A Midsummer Night s Dream Study Questions Answer the following questions in complete sentences; include a full citation for each line or section of dialogue where you found your answer, unless the citation is given in the question. 1.1 1. How did Theseus woo Hippolyta? 2. List the specific actions by Lysander that Egeus considers bewitching. 3. What is Egeus s attitude toward his daughter? 4. What are Hermia s choices as per her father? As per Theseus? 5. According to Lysander, why does he deserve Hermia more than Demetrius does? 6. What is the history between Demetrius and Helena? 7. How do lines 134-136 foreshadow the rest of the play? 8. What is Lysander s plan for him and Hermia? 9. Why is Helena jealous of Hermia? 10. What is Helena planning to tell Demetrius? What s your opinion of this? 1.2 1. Why are these men, who aren t usually actors, putting on a play? 2. Find an example/evidence of each of the following: a. Bottom misusing a word (a malapropism) b. Quince doesn t know much about what he s doing c. Snug is a good choice to play the Lion d. Bottom thinks more of himself than others think of him 3. Why can t Bottom play the Lion, besides already being cast as Pyramus? 4. When and where is their first rehearsal scheduled? 5. Why do you think these characters are usually referred to as Rude Mechanicals? After Act 1 1. Why is the first scene in verse and the second is in prose? 2. Take sides! Who s right, Egeus or Hermia? Why? 3. Why do people with real jobs get into community theater? Is it a good idea? 4. Draw a diagram of the four lovers explaining who loves whom.
2.1 1. What is the job of the Fairy that Robin speaks to? 2. What are Oberon and Titania disagreeing about? 3. Explain what Oberon and Titania have to do with Theseus and Hippolyta. 4. Where did Titania get a child? Why does Oberon want it? 5. What is Oberon sending Robin to get, and what is it for? 6. As what animal does Helena tell Demetrius to treat her? 7. Besides disliking her, why does Demetrius think it s a bad idea for Helena to be out in the forest? 8. What good point does Helena bring up about wooing being harder for women than men? 9. When Robin gets back with what Oberon wanted, what second use for it does Oberon assign to Robin? 10. What does Oberon s order in question # 9 tell us about his character? 2.2 1. What s Titania preparing to do at the beginning of this scene? 2. Why are Lysander and Hermia choosing to sleep so far apart from one another? 3. What does Robin think about Lysander and Hermia sleeping so far apart? 4. How has Robin screwed up, although he doesn t know it yet? 5. How is 2.2.122-123 ironic? How would it not be ironic if Demetrius said it to Hermia? 6. Explain Helena s reaction to Lysander s treatment of her. 7. What function do the lines 2.2.142-151 serve, especially since Lysander says this while alone on stage (remember, Hermia is asleep)? 8. How is Hermia s nightmare sort of true? 9. How is the last line of the scene ironic, considering events from 1.1? After Act 2 1. Take sides again! Who s right, Titania or Oberon? Why? 2. Apply 2.2.95 to an event in your life, or the life of someone you know. Is praying/hoping a lost cause? 3. Lysander s change of heart (ha!) is the result of magic; does such a quick change of affection seem unrealistic? Or is Shakespeare making a comment about the nature of love? Explain. 4. Draw a diagram of the four lovers explaining who loves whom now (as of end Act 2)
3.1 1. What will the play s new prologue include? 2. What casting changes are made? Why? (See 1.2.20 and 1.2.40-63 for the original casting.) 3. How do we know that this rehearsal is happening in the exact same spot as 2.2? How does this explain why Hermia had to wake up and run away at the end of 2.2? 4. What does Robin do to Bottom? Why? 5. What is the dramatic irony in 3.1.122-123 (assuming Bottom doesn t realize he has a donkey head)? 6. What is the result of the spell Oberon cast on Titania? 7. How does 3.1.145-146 sort of respond to 1.1.134-136? 8. Who speaks in verse in this scene, and who speaks in prose? (Careful this is a trick question.) Extra Credit -- Why did Bottom leave the stage before Robin casts his spell? Why is this theatrically required? 3.2 1. What is Oberon s reaction to the results of the spell he cast on Titania? Does this surprise you? 2. What does Hermia think Demetrius has done to Lysander? What is Demetrius s response? How is his response counterproductive to wooing Hermia? 3. Does the scene of the four lovers strike you as something you would hear in real life? Explain. 4. Why do you think Robin s line in 3.2.117 is so famous and popular? 5. In 3.2.120-123, what does Robin foresee happening? He s pleased by it, so what does that tell us about Robin? 6. How does Helena react to Demetrius s vows of love? Is this surprising? Why? 7. What does Helena accuse Hermia of? Is this surprising? Why? 8. How does 3.1.365 contrast to how Helena always envied Hermia s appearance? 9. Draw a diagram of the four lovers explaining who loves whom at the moment before Robin puts them to sleep. 10. By the end of Act 3, Robin and Oberon have anointed the eyes of only two lovers which ones? And why not the other two? 11. At the end of 3.2, Robin is setting things right. Why is he doing this, considering 3.2.122-123?
After Act 3 1. What s your opinion of love now? What do you think Shakespeare s idea of love is? Compare 3.1.145-146 to 1.1.134-136, and feel free to include experiences of yourself or of those you know, which will of course remain confidential. 2. Refer back to question #10 for 3.2; is Shakespeare making a comment on the nature of people in the act of wooing itself? Consider 3.2.469-470 and 2.1.248-249. 4.1 1. What s the symbolic importance of Theseus, Hippolyta and Egeus being out in the woods? 2. Draw one last diagram of the four lovers who loves whom by the end of 4.1? 3. What does Bottom remember? What does he figure happened? 4. Which six characters believe their experiences in this play have been just a dream? What s the last line of the song Row, Row, Row Your Boat? Just curious. 4.2 1. Besides his own well-being, what other piece of good news does Bottom bring? After Act 4 1. The last anointings of Titania and Lysander come with different incantations than the last (only) anointing of Demetrius. So, is Demetrius s love of Helena less genuine? Explain. 2. What s left to happen in the play? Why have Act 5? Refer to the standard Elizabethan plot diagram Mr. Shanley showed you in class. (If he hasn t yet, kindly remind him. Silly man.) 5.1 1. Where s Egeus? Why might Shakespeare have needed him to be gone? 2. Why don t Hermia and Helena talk during this scene? Why does Hippolyta get to talk? 3. How does the play within a play reflect the lovers plot? How does it reflect Romeo and Juliet? 4. Robin s last speech is one of the few times a character is without question speaking directly to the audience. He s saying that calling this whole play a dream is an alternative to what? After the Play 1. What s the dream referred to in the title? Find as many possible explanations as you can. 2. In Dead Poets Society, Neil is playing Puck (Robin), and he refers to it as the main part. Do you think this is true? Explain. Also, consider this in terms of the three separate plots.
different meter of the spells 2.2.33-40, 2.2.72-89, 3.2.104-123, 3.2.477-491