A Midsummer Night's Dream
Characters
Thesus
Duke of Athens
Going to marry Hippolyta
Characteristics:
Strict
Demdaning
“Either to die the death or to abjure
Forever the society of men.” (1.1.65-66)
Hippolyta
The Amazon Queen
Going to marry Thesus
Characteristics:
Kind
Positive
“Four days will quickly steep themselves in night.
Four nights will quickly dream away the time.
And then the moon, like to a silver bow
New bent in heaven, shall behold the night
Of our solemnities”(1.1.7-11)
Oberon
King of the fairies
Married to Titania
Characteristics:
Challenging
Manipulative
Unfaithful
"As she is mine, I may dispose of her—
Which shall be either to this gentleman
Or to her death—according to our law
Immediately provided in that case." (1.1. 42-45)
Titania
Queen of the fairies
Married to Oberon
Characteristics:
Caring
Thoughtful
Petty
“So is mine eye enthrallèd to thy shape.
And thy fair virtue’s force perforce doth move me
On the first view to say, to swear, I love thee.”(3.1.66-68).
Robin Goodfellow (Puck)
Oberon's Jester
Mischievous fairy who plays
pranks on mortals.
Characteristics:
Mischievous
Rude
“That’s me you’re talking about, the playful wanderer of the night.”
Egeus
Father of Hermia
Doesn't want Lysander to
marry Hermia and wants
Demetrius to marry her.
Characteristics:
Demanding
Controlling
This man hath my consent to marry her.—
Stand forth, Lysander.—And my gracious duke,
This man hath bewitched the bosom of my child.—
Thou, thou, Lysander, thou hast given her rhymes,
And interchanged love tokens with my child.”(1.1.22-29).
“Scornful Lysander, true, he hath my love,
And what is mine my love shall render him.
And she is mine, and all my right of her
I do estate unto Demetrius.”(1.1.95-98).
Hermia
Daughter of Egeus
Is in love and wants to
marry Lysander.
Characteristics:
Brave
Kind
“My good Lysander!
I swear to thee by Cupid’s strongest bow,
By his best arrow with the golden head,
By the simplicity of Venus' doves,
By that which knitteth souls and prospers loves,
And by that fire which burned the Carthage queen
When the false Troyan under sail was seen,
By all the vows that ever men have broke
(In number more than ever women spoke),
In that same place thou hast appointed me,
Tomorrow truly will I meet with thee.”(1.1.168-178)
Helena
Friend of Hermia
Is in love with Demetruis.
Characteristics:
Jealous
Blinded
“The more you beat me, the more I’ll love you.”
Happy is Hermia, wheresoe'er she lies,
For she hath blessèd and attractive eyes."
Demetrius
Is in love and wants
to marry Hermia.
Characteristics:
Mean
Possessive
“Do I entice you? Do I speak you fair?
Or rather, do I not in plainest truth
Tell you I do not, nor I cannot, love you?”(2.1.184-186)
Lysander
Is in love and wants
to marry Hermia.
Characteristics:
Possessive
Mean
“A good persuasion. Therefore, hear me, Hermia.
I have a widow aunt, a dowager
Of great revenue, and she hath no child.
From Athens is her house remote seven leagues,
And she respects me as her only son.
There, gentle Hermia, may I marry thee.
And to that place the sharp Athenian law
Cannot pursue us.”(1.1.156-163)
Peter Quince
A carpenter
Leader of the play for
Thesus and Hippolyta's
wedding celebration.
Characteristics:
Respectful
Kind
“You, Pyramus' father.—Myself, Thisbe’s father.—Snug the joiner, you, the lion’s part.—And I hope here is a play fitted.”(1.1.26-27)
Nick Bottom
Weaver
Plays Pyramus in the play
for Thesus and Hippolyta's
wedding celebration.
Characteristics:
Caring
Cautious
“But I will aggravate my voice so that I will roar you as gently as any sucking dove. I will roar you an ’twere any nightingale.”(1.1.34)
Conflict
The conflict in a Midsummer Night's Dream is the
love square between Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius
and Helena.
Hermia and Lysander are in love and want
to marry each other.
Demetrius is in love with Hermia, but Hermia
does not love Demetrius. Hermia's father
Egeus wants Demetrius to marry Hermia.
Helena is in love with Demetrius, but Demetrius
does not love Helena back. Demetrius and Helena
were engaged before Demetrius met Hermia.
Egeus wants to keep Hermia from marrying Lysander
and marry Demetrius. If she does not marry Demetrius
then Hermia has three choices, to become a nun, to marry
Demetrius or to die according to the law. Hermia is given
4 days to choose out of the three options.
Hermia and Lysander decide to run away and meet at
the forest before Hermia has to choose between the three options. Lysander and Hermia tell Helena that they are going to run away at midnight and Helena tells Demetrius, which
then Demetrius runs after Hermia, and Helena runs after
Demetrius.
When all four are in the forest, the king of fairies, Oberon, tells
Robin, Oberon's jester, to go find an a person wearing Athenian clothes and put the juice of a flower on the Athenians eyes. The flower juice makes you fall in love with the first person you see. Oberon wanted Robin to put the flower juice on Demetrius so that he would fall in love with Helena.
When Robin finds the Lysander and Hermina while they're
sleeping and puts the flower juice on Lysander's eyes rather than Demetrius eyes. While Lysander wakes up, he sees Helena and falls in love with Helena. Lysander becomes rude towards Hermia.
Oberon finds out that Robin puts the flower juice on
Demetrius eyes rather than Lysander's eyes and tells Robin
to fix it. Robin goes back and finds Demetrius and puts the flower juice on his eyes, Demetrius then sees Helena and falls in love with her. Both Lysander and Demetrius are now in love with Helena.
Oberon gave Robin juice that will reverse the flower juice. Robin has to put it on Lysander's eyes. Robin leads all four people to different areas and puts them to sleep. Robin then puts the juice onto Lysander's eyes. When Lysander wakes up, he in in love with Hermia again. Helena and Demetrius are now in love.
Setting
In the city of Athens
Part of the story was taken place in the city of
Athens. The city is a place of law, rules, civilization
etc...
Thesus wants to uphold the law and tries to when
he finds out that Hermia must obey her father and
marry Demetrius, rather than Lysander.
In the forest beyond the cities walls
Part of the story is taken place in the forest. The
forest is a place of chaos, wildness, magic etc...
When all four were in the forest, it caused chaos
between all four and Robin. There was also chaos
and wildness between Titania, Oberon, Nick Bottom
and Robin. Magic was involved with all characters that
were in the forest.
Theme
Love's Difficulty
Hermia and Lysander want to get married but
are forbidden to and Egeus wants Hermia to marry
Demetrius.
Helena is in love with Demetrius, but he does not
love her back. Robin caused Lysander and Demetrius
to fall in love with Helena and abandon their love for
Hermia.
Magic
Oberon uses a potion from a flower on Titania that will
make Titania fall in love with the first person she sees
when she wakes up. while Titania is sleeping, Oberon
puts the flower juice on Titania's eyes and she falls in
love with a human that has a donkey head.
Robin uses the flower juice on Lysander, which causes
him to fall in love with Helena. He then uses the flower
juice on Demetrius, which also causes him to fall in love
with Helena.
Robin and Oberon use a different flower juice as
antidote to reverse that affect the flower juice had
on Lysander and Titania.
Dreams
When Demetrius, Lysander and Titania were all under
the influence of the flower juice potion, they were all
in what felt like a dream.
While they were all under the influence, Hermia and
Helena felt like they were in a dream. Helena thought
she was getting tricked by Demetrius, Lysander and
Hermia. Hermia didn't believe that Lysander fell out of
love for her.
After Titania and Lysander got the antidote to the
flower juice potion, Titania states "find quote where she
thinks its a dream" and thought it was all a dream, so did
Lysander.
Jealousy
Helena is jealous of Hermia because Demetrius left Helena
for Hermia. Helena is jealous of what Hermia has, how she
looks and how she captured Demetrius love. Hermia then
becomes jealous when Lysander and Demetrius fall in love
with Helena.
Oberon is jealous of Titania
Mischief
Robin was Oberon's jester and he played mischievous
tricks on humans that would enter the forest.
Transformaton
Robin plays a trick on Nick Bottom and turns his head into
a head of a donkey.
Using the flower juice potion on Titania, Lysander and
Demetrius transformed their mind and tricked them
into someone who they are not.
Unreason
When Hermia and Lysander are in the forest and fall
asleep. Lysander fell asleep loving Hermia, but when
Hermia woke up, Lysander was gone. When Hermia found Lysander
When Robin gives Nick Bottom of a donkey head, Bottom
is unaware of the situation. When Titania falls in love with
Bottom he is very confused and wonders why.
reversal
The reversal of the flower juice potion on Lysander left
Hermia confused and stunned. Before Lysander loved her, then he changed the way he felt, then woke up and changed how he felt once again. It also left Helena confused as well because she believed that Lysander, Hermia and Demetrius were playing a trick on her.
Lysander and Hermia's love is restored by Oberon and Robin.