English+Literature



**Welcome to Mrs. O'Connor's English Lit Class! ** **﻿(Last updated December 6, 2010) ** Throughout this unit you will read William Shakespeare's classic comedy, A Midsummer Night's Dream. This wiki is full of everything you will need to complete this unit successfully. Remember while you are reading and doing your assignments, it is important to try and relate what is going on in the play to modern day scenarios. This will help you understand the language and the story.

 Don't focus on story in "A Midsummer Night's Dream". The tale is simplicity itself. It's about ideas and emotion rather than plot. Notice that the fairies' magic takes place at night -- how much is really a dream? Theseus, Duke of Athens, is about to marry Hippolyta, a lady warrior who he conquered. Egeus brings his daughter Hermia to court. She and Lysander want to get married, but Egeus wants her to marry Demetrius, who also wants her. Under Athenian law, Hermia must marry the man of her father's choice, choose "single blessedness" (i.e., celibacy in a religious order), or be executed. Theseus says he will enforce this law and gives everyone a few days to decide. Demetrius has seduced and abandoned Helena, Hermia's friend. Lysander and Hermia decide to elope and get married in the next town, beyond the reach of Athenian law. (Probably Theseus and everybody else expects them to do this anyway.) Hermia tells Helena, who tells Demetrius in order to ingratiate herself to him. Hermia and Lysander flee into the woods, Demetrius follows the lovers, and Helena follows him. Out in the forest, Oberon and Titania, king and queen of fairyland, have quarrelled over who will raise an orphaned Indian boy. Oberon sends Puck to find a magic flower. Cupid's arrow, aimed at Queen Elizabeth, was diverted and hit the flower ("love in idleness", a pansy). Now this flower's juice, applied to a sleeper's eyes, will make the person fall in love with whoever he or she sees first upon awakening. Puck brings the flower, and Oberon applies it to the eyes of sleeping Titania. Oberon then tells Puck to apply it to the eyes of Demetrius, so that when he wakes and sees Helena he will love her instead. Hermia and Lysander fall asleep, with Lysander honoring Hermia's request to sleep a little distance away. Puck mistakes Lysander for Demetrius and puts the love juice in his eyes. Helena sees Lysander, thinks he may be hurt, and wakes him. Lysander sees Helena and falls in love with her. This gives rise to a comic situation, with much clever language and remarks about the ironies and irrationality of love. Some skilled laborers have gone into the woods to rehearse a play for the wedding. They rewrite it, replacing the lovers' parents by "the moon" and "a wall". Puck puts a donkey head on Bottom the weaver. Titania, awakening, falls in love with him. (In Elizabethan times, the male donkey was proverbial for his generous sexual endowment.) Demetrius and Lysander meet Helena and Hermia and the love-comedy continues, with the men about to come to blows. Oberon sees what has happened, and instructs Puck to separate the two men, which he does using ventriloquism, and to apply the love-juice to Demetrius's eyes. Lysander is lost in the dark and decides to sleep it out. Demetrius is tired and rests, and Puck reapplies the antidote to Lysander. Oberon applies the antidote to Titania. Demetrius wakes up and falls in love with Helena. After more dialogue and action, Theseus enters, the now properly-paired lovers are united, and everybody is happy. The humans wonder how much of the night's events have been real, and how much was a dream. The laborers perform their play-within-a-play. Although it's bad, Theseus and the others appreciate the sincerity and effort.

Don't look for depth of characterization in "A Midsummer Night's Dream". It's about ideas rather than personalities.


 * Homework Page **

Attached are two short assignments that will encourage you to look deeper into the meaning of the language and the literature. Each response should be 1-2 pages in length.




 * Group Ac﻿tivity **

You will be put into groups of 3. Each person in the group will be responsible for different parts of the activity, and come together in the end to finish the activity as a group. You will get an individual grade and a group grade for this assignment. Presentations will begin on Mo nday, December 20th.

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//<span style="color: #d62e2e; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; line-height: normal;">"Since once I sat upon a promontory, // //<span style="color: #d62e2e; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; line-height: normal;">And heard a mermaid on a dolphin﻿'s back // //<span style="color: #d62e2e; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; line-height: normal;">Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath, // //<span style="color: #d62e2e; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; line-height: normal;">That the rude sea grew civil at her song, // //<span style="color: #d62e2e; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; line-height: normal;">And certain stars shot madly from their spheres // //<span style="color: #d62e2e; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; line-height: normal;">To hear the sea-maid's music." //

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