Theseus Requests Mechanicals

Why do you think Theseus rejects the other plays in favor of the mechanical’s rendition of Pyramus and Thisbe?

Hippolyta to the Rescue

Hippolyta’s role became clear at the beginning of Act IV, as she rescued the waking lovers from Egeus’ will. Then, at the beginning of Act V, she tells Theseus that she did not believe their stories and thinks them to be strange.

• What kind of irony is this? Verbal, dramatic, or situational?
• Why does she react differently than Theseus?

Puck’s Epilogue

An epilogue is a short speech (often in verse) addressed directly to the audience by an actor at the end of a play. (http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn)

In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Puck delivers this epilogue:

” If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumber’d here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend:
if you pardon, we will mend:
And, as I am an honest Puck,
If we have unearned luck
Now to ‘scape the serpent’s tongue,
We will make amends ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call;
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.” (V, i. 440-455)

What is he saying? How does this make you feel?

Oberon at the Feast

Oberon leads the dancing fairies at the wedding feast. What does this tell us about changes in his character?

Reactions

What were your reactions to the mechanicals’ play? Did you like it? Did you hate it? Did you think it was boring? Did you think it was funny? Explain your opinion.

Expectations

How do the royal court’s reactions differ from what the mechanicals intended?

Audiences

We’ve already discussed how we reacted to bad performances. How did the royal audience react to the mechanical’s play?

Act IV Film

What were your impressions of this section? How did the director inhance/butcher Shakespeare’s written words?

Did you know?

For wealthy Elizabethans, entertainment was something quite different from today’s CD/video/television center. Elizabethans, poor and rich, watched live entertainment. Nobles and members of the royalty could afford to have performers come to their homes. Sometimes they watched knights jousting in courtyards or tennis players competing in special indoor rooms. Often they watched theater. Every year, one of England’s great theater companies would be chosen to appear at the court of Queen Elizabeth I. The Queen’s Master of the Revels (like Theseus’s Master of the Revels, Philostrate) would watch a number of performances and pick the best. Then no expense was spared for the final production. Workers painted elaborate sets and made costumes out of silk and velvet.

Bad Live Performances

Have you ever seen a live performance that was so badly presented it was entertaining? Explain your experience and how it felt to sit through it. Or, did you leave? Explain your reaction too!