A Midsummer's Night Dream
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Summary
Theseus, the duke of Athens, and his fiancé
Hippolyta, the queen of the Amazons, await their wedding in four days time.
Egeus brings his daughter, Hermia to Theseus and complains of her disobedience.
He wants her to marry Demetrius, who had broken off his engagement to Hermia’s
friend Helena as soon as he saw Hermia. Hermia loves another man, Lysander, but
her father refuses to let her marry him and asks the duke to enforce the
Athenian law on her. Theseus tells Hermia that in four days time she would marry
Demetrius, become a nun or die. Lysander, tells Hermia of his aunt’s house in
the woods, where they could get married in secret. They plan to flee that night,
and Hermia informs her best friend, Helena of their intention. Helena who is
still in love with Demetrius decides to tell Demetrius of Hermia’s intent,
hoping for a kind word and the chance of following him in the forest.
Six
Athenians decide to perform a play for the Duke’s wedding, “Pyramus and
Thisbe”. The part of Pyramus is to be played by the weaver, Bottom; and the
bellows mender, Flute will play Thisbe. The rest took the other parts and they
agreed to meet in the woods that night to practice.
In
the woods the fairy Queen, Titania meets with the King of the fairies, Oberon.
Oberon wants the young Indian boy whom Titania is caring for because she knew
his mother. Oberon is angered by her refusal and calls upon his follower, Robin
Goodfellow who is a hobgoblin, also know as a Puck. Oberon tells Puck to go
search for a flower that cupid’s arrow once struck, one that will make
whoever’s eyes the nectar is placed upon make them fall madly in love with the
next passing creature they see. He plans to put it on Titania’s eyes so that
she won’t care of the Indian boy anymore and give him to Oberon. While Oberon
waits for Robin Goodfellow to get back he spots Helena and Demetrius and under
the cover of invisibility he hears Helena proclaim her love to Demetrius and
Demetrius scorn and abuse her. Oberon takes pity on Helena, so when Robin
Goodfellow returns he tells him to put some of the nectar on Demetrius’s eyes,
telling him he will know him by the Athenian garments he wears. Oberon places
the nectar on Titania’s eyes.
Hermia
and Lysander get lost in the woods, so Lysander suggests that they sleep and
travel on with the warmth of the sun. Robin Goodfellow happens by and mistakes
Lysander for Demetrius because of his clothing; he puts the nectar on his eyes
and leaves. Demetrius passes them followed by Helena, he leaves her and the
commotion wakes up Lysander, who immediately falls in love with Helena. She
takes his vows of love for mockery and tries to get away from him, but he
follows her. Hermia wakes up from a nightmare to find Lysander gone and she goes
to search for him.
The
six tradesmen of Athens meet in the woods near the sleeping Titania. As they
rehearse Robin Goodfellow comes by and amused by the silliness of Bottom
transforms his head into that of an ass. Bottom’s fellow “actors” run from
him with fright. He starts to sing so his fellows would think he took their joke
lightly, it wakes up Titania. She falls in love with him and takes him to her
chambers to be waited upon by her fairies.
Robin
Goodfellow tells Oberon of Titania’s delusional love for the ass-headed
Bottom. Hermia chances upon them with Demetrius following her pleading with her
to return to Athens with him and become his wife. Hermia accuses Demetrius of
killing Lysander, and continues to search for him. Oberon and Robin Goodfellow
recognize the puck’s mistake. Oberon tells Robin Goodfellow to fetch Helena
while he puts Demetrius to sleep and puts the nectar onto his eyes. Helena,
still pursued by love struck Lysander, awakes Demetrius who immediately begins
to proclaim his love for her; she thinks he, like Lysander, is mocking her.
Hermia finds them, only to have Lysander tell her that he no longer loves her,
but now loves Helena. Hermia threatens Helena, and Helena believes that Hermia
is part if the joke that they are playing on her. Lysander and Demetrius propose
to duel for the love of Helena; Robin Goodfellow led them around the foggy woods
so that they both are lost and tried. They each fall asleep, and Helena and
Hermia, also weary fall sound asleep. Robin Goodfellow re-applies the nectar to
Lysander’s eyes, so he will fall back in love with Hermia.
Oberon
goes to Titania’s chamber where she and Bottom are asleep. He tells Robin
Goodfellow that Titania has given him the Indian boy and that he will now undo
the spells. After waking Titania up, the royalty of the fairies put the five
confused mortals into a deep sleep.
The
duke’s hunting party stumbles upon the four lovers in the morning. Demetrius
tells Theseus and Hermia’s father that he once again loves Helena and is happy
that Lysander and Hermia are in love. Theseus and Hippolyta invite all of them
to share their wedding day.
Bottom
wakes up and believes it all to be a dream; he decides to write a monologue
about it. The rest of his friends are mourning over the loss of Bottom, he comes
back from the woods and the friends reunite; their play in chosen as one that
can play for the duke.
Theseus
and Hippolyta discuss the story that Demetrius, Helena, Lysander and Hermia told
them, and Theseus dismisses it as a dream. He chooses the play “Pyramus and
Thisbe” for their entertainment, it is so silly and badly done and the couples
delightfully mock it. When it is over the three couples retire to their rooms
and Oberon and Titania come to bless them. Robin Goodfellow tells the audience
that it would be best if it all were thought of as a dream.
There
is cycle of love in this play; first each man loves his own, then they both love
Hermia, then the both love Helena, and finally they love their own again. The
same happens to Titania and Oberon, they loved each other once, but then they
separated and quarreled over the Indian changeling in Titania’s care. They
make up in the end, after Oberon gets the boy and takes pity on Titania’s
misfortunate love affair. He awakes her and they love each other again, together
they have the Indian boy. Helena and Hermia have stronger personalities than
Lysander and Demetrius, but the girls get mercilessly thrown around while the
boys run about believing in whatever their heart tells them, even if it is a
false perception. Their love seems truer than that of the Lysander and Demetrius,
they love the some man throughout the play while Lysander and Demetrius switch
back and forth between girls.
Character Development
Hermia – (1.1, lines 60-66) “Hermia: I entreat your grace to pardon
me. / I know not by what power I am made bold, / nor how it my concern my
modesty / in such a presence here to plead my thoughts; / but I beseech your
Grace that I may know / the worst that my befall me in this case / if I refuse
to wed Demetrius” - Hermia knows
her place, but she is strong willed and knows that she can’t live in a
situation she doesn’t want, she is practical and wants to know what will
happen to her if she is disobedient.
Helena – (1.1, lines 108-12) Lysander to Thesus and Egeus “Demetrius,
I’ll avouch it to his head, / Made love to Nedar’s daughter, Helena, / And
won her soul; and she, sweet lady, dotes, / Devoutly dotes, dotes in idolatry, /
Upon this spotted and inconstant man.” – How much Helena loves Demetruis,
and other people can tell, too.
(1.1,
lines 184-85) “Helena: Call you me “fair”? That “fair” again
unsay. / Demetrius loves your fair. O happy fair!” (1.1 lines 223-25) Helena
about Hermia and Demetrius “Through Athens I am thought as fair as she. /
But what of that? Demetruis thinks not so. / He will not know what all but he do
know.” –how even though Helena is called fair, and thought of as fair,
everyone but the one person she wants to know knows of it.
Demetrius
– (1.1, lines 108-12) Lysander to Thesus and Egeus “Demetrius,
I’ll avouch it to his head, / Made love to Nedar’s daughter, Helena, / And
won her soul; and she, sweet lady, dotes, / Devoutly dotes, dotes in idolatry, /
Upon this spotted and inconstant man.” – how Demetrius changes his love at
the passing of a pretty face, yet, though all of his fickleness, Helena still
loves him.
Bottom – throughout the play he mistakes words for the right ones, he tries
to sound important and educated, but in the ears of educated people he sounds
like an ass (probably Robin Goodfellow’s motivation to transform his head into
that of an ass).
Word
Play
The most noticeable word play in “A
Midsummer Night’s Dream” is the extensions of similes, after sating the
simile they go on to describe it in detail, as in 1.1 lines 186-88 Helena to
Hermia “Your eyes are lodestars and your tongue’s sweet air / More
tunable than lark to a shepherd’s ear / When wheat is green, when hawthorn
buds appear”
There
are many comparisons to the moon, calling it by the numerous names of goddesses
of the moon: (1.1 213-18) “Lysander:
Helen to our minds we will unfold. / Tomorrow night when Phoebe doth behold /
Her silver visage in the wat’ry glad, / Decking with liquid pearl the bladed
grass/ (A time that lovers’ flights doth still conceal), / Through Athens’
gates have we devised to steal.” – the similes are extended for poetic
imagery.
(1.1
lines 248-51) “Helena: For, ere Demetrius looked on Hermia’s eyne, /
He hailed down oaths that he was only mine; / and when this hail some heat from
Hermia felt / So he dissolved, and show’rs of oaths did melt” – Helena
uses “hail” firstly as an adjective like “rained down”, secondly
“hail” is used as a noun, and like hail Demetrius’ oaths melt when they
contact heat.
(1.1
lines 130-33) “Lysander: How now, my love? Why is your cheek so pale? /
How chance the roses there do fade so fast? Hermia: Belike for want of
rain, which I could well / Beteem them from the tempest of my eyes.” – a
buried simile of Hermia’s cheeks looking like roses.
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