Activities On A Midsummer Night's Dream

   

(1) Choose the odd one out :

(i) Bottom, Moth, Mustardseed, Cobweb
Ans: Bottom is a weaver. Others are fairies.
(ii) Flute, Snug, Quince, Cobweb
Ans: Cobweb is a fairy. Others are different characters.
(2) Characters

3) Draw a character sketch of Oberon as an enemy of his wife but a friend of the lovers.
Oberon is the king of fairies He fights his wife Titania for the custody of an Indian boy. He hatches a plan to teach a lesson. He orders Puck to bring the magic potion to madden his wife.
In the meantime Oberon notices cold behaviour of Demetrius with Helena. He decides to develop feelings for her in the heart of Demetrius by using potion.
(4) Comment on the loving pair of Lysander and Helena from the point of view of developing their character sketch.
Lysander is in love with Hermia. Hermia’s father opposed to it. So they decide to elope to the woods and get married. Helena is Hermia’s friend and is in love with Demetrius. But Demetrius rejects her love and falls in love with Hermia. Lastly Demetrius accepts Hermia’s love. Seeing their love Duke allows Hermia to marry Lysander.


Character Sketch of Different Characters


Puck - Puck is Oberon’s jester, a mischievous fairy who delights in playing pranks on mortals. Puck is the closest to the protagonist. His enchanting, mischievous spirit pervades the atmosphere. He mistakes the young Athenians, applying the love potion to Lysander instead of Demetrius, thereby causing chaos within the group of young lovers; he also transforms Bottom’s head into that of an ass.


Oberon
- The king of the fairies, Oberon is initially at odds with his wife, Titania. Because she refuses to hand over a young Indian prince whom he wants for a knight. Oberon’s desire for revenge on Titania leads him to send Puck to get the love-potion flower that creates so much of the play’s confusion and farce.


Titania
- Titania is the beautiful queen of the fairies. She opposes the attempts of her husband, Oberon, of making the Indian boy a knight. Titania’s love for Nick Bottom under influence of love potion seems the play’s foremost example of the contrast motif.

Lysander - A young man of Athens, in love with Hermia. Lysander’s relationship with Hermia invokes the theme of love’s difficulty: he cannot marry her openly because Egeus, her father, wishes her to wed Demetrius; when Lysander and Hermia run away into the forest, Lysander becomes the victim of misapplied magic and wakes up in love with Helena.

Demetrius - A young man of Athens, initially is in love with Hermia and ultimately in love with Helena. Demetrius’s obstinate pursuit of Hermia throws love out of balance among the quartet of Athenian youths.

Hermia -Hermia is a young woman of Athens. She is a daughter of Egeus. She is in love with Lysander and is a childhood friend of Helena. As a result of the fairies’ mischief with Oberon’s love potion, both Lysander and Demetrius suddenly fall in love with Helena. Self-conscious about her short stature, Hermia suspects that Helena has wooed the men with her height. By morning, however, Puck has sorted matters out with the love potion, and Lysander’s love for Hermia is restored.


Helena - Helena is in love with Demetrius. Demetrius and Helena were once betrothed, but when Demetrius met Helena’s friend Hermia, he fell in love with her and abandoned Helena. Lacking confidence in her looks, Helena thinks that Demetrius and Lysander are mocking her when the fairies’ mischief causes them to fall in love with her.


Egeus - Hermia’s father, who brings a complaint against his daughter to Theseus: Egeus has given Demetrius permission to marry Hermia, but Hermia, in love with Lysander, refuses to marry Demetrius. Egeus’s severe insistence that Hermia either respect his wishes or be held accountable to Athenian law places him squarely outside the whimsical dream realm of the forest.

Theseus - The heroic duke of Athens, engaged to Hippolyta. Theseus represents power and order throughout the play. He appears only at the beginning and end of the story, removed from the dreamlike events of the forest.

Setting
(1) Correct the given sentences with justification.
(i) The play is restricted to only a part of the woods.
The play is not restricted to only a part of the woods. It occurs in the palace. The scene of performers from Athens acts in the cottage of queen. Some different scene occur in two different part of the woods.
But the Act III Scene II of the play is restricted to only a part of the woods.

(ii) Since there is a reference to the Indian boy, there are some scenes from India too.
NO, there are no scenes from India.
(2) The characters are a part of the stage setting. How does this reflect when the characters of the play range from the Duke and the Indian boy to the fairies?
Characters play a major role in the stage settings. In a play A Midsummer night’s dream characters are from different background. It is reflected in the stage setting. The scene is set in the palace for the entry of king and Duke. Quince’s cottage is set for the Quince and his workmen. The king of fairies is shown in the woods.


3) Comment on the versatility and the aptness of the stage settings, as per the requirement of the play “A Midsummer-Night’s Dream!”
Ans: The stage setting is versatile and apt. It takes place in the forest and the city of Athens. Civilians act in the city and fairies in forest . In the city there is a law and  order and in forest chaos .

Plot
(1) State whether the following statements are True of False:
(i) Lysander and Demetrius fall in love with Helena as a result of the love potion. True
(ii) Oberon transforms Bottom's head into that of an ass. False
Puck transforms Bottom's head into that of an ass
(iii) Titania falls in love with an ass. True
(iv) Both Demetrius and Lysander fight for Hermia. False
Both Demetrius and Lysander fight for Helena.
(2) Give reasons : Oberon and Titania fight for the custody of the Indian boy because –
(i) Oberon wants the IndInd boy to be his attendanat.(ii) Titania wants to take care of him as she adopts him.
(3) The consequences of Oberon’s jealousy for Titania are comic rather than tragic. Comment.
Ans: Oberon is jealous of Titania for two reasons. She adopts an Indian boy whom she loves most . She wants to rear him as her will and Oberon wants to make him his attendant. Oberon is suspicious that Titania is in love with Theseus . He plays magic. He orders Puck to use potion of love and make Titania to fall in love with monster.

(4) There were some reasons why Theseus was initially against but later gave consent for the marriage of Helena with Lysander. Explain.
Ans: Hermia's father Egeus wants her to mary Lysander . When she refuses, he turns to the king Theseus . He orders Hermia either to marry Lysander or face the punishment. Later on he notices that Hermia and Demetrius are in love with each other and Helena and Lysander are in love . On seeing it he gives consent
Form
(1) Select the correct options : A Midsummer-Night’s Dream is a (a) poetic drama (b) comedy of errors (c) comedy based on fantasy (d) a character play (e) a revenge tragedy (f) belongs to realm of dreams
(b) comedy of errors
(2) Find 2/4 expressions of humour from the extract.

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(3) “A Midsummer-Night’s Dream” is one of the best examples of Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors. Comment.

Ans: A Midsummer-Night’s Dream” is one of the best examples of Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors. It is obviously seen in scene of woods. Puck mistakenly uses potion of love. Due to this Demetrius fell in love with Helena. Lysander also woes Helena. Hermia who is in love with Demetrius thinks it true. Under the influence of the same potion Titania fell in love with Bottom with ass head. These errors create comedy.

🌅Answers for the following questions will be added soon
Theme
(1) Shakespeare is acknowledged as the greatest writer because he understood human nature better than anyone else. Explain the statement in context of the play.
Ans:A Midsummer-Night’s Dream is one of the best examples of Shakespeare’s understanding of human nature. Human tendencies like love, jealousy, revenge and fun making are quite evident in the play.
(2) Prove with the theme of the play / extract that the deeper human emotion which profoundly interested Shakespeare was jealousy.
Ans:The theme of jealousy operates in both the human and fairy world in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Jealousy plays out most obviously among the quartet of Athenian lovers, who find themselves in chaos. Helena feels jealous of Hermia. Helena loves Demetrius, who in turn feels jealous of his rival for Hermia’s affections, Lysander. When misplaced fairy mischief leads Lysander into an amorous pursuit of Helena, Hermia feels highly jealous. Jealousy also extends into the fairy realm, where it has caused a rift between the fairy king and queen.
Language
(1) Interpret the following lines in simple English. Puck : I’ll follow you. Bottom : The Finch, the sparrow.
(2) Comment on the literary device, used in the following lines: Titania : Be kind and courteous to this gentleman…. Titania : Come wait upon him : lead him to my bower.
(3) Shakespeare’s poetry has come to be valued for its own sake on the stage. Comment with reference to the play ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’
Ans:A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy of error. It is a Shakespeare’s dream in the form of drama. Pure imagination is seen in the play. The play is about love, courting and marriage. These things are skillfully woven with poetic devices and structures.