Presentation Transcript

1. A Midsummer Night’s Dream

   Shakespeare biography, themes, characters, and vocabulary by Kathryn Wilkins
2. William Shakespeare Biography William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in England in 1564. His parents were John and Mary Shakespeare. John Shakespeare was a prosperous glove-maker and held many titles in his life time including bailiff which was the equivalent of mayor. Shakespeare went to grammar school where he learned Latin grammar and read texts from Ovid, Cicero, and Virgil. Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway in 1582 and had three children- Susanna born in 1583, Hamnet and Judith in 1585. The late 1580’s are known as “The Lost Years” because no evidence survived to show where he was or why he left Stratford for London.
3. Biography By the end of 1592, Shakespeare was an established playwright in London receiving much acclaim for his plays. After being an actor and a writer, he joined a group of actors know as Lord Chamberlain’s men which later became known as the King’s Men. Shakespeare retired to Stratford in 1610-1611. In the country, Shakespeare spent some time as a schoolmaster in the country. Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616 at the age of 52 and is buried at the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon. Popular legend claims that unpublished works by Shakespeare may lie inside his tomb, but no one has ever verified the claims perhaps out of respect for the greatest playwright that ever lived.

4. Elizabethan Stage

   Elizabethan theatre is sometimes called English Renaissance theatre . The term "Elizabethan theatre” covers only the plays written and performed publicly in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558–1603).

5. Elizabethan Stage

   Some wandering acting companies in England originally set up their stages (platforms) Wherever they could find space, often in courtyards. The first permanent theatre was built by James Burbage in 1576. Burbage called it “The Theatre.” There was no electricity, so the plays had to be done during the day. In 1599, because of unpaid rent, the landowner decided to raise the rent . The company took their theatre apart piece by piece and rowed the pieces across the river, where they later reconstructed the theatre and called it “The Globe.” This was the theatre where Shakespeare’s greatest plays were performed. A replica of the Globe Theatre has been reconstructed very near its former location and Shakespeare’s plays are still performed there today.

6. Elizabethan Stage

   All actors were men. Yes, even the female parts were played by men. The sets were fairly simple . The audience had to use their imagination. “Let us on your imaginary forces work. Think, when we talk of horses, that you see them printing their proud hoofs I’ th’ receiving earth; for ‘tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings…” The actors generally wore the dress of their own time period. While it was against the law to wear clothing above your status, actors were able to wear any clothing that served the purpose of the play by decree of Queen Elizabeth.

7. Elizabethan Stage

   The Elizabethan theatre was a place where people arrived early to visit with friends, make new acquaintances, move around freely, and eat and drink before and during the performance. In order to capture the attention of the audience, Elizabethan actors had to keep on the move so that spectators on all three sides could catch their expressions and hear their voices. While we like to sit closer for a better view today, in this time period, people bought seats that were high in the balconies so that they could be seen. If you really wanted everyone to see you, you could purchase a seat on stage with the actors.
8. GenresShakespearean literature followed a strict set of rules to define a genre. Comedy: a play that moves toward a happy ending and implies a positive understanding of human experience. In most comedy, the happy ending involves a marriage or at least some kind of union or reunion that resolves the conflict and brings the characters into a state of harmony. Comedy moves from confusion to order, from ignorance to understanding,. From law to liberty and so on. Tragedy: A play that moves toward an unhappy ending and thus implies an unfavorable assessment of human experience. The audience is invited to witness the misfortune of individuals. Not only does the hero or heroine die, but others do also, often at the hands of the tragic figure. Tragedy ends in annihilation, misery, separation, and loss. Order is invariably restored at the end of Shakespearean tragedy, but this gesture hardly compensates for the death of a Hamlet or the unspeakable sufferings of a King Lear. Romance
9. History: a play that uses subjects such as royalty to tell the story of their lives. This genre is more difficult to understand, because the genre was only being invented during the time Shakespeare was writing them. The History plays are not a reliable source of information in that they are not historically accurate. Romance: Romance was not defined as a genre until after Shakespeare’s death. It is a distinctive kind of comedy, romance arrives at a happy ending through a perilous route. The action involves desire for love, but the defining characteristic of Romance is an adventure story.
10. Shakespearian insults Shakespeare was a master of name-calling. He combined dozens of nouns, verbs, adverbs, and adjectives to create some of the best insults ever written. Choose a word from column 1, column 2, and column 3 to make an insult.
11. Iambic Pentameter Iambic Pentameter is the form that many of Shakespeare’s lines take. However, it is also what he used in his famous sonnets. In order to understand iambic pentameter, you must first understand some basic vocabulary. A Syllable is a beat created by the vowel sound in a word: hat = 1 syllable, mother = 2 syllables. A Stressed Syllable is where you naturally add emphasis to the beat of a word (DUM). AnUnstressed Syllableis where you naturally deemphasize the beat of a word (da). AFoot is a pair of syllables that use an unstressed beat followed by a stressed beat. (da-DUM) Iambic Pentameter: a set of 5 feet
12. Sonnet: 14 iambic pentameter lines that end in a specific rhyme scheme abab cdcd efef gg. Sonnet 18 Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? A Thou art more lovely and more temperate. B Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, A And summer’s lease hath all too short a date. B Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines, C And often is his gold complexion dimmed; D And every fair from fair sometimes declines, C By chance or nature’s changing course untrimmed. D But thy eternal summer shall not fade E Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st; F Nor shall Death brag thou wand’r’st in his shade, E When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st. F So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, G So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. G
13. Middle English to Early Modern English 1470-1650 in England The most striking feature of Shakespeare is his command of language. There were no dictionaries; the first dictionary was compiled in 1604. Shakespeare as a youth wouldn’t have studied his own language more than any educated man of the period. Despite this, Shakespeare is credited by the Oxford English Dictionary with the introduction of nearly 3,000 words into the language. His vocabulary numbers upward of 17,000 words. An Average person has a vocabulary of 5,000 - 7,000 words. ://everything2.com/title/Phrases+Shakespeare+Invented Shakespeare's English is only one generation removed from what we speak today which is why we are still able to understand it. This facility with language, and the art with which he employed its usage, is why Shakespeare is as relevant today as he was in his own time.
14. language Alliteration Assonance The repetition of vowel sounds within a group of words. Try to light the fire Rhyme two or more words corresponding in sound. Let, pet, set The repetition of sounds at the beginning of a group of words. apt alliteration's artful aid. Blank Verse Blank verse can be composed in any meter and with any amount of feet per line. Ready. Name what part I am for and proceed.
15. Plot: Act 1 Scene 1 Theseus Duke of Athens, and Hippolyta, his wife-to-be are interrupted by a frantic plea. Egeus comes before the throne of Theseus, begging for help with his only daughter, Hermia. Hermia is in love with young Lysander. Problems arise because Egeus has given marriage consent to Lysander's friend, Demetrius. Egeus claims that Lysander has Turned her obedience to stubborn harshness. Theseus listens to both, but states that Hermia will either marry Demetrius, die, or become a nun. Lysander reminds Demetrius of Helena, who is in love with Demetrius and devoutly dotes on him. Theseus warns Hermia to think about her decision. Lysander and Hermia, are left alone. Lysander tells Hermia he has an aunt who lives far from Athens, and the two will steal away into the woods that night and elope near his aunt. Hermia agrees. Helena enters. She is jealous of Hermia's hold over Demetrius. Lysander and Hermia tell Helena of their plot to escape to the woods. As the two lovers exit, Helena plans to tell Demetrius of their flight. She thinks he will follow them into the woods. She will follow him and regain her beloved man.
16. Plot: Act 1 Scene 2 A group of artisans discuss the play they are going to perform as part of Theseus' wedding celebration. The play is entitled, "The most lamentable comedy, and most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisbe." Peter Quince takes a roll call of the actors and hands out their parts. Bottom the weaver gets the leading role of Pyramus, which pleases him because he is super-confident of his acting abilities. He is so confident, in fact, that he wishes to play the part of Thisbe too, which Quince assigns to Flute the bellows-mender. Bottom also wants to play the lion, and promises to delight everyone with his roar. But the part goes to the timid Snug the joiner. Quince tells the men to learn their parts by the following night, and to meet for a rehearsal in the wood by moonlight.  
17. Plot: Act 2 Scene 1 In the wood, Puck interrogates a fairy who serves the Fairy Queen. When Puck hears that Titania the Queen is coming, he says she better not get within sight of Oberon. Oberon is angry with her because she has a changeling boy (a mortal child stolen by fairies), and Oberon wants the boy as a knight of his train. Titania refuses to give him up, so now, whenever Titania and Oberon meet, they quarrel.   The fairy recognizes Puck as a mischievous sprite known as Robin Goodfellow, and Puck tells of some of the tricks he performs on unsuspecting humans for the amusement of Oberon.   Oberon and Titania enter. Titania points out that because she and Oberon have been fighting since the beginning of midsummer, the weather has been terrible. It seems more like winter than summer. She blames their quarrel for all these bad effects in nature. Oberon tells her that the power to make amends lies in her; all he asks is that she give up her changeling boy. Titania refuses, saying that his mother was a member of her order and died giving birth to the boy. Titania now raises him for her sake, and will not give him up.  
18. Plot: Act 2 Scene 1 After Titania exits, Oberon says he will make her suffer because of her defiance. He summons Puck and tells him to fetch him a flower known as "love-in-idleness," explaining that if the juice from that flower is put on the eyelids of a sleeping person, that person will fall madly in love with the next living creature he or she sees. As Puck departs on his errand, Oberon says he will drop the juice from the flower into Titania's eyes as she sleeps, and he will not lift the spell until she has given up the changeling boy.   As Oberon watches, Demetrius enters, with Helena following him. Demetrius impatiently tells Helena to go away and stop following him. He says he cannot love her, but this only has the effect of making her love him more. When he exits, Helena follows, still determined to pursue him and hoping for a change of heart.   Puck enters, and Oberon takes the flower from him, promising to himself that he will anoint Titania's eyes with it. Then he tells Puck to take the flower and anoint the eyes of Demetrius, at a moment when the next thing he is likely to see will be Helena.  
19. Plot: Act 2 Scene 2 Titania tells her fairy attendants to sing her to sleep. The fairies sing and then leave her alone as Oberon enters her lair, squeezing magic flower juice on her eyelids. Then he leaves. Lysander and Hermia wander through the woods. They decide to rest for the evening. Lysander wants to sleep next to Hermia. Yet, Hermia will not allow such a deed to take place, so she sleeps several feet from him. Lysander sleeps . Puck enters the woods. He sees the sleeping couple lying separately. He sees Lysander lying and believes that he is the man Oberon was talking about. He gently places the magic juice on Lysander's eyelids. Helena runs into the woods after Demetrius. He puts her down, once again, begging her to leave him alone, and then abandons her. Helena notices the sleeping Lysander on the ground . She tries to wake him, and upon his awakening, he is love-struck (because of the magic flower juice). Helena is confused and angry because she thinks that she is being mocked and leaves. Lysander follows after Helena into the woods. Hermia awakes from a horrible nightmare. She calls for Lysander and realizes he is not there.
20. Plot: Act 3 scene 1 The artisans meet in the wood for their rehearsal. To solve the problem of scaring the women in the audience, Bottom asks that a prologue be written, explaining that Pyramus does not really die. He also feels the need to have it explained that Pyramus is in fact not Pyramus at all, but Bottom the weaver. He tells Snug to inform the audience that he is not really a lion, but Snug the joiner.   The rehearsal begins, as Puck watches. Bottom as Pyramus and Flute as Thisbe make some howling errors that Peter Quince has to correct. Then Bottom, who has temporarily left the scene, returns, but the mischievous Puck has caused his head to be transformed into an ass's head. Most of the artisans flee in terror, and Puck goes with them, promising to chase and torment them. Then Snout and Peter Quince see the ass's head on Bottom, and they run too.   Bottom, suspecting that his companions are trying to make an ass of him, decides to sing to himself. The song awakes Titania, who immediately sees Bottom and falls in love with him. Bottom, of course, does not have a clue as to why this has happened. Titania asks him to remain with her in the wood; she will have him attended and cared for by her fairies.  
21. Plot: Act 3 scene 2 Puck tells Oberon of Bottom and Titania. He then tells of putting the love-juice in the Athenian's eye, but when Demetrius and Hermia enter, Puck realizes that Demetrius is not the same man.   Hermia is still looking for Lysander, and fears that Demetrius may have killed him, but Demetrius denies that he has done Lysander any harm. Hermia exits. Demetrius sees no point in following her while she’s so angry, and he lies down to sleep.   Oberon sends Puck to fetch Helena, and squeezes the juice onto Demetrius's eyelids. Puck returns with news that Helena is near. Lysander and Helena enter. Lysander swears that his love for her is genuine. Demetrius awakes, and the first person he sees is Helena. He falls in love with her. Helena can only conclude that they are both making fun of her, and that they really hate her. Hermia enters. She asks Lysander why he deserted her. He replies that his love for Helena took him away, and now he hates Hermia. Hermia cannot believe her ears, while Helena concludes that Hermia is part of the plot to humiliate her. She turns on Hermia and they argue.  The four young people then quarrel bitterly. Lysander swears he really does love Helena; Demetrius says that he loves her much more than Lysander does. Lysander challenges him to fight. Hermia becomes so angry she threatens to scratch Helena's eyes. Helena appeals to the men for protection, and then explains her part in the situation.
22. Act 3 scene 2 Hermia tries to attack her, but Lysander restrains her and tells her to go. Lysander and Demetrius exit, planning to fight a duel. Hermia blames Helena for the situation, and Helena runs away. Hermia is left to express her bewilderment and confusion.   Oberon and Puck come forward. Oberon is annoyed by Puck's mistake, but Puck has enjoyed watching the resulting mix-up. Oberon tells Puck to veil everything with a fog, to make sure that Demetrius and Lysander do not come into contact with each other. When they get tired of searching and go to sleep, Puck is to put a herb into Lysander's eye. The herb takes away all error, and when Lysander awakes, everything he has just experienced will seem like a dream. Meanwhile, Oberon plans to go to Titania and beg her for the changeling boy. When he has the boy, he will release Titania from the spell.   Puck then confuses Lysander and Demetrius by calling their names and leading them away from each other. Tiring, Lysander lies down and sleeps, and shortly after that, so does Demetrius.   Helena enters. She too is weary and lies down to sleep. As Puck watches over them, Hermia arrives also. She is exhausted and like the three others, lies down to sleep. Puck squeezes the herb on Lysander's eyelids, saying that when he wakes up, all will be well.  
23. Plot: Act 4 Titania and her train enter with Bottom. He goes to sleep with Titania's arms around him as she declares how much she loves him.   Puck enters, and Oberon confesses that he is beginning to pity Titania. He reveals that a short while before, he had encountered her and she had agreed to give him the changeling boy. Now that he has attained what he wants, he removes the spell cast by the love-juice by squeezing it again on Titania's eyelids. Titania awakes, and says she dreamed she was in love with an ass. Oberon tells Puck to remove the ass's head from Bottom.   After the Fairy King and Queen exit, leaving the lovers and Bottom still asleep, Theseus, Hippolyta and Egeus enter, and there is the sound of hunting horns. It is dawn. Theseus is looking forward to watching his hounds do their work.  They stumble upon the four sleeping forms. Egeus wonders what they are all doing in the wood together. Theseus has no doubt of their innocent intent, and he then remembers that this is the day when Hermia must make her choice. Startled, the four wake up, Egeus angrily jumps to the conclusion (correct, as it happens) that Lysander and Hermia were trying to elope so that she would not have to marry Demetrius. Demetrius simply says that he no longer loves Hermia, but now loves Helena. Theseus overrules Egeus and gives the two couples permission to marry. Theseus, Hippolyta and Egeus make their way back to Athens. The two couples are puzzled about what has happened and decide that they must have been dreaming. They also return to Athens.  Bottom awakens and finds himself alone, without his fellow-actors. He declares that he has had a strange dream that no man could explain.
24. Plot: Act 5 In the evening, in Theseus's palace, Hippolyta remarks on the strange tale the four lovers have told them. Lysander, Demetrius, Hermia and Helena enter. Theseus asks Philostrate what the entertainment will be for the remainder of the evening. Philostrate hands him a sheet of paper with a list of acts for him to choose from. He decides, over Philostrate's protests, to hear it. Peter Quince enters and speaks the play's prologue. As the rest of the players enter, Peter Quince continues his prologue, explaining who the characters are. Snout explains at length that he is playing a wall. Pyramus approaches the wall, on the other side of which Thisbe eventually appears. The two lovers engage in a love dialogue in which they both mangle the names of the characters from classical mythology. Then they part, agreeing to meet at Ninus' tomb.  Snug enters and explains that he is Lion, as does Starveling as Moonshine. Lion chases Thisbe away, and then Pyramus enters and passionately laments what he thinks is the death of Thisbe. He stabs himself and dies. Thisbe returns to find her lover dead, and stabs herself in grief.   It is midnight, and Theseus and the others retire to bed. Puck enters and announces that now is the time that fairies frolic. Oberon and Titania and their train sing and dance a blessing on the house.   The last word is given to Puck, who speaks directly to the audience. He says that if anything in the play has offended them, they should consider themselves to have been sleeping, and the play to be nothing more than a dream.  
25. Characters Theseus: duke of Athens; engaged to Hippolyta Hippolyta: engaged to Theseus Egeus: Hermia’s father who insists upon his paternal right to choose her husband Lysander: the youth in love with Hermia Demetrius: the man chosen by Egeus for his daughter, Hermia, to marry despite her love for Lysander Hermia: a young woman in love with Lysander but ordered by her father to marry Demetrius Helena: Hermia’s friend from childhood who is in love with Demetrius Philostrate: the master of the revel (festivities)
26. Characters Peter Quince (the carpenter): author and director of the play-within-the-play Nick Bottom (the weaver): manager of the play-within-the-play and is Pyramus in it; becomes the object of Titania’s love Francis Flute (the bellows mender): unwillingly plays the role of Thisbe in the play-within-the-play Snug (the joiner): portrays the lion in the play-within-the-play because he roars well Robin Starveling (the tailor): portrays the moon in the play-within-the-play Tom Snout (the tinker): portrays a wall in the play-within-the-play
27. Characters Robin Goodfellow (Puck): a hobgoblin in Oberon’s service Oberon: king of the fairies; married to Titania Titania: queen of the fairies; married to Oberon
28. Vocabulary Filch: To make off with belongings of others Abjure: To reject To dote: To shower with love Transpose: To change the order or arrangement of things Lamentable: bad Beguile: To attract Chide: To lecture severely or angrily Languish: To become feeble or weak Vile: Something that is offensive, ugly, and wretched
29. Vocabulary Disdainful: showing arrogant superiority over others and seeing others as unworthy. Rebuke: Criticism Preposterously: something that may arouse or deserve laughter Derision: The act of treating with contempt Sojourned: To temporarily stay Loathed: hated Vexation: anger Discord: disagreement