midsummerdream+questions

media type="file" key="Midsummer NIght's Dream.m4a" width="300" height="50"Act I, Scene 1 1. How is Hippolyta’s reasoning concerning how quickly the next four days will pass different from that of Theseus? Hppolyta thinks they next few days will pass quikly because of the wedding because she is excited about the wedding, when Theseus beleives it will pass slowly because all the planning needed to be done for the wedding because he is not excited. 2. Why has Egeus brought his daughter and her two suitors to Theseus? What does Egeus expect him to do? He expects him to help his daughter come to a decision on who she shall marry. 3. What was the proper role for women/daughters in Athenian society according to Egeus and Theseus? What is Theseus’s ruling concerning Hermia? A women must marry who their father chooses, other wise he has the right to kill her. 4. How does Lysander’s comment about Demetrius’s previous love affair with Helena complicate things? Because Helena still loves Demetrius 5. What do Lysander and Hermia plan to do about this seemingly impossible situation? Why do they tell Helena? They plan to run away to his aunts house outside of athens to get married. They tell helena so that she can spread the word 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? Helena thinks that if she tells them of their plans he will fall in love with her again. 7. Identify Hermia’s basic dilemma. What are the choices outlined for her by Theseus and her father? What other choice does Lysander suggest? She has 3 choices to marry who her father approves of, or be killed and her third option is to live the rest of her life in a nunnery. Act I, Scene 2 media type="file" key="the fairy song.m4a" width="300" height="50" 8. Why does Nick Bottom want to play all the parts? Because he believes he is this best. 9. In what way is this scene funny? Why do you suppose Shakespeare included this scene? To mock that only men could perform in the theatre. 10. Where are the actors to meet the following night? Who else is meeting there at the same time? They are meeting to practice their play in the woods, while Lysander and hermia are Hideing away their so that they can get married. 11. How would you describe Bottom’s acting ability? What is Bottom’s own opinion of his acting ability? Bottom's acting isent very good because he does not realize he can not play all the parts at one, so he thinks he is the best actor though. 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 Titania both enter the stage and break out into argument about their relationship, because puck told them they should not meet. 11. How have Oberon and Titania been involved in the past with Theseus and Hippolyta; why have they come to Athens? They know Theseus and Hippolyta because they have come to see their wedding, outside of Athens 12. What effect has their quarrel had on nature, on the seasons, on humans? All the fairies are now in a fairy fight. 13. Why won’t Titania give up the changeling to Oberon? Titania won't give up the boy because she spends her time caring for him other wise she would have nothing to do. Oberon is jealous because he thinks the boy is getting to much attention from her. 14. What does Oberon send Puck to find? Pansies 15. What are Oberon’s plans for Titania? Oberon's plan is to put the juice onto Titania's eyes while she sleeps, so that she will fall in love with the first animal she sees after waking up. 16. How does Helena react to Demetrius’s verbal abuse? She threatens to chase him down if he should try to leave her in the woods.

17. What is her response to his threats of physical abuse? She threatens to chase him down if he should try to leave her in the woods. 18. In what way is Helena’s behaviour inappropriate for Athenian women? Athenian women are supposed to be proper and nice to everyone they meet 19. What does Oberon tell Puck to do about Demetrius and Helena? He tells him to go put some pansy juice in Demitruis eyes to make him fall in love with Helena Act II, Scene 2 20. Why does Oberon want Titania to wake and fall in love with some vile thing? So that she will forget all about her fight she had with him. 21. Why does Hermia insist Lysander sleep a little ways from her? In order to keep up her sense of modesty since she is not married to him yet. 22. Why does Puck anoint Lysander’s eyes? To get him to fall in love with Helena. 23. How does Helena react to Lysander’s sudden love for her when he awakens? Helena thinks it's all joke and Lysander is just making fun of her. 24. How is Hermia’s dream a reflection of reality? Because she had a dream that a serpent was gonna eat her.

**Act III, Scene 1 media type="file" key="act lll.m4a" width="300" height="50"** 25. How are the actors going to keep from scaring the ladies when Pyramus kills himself or when the lion roars? Bottom is worried that the ladies will be scared of the lion roaring and pyramus satbbing himself. So he writes a prolouge saying that the lion isnt really a lion but a man in a costiume and same wit pyramus and he says no one actually gets hurt. 26. How are the actors going to manage the setting/scenery such as the moonlight and the wall? The moonlight, leave a casement of the great chamber window and for the wall, let a person represent it. 27. Why do the rest of the actors run off when Bottom reappears? They actors ran off when Bottom reappears because he had an ass's head on, and he doesn't realize he does. 28. What does Puck plan to do when he follows after the other actors? to turn Bottom into a donkey's head. 29. How does Bottom react to Titania and the other fairies? LIke, don't know what is happening. 30. Bottom says, "…reason and love keep little company together nowadays." Why is this such an apt statement at this point in the play? He is saying when people fall in love they dont think about why or how they fell in love they just love them. He is saying to fall in love u dont need to think u just need to see how they act or who they are.

Act III, Scene 2 31. What does Hermia accuse Demetrius of doing? Hermia accuses Demetruis of murder Lysander 32. How are Puck and Oberon going to correct Puck’s earlier mistake? Make puck follow them until they sleep and squeeze the magic flower juice in Lysander's eyes so he can fall back in love with Hermia. 33. Why is Helena upset when Demetrius says he loves her? Isn’t this what she had wanted all along? because Helena thinks Demetrius is lying and why didn't he love her before and hurt Helena so much 34. Of what does Helena accuse Hermia? Because both Demetrius and Lysander love her while Helena who loves Demetrius is loved by no one. 35. How close had Hermia and Helena been in the past? They were very good school friends and in the childhood. 36. How does Lysander treat Hermia? Why can’t she believe what he says? At that time, Lysander still loved Helena and hated Hermia so Lysader said something rude, "Hang off, thou cat, thou burr! vile thing, let loose, Or I will shake thee from me like a serpent!" 37. Of what does Hermia accuse Helena? Stealing the love from Lysander and Hermina. 38. Why is Helena afraid of Hermia? Hermia is screaming and threatening, Helena is professing to be afraid of Hermia, who is evidently considerably smaller than she is, because she, Helena, is too feminine and ladylike to fight back. 39. What are Lysander and Demetrius going off to do? They go off to fight for helena since both of them are under a spell. they go to fight until one dies first. 40. What does Oberon tell Puck to do about the two young men? He tells him to serperate those two and make them fall asleep, then put magic flower juice only in Lysander's eyes, and they make it that when Lysander wakes up, the first one he sees is going to be Hermia. 41. What is Oberon going to do about Titania? Oberon is going to tell Titania to give the Indian boy to him. 42. Why doesn’t Oberon fear the coming of day? because he and Titania is the most powerful, so he must not fear of the coming day. 43. How well does Puck’s trickery work? It actually worked out pretty good, 2 men in love with one woman, then both in love with another then in love with different women and all that happens in between.

Act IV, Scene 1media type="file" key="act lV.m4a" width="300" height="50" 44. How has Bottom adjusted to the attention of Titania and her fairies? first he didn't know wat to do, but now he turned to as if he actually belongs there. 45. What is Oberon’s reaction to Titania’s infatuation with Bottom? he said" There lies your love" 46. What sort of explanation will Oberon make to Titania’s question about what happened to her? he said" There lies your love" 47. Why are Theseus, Hippolyta, Egeus, and the others out in the woods so early in the morning? to celebrate the May morning with hunting hounds in preparation of the day's ceremonies. 48. What is Theseus’s first explanation of why the young people are asleep in the woods? he said" No doubt they rose up early to observe The rite of May, and hearing our intent, Came here in grace our solemnity But speak, Egeus; is not this the day That Hermia should give answer of her choice?" 49. What explanation does Demetrius make? Why does he compare his love for Hermia to an illness? The lovers tell Theseus what they remember from the night before, and Lysander declares his love for Hermia while Demetrius speaks of his love for Helena. 50. What is Theseus’s decision concerning the four young people? Theseus decides to override Egeus' will and have all three of them get married in Athens that day. 51. Why can’t the young people be sure whether they are awake or dreaming? because they think it will never happen but it happened so they think it's a dream. 52. Bottom believes he too has had a dream. How is he going to use that to entertain the Duke? He recalls what happened to him only as a dream, a dream about which he says, "I will get Peter Quince to write a ballad of this dream. It shall be called 'Bottom's Dream' (4.1.208)

Act IV, Scene 2 53. What opinion do the other artisans now have of Bottom since they think he is lost? They think he has a sweet voice for that part so they must not loswe him for the play. 54. What do they most regret losing by not being able to perform the play? Bottom. 55. Why must the artisans hurry to the Duke’s palace? To be in time to perform their play.

Act V 56. Why does Theseus dismiss the stories of the four young people?

57. Why does Theseus choose to see the play about Pyramus and Thisby rather than the other entertainments?

58. Why does Philostrate try to keep Theseus from seeing the play? What does he say is wrong with it? That it is un-rehearsed, and he was afraid if he saw that he would be hung 59. What does Theseus mean by the lines, "For never anything can be amiss, when simpleness and duty tender it"?

60. What is accomplished by having the Prologue tell the whole story that the actors are then going to enact?

61. How does Shakespeare use comments from the audience to enhance the humour of the play that they are watching? By taking the harsh comments and making the play worse 62. What is Hippolyta’s reaction to the play? She thinks it's hilarious 63. In what way is Thisby’s final speech humorous? It is humerous because it is in a very high pitched girly voice 64. What does Oberon tell the fairies to do?

65. What is the purpose of Puck’s final speech? To summarize all the chaos he has caused. Extending the thought process:

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.  excessive alliteration  breaking the play’s illusion of reality  using the wrong word or name  repeating a word excessively  ridiculous metaphor

===**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?** ===

COMPLETION 7/10 EFFORT 7/10 CONTENT 6/10 TOTAL 20/30