Having been around for a dozen years at this point, the site attracts a good deal of traffic on the subject of Shakespeare. Much of it comes in the form of questions about the plays. Is this students looking for answers to their homework? View all posts by duane. Great point, Kris.
As I stare at the scene I imagine a 4th wall interpretation where Egeus pulls out a chalkboard and diagrams it out like a football coach.
This is Demetrius. Oberon orders Puck to fetch the magic flower to get back at Titania. Oberon and Titania are estranged from one another for a couple of reasons. Just as Oberon is attracted to Hippolyta, so Titania is attracted to Theseus, and in Act II the couple confronts each other with their jealous suspicions.
Puck in particular has achieved fame for his many mischievous exploits. Hermia and Helena have enjoyed a close friendship since they were young, but recently their friendship has come under strain due to their entanglement in a knot of desire and jealousy.
Take a look at an extract from this scene. If she will not agree, with you as her witness, to marry Demetrius, then please allow me to use the law of Athens that says that as her father I can choose who she marries.
A scene in the court in the production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Help us by taking a short survey — it will only take a few minutes and will help us make the Shakespeare Learning Zone even better for everyone.
Main Site Menu. Take a look at the scene. Who has the most lines? Are they using prose or verse? Actors at the RSC often put the language into their own words to help them understand what they are saying. You can click on the text that is highlighted for extra guidance. Close Egeus.
Full of vexation come I, with complaint Against my child, my daughter Hermia. As is obvious in his choice of words, Egeus views his daughter as little more than an object that he feels he can command as he sees fit. His words also show the violence that often undergirds law or reason: This contrast shows a discord within the seeming concord of love to paraphrase a saying of Theseus' in Act V.
For example, Theseus, the voice of reason and law, wooed Hippolyta with a sword and won her love by "doing her injuries. This dream of love is not the saccharine view we often see on prime-time television; instead, the play returns us to our animal natures, displaying the primitive, even bestial side of human desire. While Egeus' willingness to condemn Hermia to death if she refuses to marry Demetrius is astonishing, the arbitrariness of his choice of a son-in-law is even more problematic.
Lysander points out that he is as rich, as good-looking, and as successful as Demetrius. In addition, his love of Hermia is true, while Demetrius' love is more fickle, having recently been cruelly transferred to Hermia from his previous lover, Helena. Theseus' judgement on Hermia isn't as harsh as her father's — marry Demetrius, spend her life in a nunnery or die — yet she has little opportunity for happiness.
Notice the military imagery used in the exchange between Theseus and Hermia: For example, Hermia needs to "arm" herself against her father's wishes. She needs to fit her "fancies" to her father's "will" , suggesting that Hermia's love and imagination need to be combated by her father's authority or will; otherwise, the law of Athens will sacrifice her on the pyre of reason.
Yet, as noted earlier, her father's choice of Demetrius seems as fanciful and arbitrary as Hermia's choice of Lysander. Fortunately, Theseus is less willing than Egeus is to condemn Hermia to death or to celibacy. In this play, which celebrates love, magic, and sexuality, the choice of a single life is, perhaps, worse than death.
Although this play presents the difficulties of love and, in particular, of women's lack of choice in marriage shown especially strongly through the character of Hippolyta, who appears to have lost all of her spirit following her defeat by Theseus , its goal is to celebrate love and sex; it prefers passion over pedagogy, relationship over celibacy, and life over death.
Diana's altar 89 the altar belonging to the virgin goddess of the moon and of hunting: identified with the Greek Artemis. Carthage queen Dido; founder and queen of Carthage: in the Aeneid she falls in love with Aeneas and kills herself when he leaves her.
Phoebe Artemis as goddess of the moon: identified with the Roman Diana. Previous Character List. Next Scene 2. Removing book from your Reading List will also remove any bookmarked pages associated with this title. Are you sure you want to remove bookConfirmation and any corresponding bookmarks?
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