search for Hermia and Lysander.
with Lysander The wood is inhabited by fairies. When Oberon hears Demetrius arguing with Helena, he tells
• Helena, in love
Puck to pour some magic love-juice on his eyes so that the couple will be reconciled.
with Demetrius
• Lysander, in love But Puck makes a mistake and pours the juice on Lysander's eyes, with the result that he falls in
with Hermia love with Helena. Demetrius and Helena have since been reconciled so now both Demetrius and
• Demetrius, in love
with Helena
Lysander are in love with Helena while Hermia is ignored ( • Text C4).
The lovers' lives have been thrown upside down by the fairies but Oberon decides to make
Fairies:
amends.
• Oberon, King of
the Fairies He tells Puck to put a juice on their eyes while they are sleeping that will restore them to their
• Puck, a mischievous former state, so, when Lysander wakes up, he is again in love with Hermia. The two former
goblin
friends quarrel ( • Text C5).
 A Midsummer Night's Dream - William Shakespeare 19

Theseus and Egeus forgive the lovers for running away and agree to Lysander marrying
Hermia. The play ends with three weddings: Theseus marries Hippolyta, Demetrius marries
Helena, and Lysander marries Hermia.

A Double Cherry Parted ESBSB3 Q

Puck has mistakenly put some love-juice on Lysander's eyes, so now both he and Demetrius
are in love with Helena, while nobody loves Hermia. Helena cannot believe that the two men
are in love with her and accuses her best friend, Hermia, of plotting with Lysander and
Demetrius to make fun of her.
A scene from the film
Act 3, Scene 2: Another part of the wood A Midsummer
Night's Dream (1935).
HERMIA: What love could press Lysander from my side?
LYSANDER: Lysander's love, that would not let him bide 1 ,
Fair Helena, who more engilds 2 the night
Than all yon fiery oes 3 and eyes of light.
[To HERMIA] Why seek'st thou me? Could not this make thee know 5

The hate I bare thee 4 made me leave thee so?

HERMIA: Y O U speak not as you think; it cannot be.
HELENA: Lo, she is one of this confederacy 5 .
Now I perceive 6 they have conjoined 7 all three
To fashion 8 this false sport in spite of me 9 . 10
Injurious 10 Hermia, most ungrateful maid 11
Have you conspired, have you with these contrived 12
To bait 13 me with this foul derision?
Is all the counsel 14 that we two have shared -
The sisters' vows 15 , the hours that we have spent 15
When we have chid the hasty-footed time
For parting us 16 - O, is all forgot?
All schooldays' friendship, childhood innocence?
We, Hermia, like two artificial 17 gods
Have with our needles created both one flower 18 , 20
Both on one sampler 19 , sitting on one cushion,
Both warbling 20 of one song, both in one key,

GLOSSARY 5. confederacy: conspiracy 13.bait: torment 17. artificial: highly

>«e note on Elizabethan
J g i i s h on p. C3)
bide: wait
1 engilds: brightens up,
embellishes
oes: round, shiny pieces of
material used to ornament
dresses
- bare thee: have for you
6. perceive: see
7. conjoined: joined together
8. fashion: create
9. in spite of me: to spite me,
to get at me
10. Injurious: hurtful, causing
injury
11. maid: girl
12. contrived: planned in a
secret way
14. counsel: talking as friends skilled in art
15. vows: promises 18. Have with our
16.When we have ... parting needles ... flower:
us: when we have criticised We embroidered a
(chid) time because it went flower together
by too quickly (hasty-
19. sampler: piece of
footed), forcing us to part,
embroidery
even though we would have
liked to spend more time 20. warbling: singing
together like a bird
 THE RENAISSANCE - D r a m a

21. incorporate: of one As if our hands, our sides, voices, and minds
body
Had been incorporate 21 . So we grew together
22. moulded: shaped
Like to a double cherry, seeming parted 25
23.Two of the first ...
Due but to one: like But yet an union in partition,
two bodies in one as Two lovely berries moulded 22 on one stem,
on a heraldic shield
So with two seeming bodies but one heart,
24. crest: decoration at
the top of a heraldic Two of the first, like coats in heraldry,
shield Due but to one 23 , and crowned with one crest 24 . 30
25. rent asunder: tear And will you rent our ancient love asunder 25 ,
apart
To join with men in scorning 26 your poor friend?
26. scorning: rejecting
It is not friendly, 'tis not maidenly.
27.Our sex ... for it: all
women will condemn Our sex as well as I may chide you for it 27 ,
you as I do Though I alone do feel the injury. 35
•

COMPREHENSION
1 Why does Lysander no longer love Hermia? 6 What activity does Helena recall them doing
together? (Lines 19-24)
2 Does Hermia believe what Lysander says?
7 In lines 24-30 Helena makes two comparisons. What
3 What does Helena think that Hermia, Lysander and
does she compare her friendship with Hermia to?
Demetrius have joined together to do?
8 Does she believe that she will be the only one to
4 Why is she particularly angry with Hermia?
criticise Hermia's behaviour?
5 How long have Helena and Hermia been friends?

ANALYSIS
1 In line 1 Hermia asks Lysander why he no longer 3 In lines 1 9 - 2 4 Helena describes how she and
loves her. How would you describe Lysander's reply? Hermia embroidered a flower together as an example
• Truthful • Straightforward • Hurtful of how close they were as friends. Which adjectives
• Insensitive • Reasonable would you choose to describe the example she
chooses?
What justification can be given for Lysander's harsh
• Intimate • Feminine • Trivial
reply?
• Striking • Calming
2 Helena asks three questions in her attack on
4 Helena says that she and Hermia were a 'double
Hermia. Underline them in the text. What effect do
cherry' (line 25). Do you think that this image is
you think Helena hopes to achieve through her
effective? Justify your answer.
questioning? She hopes:
• to embarrass Hermia into an admission of guilt. 5 In lines 1-10 there is end-of-line rhyming. Write
• to win Hermia over to her side. the same letter of the alphabet beside the words
rhyme. Read the lines aloud emphasising the rhyme
• to discredit Hermia in front of Lysander and
pattern.
Demetrius.
• to get answers and understand why Hermia has
betrayed her.
 A Midsummer Night's Dream - William Shakespeare 21

WRITERS' W O R K S H O P
Blank verse Shakespeare's plays have been described as poetic drama. Part of what gives his work its
Heroic COUplet poetic quality is the rhythm and musicality of the language. In the extract that you have
read Shakespeare uses two verse forms: blank verse and rhyming (or heroic) couplets.
Blank verse consists of unrhymed iambic pentameters - ten syllable lines in which
unstressed syllables are followed by stressed syllables.
| Is | all | the | coun | sel | that | we | two | have | shared - |
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

| The | sis | ters' | vows, | the | hours | that | we | have | spent |

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

A rhyming couplet consists of two lines of iambic pentameter that rhyme in pairs: AA,
BB, and so on.
HERMIA: | What | love | could | press | Lys | an | der | from | my | side? |
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

LYSANDER: | Lys | an | der's | love, | that | would | not | let | him | bide, |
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

TASK The first part of the extract that you have read is written in rhyming couplets, the second
part is blank verse. At what point does the change take place? Say why you think the verse
form changes. Consider the following points:
- as Helena gets angrier her language becomes freer;
- blank verse is better suited to the tone of what Helena is saying.

OVER TO YOU Listen to the recording of lines 2 6 - 3 5 . Pay particular attention to the rhythm and stress
patterns of the verse form. Try to read the lines using the same rhythm and stress.

STAC I N C T H E P L A Y
Setting A Midsummer Night's Dream takes place in the daytime world of Athens, a state of disciplined
order and down-to-earth reality, and the night-time world of the enchanted wood, a realm
of disorder and fantasy. These two distinct settings must be created by stage scenery, prop-
erties (props) and lighting. Settings for a play may vary from extravagant expensive sets to
essential or abstract staging, depending on the budget that is available and the personal
preferences of the director. Whatever the case may be, the stage setting should not be a dis-
traction but should enhance the audience's understanding of the play.

OVER T O YOU The speech in Text C4 takes place in the enchanted night-time wood where fairies and
disorder rule. Work in groups and decide what stage scenery, props and lighting you would
use for a performance of the speech in your classroom. Take into consideration the amount
of time you have to prepare scenery and props, the space that is available and the possible
sources of light. Be realistic in your suggestions. Discuss your proposals with other groups.
Choose the best ideas and plan a performance.

ODD
Hermia and Helena have been friends since childhood but have fallen out because of a misunderstanding caused
oy Puck's mistake. From your own experience and knowledge make a list of reasons why long, close friendships
sometimes break up.
FA* TIG
SMS.
w
i 22 THE RENAISSANCE - D r a m a

Text C 5 You Juggler! You Puppet!

Act 3, Scene 2: Another part of the wood
Hernia realises that Lysander really is in love with Helena and does not love her anymore.
She accuses Helena of stealing him from her.

HERMIA: O me, you juggler1, you canker-blossom 2 ,

GLOSSARY
(See note on Elizabethan
English on p. C3)
1. juggler: (artist who
keeps objects in the
air by throwing them
up quickly and
catching them again),
trickster, deceiver
2. canker-blossom: a
worm that eats into
and destroys a flower
3. maiden: young
woman, virgin
4. bashfulness: modesty
5. What, will... gentle
tongue: are you
trying to force me
into answering you?
6. Fie: expression of
disgust (arch.)
7. puppet: a small
human being or
animal
8. Ay, that way goes
the game: so, that is
the way she did it
9. perceive:see
You thief of love! What, have you come by night
And stolen my love's heart from him?
HELENA: Have you no modesty, no maiden 3 shame,
No touch of bashfulness 4 ? What, will you tear 5
Impatient answers from my gentle tongue 5 ?
Fie6, fie, you counterfeit, you puppet 7 , you!
HERMIA: Puppet? Why so? - Ay, that way goes the game 8 .
Now I perceive9 that she hath made compare 10
Between our statures 11 . She hath urged her height, 10
And with her personage, her tall personage,
Her height, forsooth 12 , she hath prevailed with him 13 .
And are you grown so high in his esteem 14
Because I am so dwarfish 15 and so low?
How low am I, thou painted maypole 16 ? Speak! is
How low am I? - 1 am not yet so low
But that my nails can reach unto your eyes 17 .
10. hath made compare: him: she has won him which people danced on
compared over May Day
11. statures: heights 14. esteem: favourable opinion 17.1 am not y e t . . . your eyes:
12. forsooth: truly 15. dwarfish: like a dwarf, short I am tall enough to scratch
13. she hath prevailed with 16. maypole: tall pole around your eyes out

COMPREHENSION
1 What does Hermia accuse Helena of doing? 3 What, according to Hermia, has Helena used to
win Demetrius's love?
2 Why does Hermia think Helena has called her a
puppet? 4 How does Hermia threaten to hurt Helena?

ANALYSIS
1 Hermia calls Helena a 'juggler', a 'canker-blossom'
and a 'thief of love' (lines 1-2). Try to explain why she
uses each of these offensive terms.
Example:
She calls Helena a juggler because she plays with other
people's emotions.
2 Helena accuses Hermia of being a 'counterfeit' and
a 'puppet'. Which of the two insults offends Hermia
more deeply? Do you think that Hermia is envious of
Helena's height?
3 There is a pun* in line 1 3: 'And are you grown so
high in his esteem ...'. Can you explain it?
 mm
:. -
if
A Midsummer Night's Dream - William Shakespeare 23

WRITERS' W O R K S H O P
Comedy Comedy is a major form of drama. In it the characters amuse and entertain us rather
Humour than engage our profound concern. We are confident that great disasters will not occur
and we know that the action will usually turn out happily for the chief characters.
H u m o u r is the main ingredient of a comedy. It can be divided i n t o three broad
categories:
• verbal humour, when what the characters say is funny;
• behavioural humour, when what the characters do is funny;
• situational humour, when the situation the characters find themselves in is funny.
In the case of most comedy the humour is a mixture of all three categories.

Say whether the following are examples of verbal, behavioural or situational humour.
- Hermia and Helena, two very refined, ladylike characters, insult each other and threaten
each other with physical violence.
- Hermia, who previously was loved by both Lysander and Demetrius, is now despised by
both of them.
-There is a double meaning in the expression 'high in his esteem' which means 'respected'
but also may be a reference to the fact that Helena is very tall.

OVER TO YOU Make a list of three comic actors that you admire. Discuss whether their comedy is primarily
based on verbal, behavioural or situational humour or if it is a mixture of all three.

STAC INC T H E P L A Y
Movement Movement can be used to reveal character and mood to the audience. A character may
change the way he walks, for example, according to the mood he is in. Movement can also
be used to indicate the relationships between characters. One character may, for example,
walk away from another in disgust or slowly approach another in a confrontation that
produces rising tension. Where characters should stand and how they should move must be
carefully planned in the rehearsal stages of a play.

OVER TO YOU The characters in Text C5 feel a range of strong emotions including anger, hatred, shock,
insecurity, disgust and vengeance. Discuss how each character is feeling as she delivers her
lines. Work on how you are going to convey these emotions through the character's
movements. Experiment with space. Have two actors perform the piece standing as far apart
as possible and then as close to each other as possible. Which of the two options worked
best? Are some of the lines better shouted from a distance? Are other lines more effective
whispered fiercely at close physical contact? Have the two actors act out the scene using
numbers instead of the script. This will allow them to focus on movement and body
language.
On the basis of your experimentation decide how the characters should move in this scene
and then prepare a performance.

Wouldn't it be nice sometimes to live under the protection of a magic spell like the sleeping couples in
A Midsummer Night's Dream?
If you were living under a magic spell, how would you like your life to change?
Here are two examples to help you:
I would be able to read people's minds.
I would be protected from all forms of physical danger.