Sparknotes a midsummer nights dream pdf download

Can we dream the impossible dream? Notable Movie Versions of the Play 1. Famous Dream Quotes Shakespeare coined many popular phrases that are still commonly used today. You just might be surprised to learn of all the everyday sayings that originally came from Shakespeare! Prose, blank verse, and rhyme are used to differentiate between characters i.

Know characters by name! How are they parallel or contrasted? What do the different plot levels have in common? How does Shakespeare use these parallel plots and characters to unify the play as a whole? Why does Shakespeare make use of the two settings? How can each be characterized? Do they serve any symbolic purpose? Who governs each world? What kinds of power are contrasted?

Which is ultimately more powerful? Does one have an effect on -- transform -- the other? Note also the imagery of fertility natural fecundity vs. What are Titania and Oberon fighting about at the beginning of the play?

What is the symbolic significance of the Changeling boy? What are some of the transformations in the play? Consider both literal transformations "Bless thee, Bottom! What do "dreams" represent? Who presides over the dream world the forest at night? What is the power of dreams? Can dreams have an effect on "reality"? To what extent do they represent natural forces i. What else might they represent? Notice that the fairies' magic takes place at night, and that it is several times compared to or mistaken for dreams.

To what extent is their "magic" a double of the playwright's magic, making a "dream" come to life on the stage? Theseus's conversation with Hippolyta in V.

Pyramus and Thisbe is a "play within a play" put on by the "Rude Mechanicals" to celebrate a royal wedding. In Act V, then, we are watching an audience watch a play that is like the play we are watching as an audience. What does this parallelism suggest? What function does the "play within a play" serve? What is its dramatic significance and thematic relevance to the work as a whole? Are there parallels between the stories of Pyramus and Thisbe and of the Athenian lovers?

In other words, are Bottom and company there only for comic relief, or do they convey a more serious message? If so, what? Work in small groups to create a chart that lists different sources of romantic attraction. Be as specific as possible. For example, one column of the chart might list physical attributes, such as sparkling eyes, a delicate complexion, luxurious hair, athleticism, and so on.

A second column might list personality characteristics, such as a sense of humor, kindness, intelligence, and so on. Go beyond the obvious in their lists. Each group share should its completed chart with the class. Discuss what the charts reveal about the nature of romantic attraction. Linking to Today: Contemporary Images of Love. Discuss how romantic love is portrayed in contemporary culture. Consider how love is depicted in movies, television shows, commercials, music, and other media.

Is love depicted as irrational, or does it have a basis in sound judgment? Is love measured by the excitement it creates or the commitment it elicits? Discuss how popular images of love might influence young people or reflect their own experiences of love.

Extracurricular Activities Imagine that you are one of the characters in the play. Write and deliver a speech about the nature of love and its importance in marriage. Remember me on this computer. Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link. Need an account? Click here to sign up. Download Free PDF. Anis Syasya Zaini. A short summary of this paper.

Download Download PDF. Translate PDF. Comment on the effectiveness of the types, structures, historical background, themes, and other literary devices on the play. Shakespeare uses many ways to portray humour and make his plays a success because of it. The themes of the play are dreams and reality, love and magic. This extraordinary play is a play-within-a-play, which only master writers can write excellently, and William Shakespeare proves here to be a master writer.

Shakespeare also appropriately incorporates plain humour that need not be interpreted in any way in this play, which makes the play increasingly interesting and humorous. PUCK I remember. Fetch me this herb; and be thou here again Ere the leviathan can swim a league. But who comes here? I am invisible; And I will overhear their conference. Where is Lysander and fair Hermia?

Hence, get thee gone, and follow me no more. Or, rather, do I not in plainest truth Tell you, I do not, nor I cannot love you? I am your spaniel; and, Demetrius, The more you beat me, I will fawn on you: Use me but as your spaniel, spurn me, strike me, Neglect me, lose me; only give me leave, Unworthy as I am, to follow you. What worser place can I beg in your love,— And yet a place of high respect with me,— Than to be used as you use your dog?

HELENA Your virtue is my privilege: for that It is not night when I do see your face, Therefore I think I am not in the night; Nor doth this wood lack worlds of company, For you in my respect are all the world: Then how can it be said I am alone, When all the world is here to look on me?

Run when you will, the story shall be changed: Apollo flies, and Daphne holds the chase; The dove pursues the griffin; the mild hind Makes speed to catch the tiger; bootless speed, When cowardice pursues and valour flies. Fie, Demetrius! Your wrongs do set a scandal on my sex: We cannot fight for love, as men may do; We should be wood and were not made to woo. Welcome, wanderer. PUCK Ay, there it is.

Take thou some of it, and seek through this grove: A sweet Athenian lady is in love With a disdainful youth: anoint his eyes; But do it when the next thing he espies May be the lady: thou shalt know the man By the Athenian garments he hath on. Effect it with some care, that he may prove More fond on her than she upon her love: And look thou meet me ere the first cock crow.

PUCK Fear not, my lord, your servant shall do so. Sing me now asleep; Then to your offices and let me rest. The Fairies sing You spotted snakes with double tongue, Thorny hedgehogs, be not seen; Newts and blind-worms, do no wrong, Come not near our fairy queen.

Philomel, with melody Sing in our sweet lullaby; Lulla, lulla, lullaby, lulla, lulla, lullaby: Never harm, Nor spell nor charm, Come our lovely lady nigh; So, good night, with lullaby. Beetles black, approach not near; Worm nor snail, do no offence. Fairy Hence, away! Exeunt Fairies. I mean, that my heart unto yours is knit So that but one heart we can make of it; Two bosoms interchained with an oath; So then two bosoms and a single troth.

Then by your side no bed-room me deny; For lying so, Hermia, I do not lie. Here is my bed: sleep give thee all his rest! Night and silence. Weeds of Athens he doth wear: This is he, my master said, Despised the Athenian maid; And here the maiden, sleeping sound, On the dank and dirty ground.

Pretty soul! Churl, upon thy eyes I throw All the power this charm doth owe. The more my prayer, the lesser is my grace. How came her eyes so bright? No, no, I am as ugly as a bear; For beasts that meet me run away for fear: Therefore no marvel though Demetrius Do, as a monster fly my presence thus. But who is here? I see no blood, no wound. Lysander if you live, good sir, awake. Transparent Helena! Nature shows art, That through thy bosom makes me see thy heart. Where is Demetrius?

O, how fit a word Is that vile name to perish on my sword! Lord, what though? Yet Hermia still loves you: then be content. No; I do repent The tedious minutes I with her have spent. Not Hermia but Helena I love: Who will not change a raven for a dove? When at your hands did I deserve this scorn?

Good troth, you do me wrong, good sooth, you do, In such disdainful manner me to woo. But fare you well: perforce I must confess I thought you lord of more true gentleness. O, that a lady, of one man refused. Should of another therefore be abused! Hermia, sleep thou there: And never mayst thou come Lysander near!

For as a surfeit of the sweetest things The deepest loathing to the stomach brings, Or as tie heresies that men do leave Are hated most of those they did deceive, So thou, my surfeit and my heresy, Of all be hated, but the most of me!

And, all my powers, address your love and might To honour Helen and to be her knight! Ay me, for pity! Lysander, look how I do quake with fear: Methought a serpent eat my heart away, And you sat smiling at his cruel pray. What, out of hearing? Alack, where are you speak, an if you hear; Speak, of all loves! I swoon almost with fear. This green plot shall be our stage, this hawthorn-brake our tiring-house; and we will do it in action as we will do it before the duke.

First, Pyramus must draw a sword to kill himself; which the ladies cannot abide. How answer you that? Write me a prologue; and let the prologue seem to say, we will do no harm with our swords, and that Pyramus is not killed indeed; and, for the more better assurance, tell them that I, Pyramus, am not Pyramus, but Bottom the weaver: this will put them out of fear.

But there is two hard things; that is, to bring the moonlight into a chamber; for, you know, Pyramus and Thisby meet by moonlight. BOTTOM Why, then may you leave a casement of the great chamber window, where we play, open, and the moon may shine in at the casement.

QUINCE Ay; or else one must come in with a bush of thorns and a lanthorn, and say he comes to disfigure, or to present, the person of Moonshine. Then, there is another thing: we must have a wall in the great chamber; for Pyramus and Thisby says the story, did talk through the chink of a wall. What say you, Bottom? BOTTOM Some man or other must present Wall: and let him have some plaster, or some loam, or some rough-cast about him, to signify wall; and let him hold his fingers thus, and through that cranny shall Pyramus and Thisby whisper.

Pyramus, you begin: when you have spoken your speech, enter into that brake: and so every one according to his cue. What, a play toward! Thisby, stand forth. But hark, a voice! O strange! Pray, masters! But I will not stir from this place, do what they can: I will walk up and down here, and I will sing, that they shall hear I am not afraid.

BOTTOM [Sings] The finch, the sparrow and the lark, The plain-song cuckoo gray, Whose note full many a man doth mark, And dares not answer nay;— for, indeed, who would set his wit to so foolish a bird? BOTTOM Methinks, mistress, you should have little reason for that: and yet, to say the truth, reason and love keep little company together now-a-days; the more the pity that some honest neighbours will not make them friends.

Nay, I can gleek upon occasion. ALL Where shall we go? MOTH Hail! Your name, honest gentleman? Good Master Peaseblossom, I shall desire you of more acquaintance too. Your name, I beseech you, sir? BOTTOM Good Master Mustardseed, I know your patience well: that same cowardly, giant-like ox-beef hath devoured many a gentleman of your house: I promise you your kindred had made my eyes water ere now. I desire your more acquaintance, good Master Mustardseed. The moon methinks looks with a watery eye; And when she weeps, weeps every little flower, Lamenting some enforced chastity.

How now, mad spirit! They speak in lilting rhymes infused with gorgeous poetic imagery. Whereas the lovers are earnest and serious, Puck and the other pixies are merry and full of laughter; whereas the craftsmen are bumbling, earthy, and engage in methodical labor, the fairies are delicate, airy, and indulge in effortless magic and enchantment. The conflict between Oberon and Titania imports into the fairy realm the motif of love being out of balance.

As with the Athenian lovers, the eventual resolution of the tension between the two occurs only by means of magic. Though the craftsmen do not experience romantic confusion about one another, Bottom becomes involved in an accidental romance with Titania in Act III, and in Act V two craftsmen portray the lovers Pyramus and Thisbe, who commit suicide after misinterpreting events.

When Oberon introduces the idea of the love potion to Puck, he says that he once saw Cupid fire an arrow that missed its mark: That very time I saw, but thou couldst not, Flying between the cold moon and the earth Cupid, all armed. There sleeps Titania sometime of the night, Lulled in these flowers with dances and delight II. Oberon makes himself invisible so that he can watch and hear them. Demetrius harangues Helena, saying that he does not love her, does not want to see her, and wishes that she would stop following him immediately.

He curses Lysander and Hermia, whom he is pursuing, hoping to prevent their marriage and slay Lysander. Helena repeatedly declares her adoration for, and loyalty to, Demetrius, who repeatedly insults her. They exit the grove, with Helena following closely behind Demetrius, and Oberon materializes. He declares that before the night is out, Demetrius will be the one chasing Helena.

Puck appears, carrying the flower whose juice will serve as the love potion. Oberon takes the flower and says that he knows of a fragrant stream bank surrounded with flowers where Titania often sleeps. He informs Puck that he will know the youth by his Athenian garb.

After her dancing and revelry, Titania falls asleep by the stream bank. Oberon departs, and Lysander and Hermia wander into the glade. Lysander wishes to sleep close to Hermia, but she insists that they sleep apart, to respect custom and propriety.

At some distance from each other, they fall asleep. Puck enters, complaining that he has looked everywhere but cannot find an Athenian youth and pursuing lady. He is relieved when he finally happens upon the sleeping forms of Lysander and Hermia, assuming that they are the Athenians of whom Oberon spoke.

Noticing that the two are sleeping apart, Puck surmises that the youth refused to let Hermia come closer to him. Simultaneously, Helena pursues Demetrius through the glade. He insults her again and insists that she no longer follow him.

She complains that she is afraid of the dark, but he nonetheless storms off without her. Saying that she is out of breath, Helena remains behind, bemoaning her unrequited love.

She sees the sleeping Lysander and wakes him up. The potion takes effect, and Lysander falls deeply in love with Helena. He begins to praise her beauty and to declare his undying passion for her. Disbelieving, Helena reminds him that he loves Hermia; he declares that Hermia is nothing to him.

Helena believes that Lysander is making fun of her, and she grows angry. She leaves in a huff, and Lysander follows after her. Hermia soon wakes and is shocked to find that Lysander is gone. She stumbles into the woods to find him. Analysis Act II, scene ii introduces the plot device of the love potion, which Shakespeare uses to explore the comic possibilities inherent in the motif of love out of balance.

Demetrius, Helena, Hermia, and Lysander are meant not to be romantic archetypes but rather sympathetic figures thrown into the confusing circumstances of a romantic farce. This confusion underscores the crucial role of circumstance in the play: it is not people who are responsible for what happens but rather fate. In Hamlet and Macbeth, oppositely, Shakespeare forces his characters to make crucial decisions that affect their lives.

Shakespeare teases the audience by dangling the magic flower as a simple mechanism by which this resolution could be achieved. He uses this mechanism, however, to cycle through a number of increasingly ridiculous arrangements before he allows the love story to arrive at its inevitable happy conclusion. Since they will be performing in front of a large group of nobles and since they have an exaggerated sense of the delicacy of noble ladies , Bottom declares that certain elements of the play must be changed.

They decide also that, to clarify the fact that the story takes place at night and that Pyramus and Thisbe are separated by a wall, one man must play the wall and another the moonlight by carrying a bush and a lantern. When the ass-headed Bottom reenters the scene, the other men become terrified and run for their lives. Delighting in the mischief, Puck chases after them.

Bottom, perplexed, remains behind. In the same grove, the sleeping Titania wakes. When she sees Bottom, the flower juice on her eyelids works its magic, and she falls deeply and instantly in love with the ass-headed weaver. She insists that he remain with her, embraces him, and appoints a group of fairies—Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Mote, and Mustardseed—to see to his every wish.

Bottom takes these events in stride, having no notion that his head has been replaced with that of an ass. He comments that his friends have acted like asses in leaving him, and he introduces himself to the fairies. Titania looks on him with undisguised love as he follows her to her forest bower. As Act III is the first act in which all three groups appear, the fantastic contrasts between them are at their most visible. Their proposal to let the audience know that it is night by having a character play the role of Moonshine exemplifies their straightforward, literal manner of thinking and their lack of regard for subtlety.

In their earthy and practical natures, the craftsmen stand in stark contrast to the airy and impish fairies. It throws love increasingly out of balance and brings the farce into its most frenzied state. Obviously, the delicate fairy queen is dramatically unsuited to the clumsy, monstrous craftsman. Shakespeare develops this romance with fantastic aplomb and heightens the comedy of the incongruity by making Bottom fully unaware of his transformed state. Rather, Bottom is so self-confident that he finds it fairly unremarkable that the beautiful fairy queen should wish desperately to become his lover.

Further, his ironic reference to his colleagues as asses and his hunger for hay emphasize the ridiculousness of his lofty self-estimation. In another part of the forest, Puck tells Oberon about the predicament involving Titania and Bottom.

Oberon is delighted that his plan is working so well. Hermia, having discovered Demetrius after losing Lysander, enters the clearing with Demetrius. Oberon is surprised to see the man he ordered Puck to enchant with a different woman.

He realizes that a mistake has been made and says that he and Puck will have to remedy it. Hermia grows angrier and angrier, and Demetrius decides that it is pointless to follow her.

He lies down and falls asleep, and Hermia stalks away to find Lysander. Puck quickly returns, saying that Helena is close behind him. Helena enters with Lysander still pledging his undying love to her. Still believing that he is mocking her, Helena remains angry and hurt. The noise of their bickering wakes Demetrius, who sees Helena and immediately falls in love with her. Demetrius joins Lysander in declaring this love. Lysander argues that Demetrius does not really love Helena; Demetrius argues that Lysander is truly in love with Hermia.

Helena believes that they are both mocking her and refuses to believe that either one loves her. Hermia reenters, having heard Lysander from a distance. When she learns that her beloved Lysander now claims to love Helena, as does Demetrius, she is appalled and incredulous. Helena, who is likewise unable to fathom that both men could be in love with her, assumes that Hermia is involved in the joke that she believes the men are playing on her, and she chides Hermia furiously for treating their friendship so lightly.

She grows furious with Helena and threatens to scratch out her eyes. Helena becomes afraid, saying that Hermia was always much quicker than she to fight. Demetrius and Lysander vow to protect Helena from Hermia, but they quickly become angry with each other and storm off into the forest to have a duel. Helena runs away from Hermia, and Hermia, reannouncing her amazement at the turn of events, departs. Puck flies through the forest hurling insults in the voices of both Lysander and Demetrius, confusing the would-be combatants until they are hopelessly lost.

Act III, scene iii Eventually, all four of the young Athenian lovers wander back separately into the glade and fall asleep.

Analysis The confusion in Act III continues to heighten, as the Athenian lovers and the fairies occupy the stage simultaneously, often without seeing each other. The comedy is at its silliest, and the characters are at their most extreme: Helena and Hermia nearly come to blows as a result of their physical insecurities, and Lysander and Demetrius actually try to have a duel.

With the falling action of Acts IV and V, however, matters will sort themselves out quickly and order will be restored. Now that both men have been magically induced to switch their love from Hermia to Helena, the vanities and insecurities of both women become far more pronounced.

Hermia, who is used to having both men fawn on her, has her vanity stung by the fact that they are suddenly cold and indifferent toward her. Thus, magic both brings about their mutual hostility to this point, Lysander has not been antagonistic toward Demetrius and resolves it.

As the Athenian lovers lie asleep in the grove, Titania enters with Bottom, still with the head of an ass, and their fairy attendants. Bottom orders Peaseblossom to scratch his head and sends Cobweb to find him some honey. Titania asks Bottom if he is hungry, and he replies that he has a strange appetite for hay.

Yawning, he declares that he is very tired. Titania tells him to sleep in her arms, and she sends the fairies away. Satisfied, Oberon bends over the sleeping Titania and speaks the charm to undo the love potion.

Titania wakes and is amazed to find that she is sleeping with the donkeylike Bottom. Oberon calls for music and takes his queen away to dance.

She says that she hears the morning lark, and they exit. Puck speaks a charm over Bottom to restore his normal head, and he follows after his master. They are startled to find the Athenian youths sleeping in the glade. They wake them and demand their story, which the youths are only partly able to recall—to them, the previous night seems as insubstantial as a dream. All that is clear to them is that Demetrius and Helena love each other, as do Lysander and Hermia.

Theseus orders them to follow him to the temple for a great wedding feast. As they leave, Bottom wakes. He says that he has had a wondrous dream and that he will have Peter Quince write a ballad of his dream to perform at the end of their play.

The first three serve respectively to introduce the characters, establish the comic situation, and develop the comedy; Act IV ends the conflict and leads to the happy ending in Act V.