| eng_1d7_-_midsummer_questions.doc |
Printable copy of questions above.
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM: ACT III, SCENE I QUESTIONS
Answer in paragraph form.
1. How are the actors going to keep from scaring the ladies when Pyramus kills himself or when the lion roars? How does this effect the presentation of women in the play?
2.a) How are the actors going to manage the setting/scenery such as the moonlight and the wall? Why is this an effective scene to follow II.ii? What does it do for the mood of the play?
2.b) The characters in a play trying to figure out how to put on a play is an example of what literary concept?
3.a) Bottom experiences an odd transformation. Using lines from the play to support your response, explain how Shakespeare uses language to add to the comedy of the scene.
3.b) Although the scene has funny moments, the tone of the scene is ambiguous (both humourous and sad). Explain why?
4. What does Puck plan to do when he follows after the other actors? Who tells him to do this?
5. Bottom says, “…reason and love keep little company together nowadays.” Why is this such an poignant statement at this point in the play?
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM: ACT III, SCENE II/III QUESTIONS
I can’t remember if our text has an ACT III, SCENE III, sometimes SCENE II includes SCENE III. Answer all questions in complete sentences.
1. What does Hermia accuse Demetrius of doing?
2. Deus ex Machina is a term that literally means “god of the machine”. The term originally comes from Greek theatre’s use of gods in plays that were lowered on to stage by some kind of pulley system or crane (essentially, a machine). Now the term refers to twists in the plot that provide unlikely or unexpected resolutions to the plot; or plot twists that resolve issues that would otherwise take a really long time to explain. Identify the unlikely resolution to Puck and Oberson’s problem. Identify the “deus ex machina” in the play?
3. Why is Helena upset when Demetrius says he loves her? Isn’t this what she had wanted all along? Compare Demetrius profession of love to Helena and Lysanders profession of love to Lysander? What do you think about the statements of love when you compare them?
4. Of what does Helena accuse Hermia?
5. What does Helena, still thinking they are all ganging up on her, say about the childhoods of the women (3.2.193-220)?
6.. Of what does Hermia accuse Helena? Find another section in the play that compares to this accusation? Do you think Shakespeare made two sections so similar on purpose? To what effect?
7. From various descriptions in the arguments in 3.2, what can you say about the relative sizes and coloring of Helena and Hermia? (Notice, for example, 3.2.258, 264, 289-299, 305, 326-327, 329-331, 344). Using pictures from magazine, create images of Helena and Hermia based on the descriptions of the women in the play. (assemble your collage images on a blank 8x11 paper).
8. Why is Helena afraid of Hermia?
9. What are Lysander and Demetrius going off to do?
10. What does Oberon tell Puck to do about the two young men?
11. Where are the lovers at the end of the scene and what are they doing? (They'll stay on stage until they wake up at 4.1.135.1.)
12. List all the things that have happened to people when they have been sleeping so far. Why do you think Shakespeare is using the motif of sleep this way? What is he trying to say?
13. What is Oberon going to do about Titania?
14. Why doesn’t Oberon fear the coming of day?
15. How well does Puck’s trickery work? What is Puck's attitude toward all this? (See especially 3.3.25-29, 45-47.)