¡Descarga Shakespeare.Apuntes y más Apuntes en PDF de Teatro solo en Docsity!
SHAKESPEARE
1 Introductory Theme
1.1 Elizabethan England. Political, economical and social features.
Absolutism. The court. Patronage.
Social PanoramaA period of profound change from medieval to renaissance. The monarchy during medieval tries was absolutist and it had feudalism. As a balance of power, apart from queen and king, there were feudalism lords. Absolutism becomes a politic characteristic. Elisabeth I was ‘s daughter, who was an absolutist. A figure of absolute power, the same applies to her. After this period, the balance was based on the monarch and the parliament for the forces. This meant that the court became a very powerful force. A group of courtesans worked at the parliament. The cities became bigger and bigger, very different from medieval towns. Drastic changes occurred; cultural, economic… The absolute monarchy of Elisabeth became very wealthy. A new social figure appears: the merchant. In the medieval times, artisans were the principal workers. (Smith=herrero). The panorama changes in the Elizabethan period with a big group of merchants. The court was very wealthy, incipient capitalism. Court is a place of politics but also of intrigue and rivalry, and that contains a lot of flattery. This has a lot to do with “King Lear” and “Hamlet”, for example. There was a drastic change in religion with Henry VIII, who became the head of the Anglican Church. England became protestant from being catholic. This came from a marriage of Henry himself who wanted to divorce because his wife didn’t have boys, and the pope didn’t want to, so he broke with the catholic religion. The court also brought about patronage. If you were patronage you had made it, and Shakespeare made it (his theatre company). Noble people as “The Earl of Southampton, were one of his most important patronages.
Some novels were represented in the palace, castles… England also changed from kings, queens and feudal lords and monks, to a lot of less power in the church. Even more so in London. This is one of the reasons why the court becomes wealthier. The church loses almost all of his power, and a new social class appears. Magistrates and scholars are needed in the court.
1.2 The Renaissance. Humanistic Culture. Universities. Grammar schools.
Rethoric and eloquence. Character study:
The change from Theo centrism to anthropocentrism. The figure of man in itself. A man centred world. (Shakespeare was a great psychologist). Universities and grammar schools Cambridge and oxford were created in the 13th century but became really noticeable in the 15 th.
Scholarships Greek and Latin, (the classics) and the languages themselves. The importance given to language was fundamental in the period. A lot of translations were carried on. That is why the grammar schools were given that name. Though they also taught other things apart from grammar. · Rethoric was also taught in these places, and Eloquence. Rethoric was associated with persuasion. Students learnt the techniques of debate (how to persuade your opponent). Shakespeare was a genius, yes, but he also learnt a lot from theses techniques. Rethoric is also linked to beauty and emotion. A good rethoritian has to get to you, through your heart and through your mind. Shakespeare did that.
Themes, characters and places where taken from the classics, mixed with others. “Plautus and Terence” They were comedians and tragedians in which Shakespeare took inspiration from. Also Sophocles, and Seneca were very influential. Seneca was born in Cordoba. He was a playwright besides from a philosopher. He wrote, unlike Plautus and Terence, ten tragedies (in Latin). Translations were made in a “break neck speed”. Shakespeare copied even expressions from Seneca’s writings. Two main characteristics in renaissance and Seneca’s tragedy: 1 st^ Eloquence and long steadily speeches and elegance in language. 2 nd^ Violence.
Character study: the essential feature of the humans is the character. Different human types (Robert Burton): Melancholic; Choleric; Sanguine and Phlegmatic.
1.3 Renaissance Drama: Literary Text// Theatre: Representative text.
Playwrights and theatre companies. Scholarship and popular taste.
Scholarship: Knowledge of the classics and scholarly drama (teatro culto) from a lot of sources and a high humanistic culture, and also violence. This violence comes from animal baiting watching (bullbaiting and bearbaiting). There are also several elements from popular traditions as Ballads, songs, stories, English humor… Physical characteristics The groundlings are those people who are not wealthy and stand on the ground. They paid 1 penny to watch the theatre. Those who paid 3 pennies sat on cojines and had a much better view. The orchestra was where the musicians stood and also where aristocracy were sitting. They paid about 12 pennies. They didn’t enter the theatre through the same entrances as the actors not as the rest of the people. The place was more scholarly, refined in their compositions. This was combined with popular taste (violence), different tastes from the folklore (ballads). They came to the conclusion that the aristocrats continued to be more sophisticated and elegant at theatre. All this could be dismantled (the theatre). The Elizabethan theatre was to be practicality. The “Mimodum Aedes” is the welling house of the actors. The purpose was that the actors waited there for their entrance in the performance. Also as an inner stage. Also for the actors to change their attires and others said that part of the audience could sit there. Those ideas are not occlusive; they could serve all these different purposes, because Elizabethan theatre was very changeable. The actors were all men; they were teenagers to do woman roles. In Spain there was actresses and in England there weren’t. That’s surprising due to the power that Elisabeth had in that period. The performances took place at 2 o’clock. During the whole morning the play was on, and 45 mins before the trumpet was played to remind people of the play.
The companies of actors were those who paid the actors for the plays. They wrote a play and through a contract they sold it to companies to earn a living. The theatre was the main place of entertainment, so it was fundamental. It was extraordinary popular. They were filled-up to the flag each time there was a play, so the companies were wealthy and actors had a share. Companies were very influential. Some companies of actors travelled (Switzerland and Germany).
The collaboration of playwrights. (Two writers on a same play was not an exception). That was an important feature of the period that was due to the enormous demand of plays. One man could not write plays on such a speed. They needed help, so they helped each other. (boman and fletcher…)
What did we know about Shakespeare? There’s very little that we know about him. There’s so many hypothesis identity. Who was Shakespeare? It’s frustrating that we know so little, but it’s logical because there was no media at those times. We know what we know from his work. He knew a lot about life and human (psyche). He had a tremendous psychological insight.
- It’s said that he didn’t exist and was a group of people not reliable
- Also, It is said that it was Marlowe who lied about his death and re-born as him because he was a spy of the English crown and he was very young, because Shakespeare was just an actor.
- Also Shakespeare was the name but the real name was Edward De Vere, who was a legitimate son of the queen Elisabeth I and he asks an actor named Shakespeare to sign his works because he cannot do it for belonging to the court.
What we do know: he was born at Stratford Upon-Avon, and his parents were john (wealthy merchant, yeoman, and he was very influent) and Mary (high class family catholic) since he wrote at Elisabeth reign he must be catholic. They had 8 children, he was the third child and the first son. 26 th^ April 1564 was born baptised. He attended St. Stratford grammar school. He got married in 1582. He got married to Ann that way she was 8 years older, and he had 3 children, 1st^ one: Susana and then two twins a girl, and a boy. The boy’s name was Hamnet who died at 11 years old. He appears in London 10 years later of his marriage and he becomes a very famous person and leaves Stratford, as an actor but especially as a playwright. He also was a shareholder, he had shares because e of the popularity of plays and the patronage. The earl of Southampton was his most famous patron and his close friend. His company was called “King’s Men”. Few years before his death he went back to Stratford, built a house and retired writing there. At first he want considered good. Robert green didn’t like him he talked about him as “an upstart crow” = cuervo advenedizo. Ben Johnson had a great opinion of Shakespeare, but he also maintained some negative things, he was careless, he was talented but he never deleted a line; but maybe he had to delete a hundred as ben said because there was some contradictions in their plays for not being that much careful. These are of course, subjective opinions or appreciations (they were very strict). Personality wise (what was Shakespeare like?) what were their ideas about politics, love, moral, religion… it’s important but not always what he wrote was what he believed in because he was very sympathetic and could put himself in other people’s shoes. What he thought of the monarchy, historical drama. He believed in the sacred right of monarchy but if the monarch was wise, noble, generous… the succession of the throne had to be legitimate and could not be corrupted.
Dramatic Stages:
- He started writing comedies and historical dramas + controversial tragedy “The comedy of errors” “The taming of the shrew” “The two gentlemen of Verona”. Devices in comedy, mistakes, errors that provoke comical situations especially in identity. Very influenced by Plautus and Terence. Italian settings, places and names. 1,2,3 “Henry VI” “Richard III” “King John” historical dramas. Cruel, evil man whose only objective is to have the power (Richard). he doesn’t hesitate in killing to become a king. Scheming quite constant
- power has an enormous attraction to powerful people. Shakespeare contributes to the image richer III has in the world. Despite his badness,
Shakespeare shows us his motivation, inner thought, sufferings, and feelings… “Since I cannot be a lover, I’ll be a villain”not very handsome. He has an enormous capacity in describing the psychological insight. These kings really existed – based on chronicles. “Titus Andronicus” tragedy All invented although he really existed and lived in Rome. Some critics claim that Shakespeare did not write it because there are differences with other tragedies he wrote: -Loads of violence, mutilations, gruesome. –Bad referring to his literary value –we have to know he was younger and was beginning to write at this moment. After a time, he wrote another comedy based on the theme of love: “love’s labour’s lost”. Theme very used in comedies: not corresponded love although finally everything is solved, with a happy ending. And two long poems: “Venus and Adonis” and “Rape of Lucrece”. It has a mythological theme with a poetical recreation, narrative poems. He dedicates these two poems to the earl of Southampton, to manage his patronage. We cannot place the sonnets in a concrete stage because we only know that he wrote them during his life.
- More accomplished comedies: “A midsummer’s dream” “The merchant of Venice” “The merry wives of Windsor” “Much ado about nothing” “As you like it” Falstaff – he’s a very interesting and comical character. It is one of the best known. He’s a middle-aged fat man who loves drinking and eating. On the one hand he’s a stock-character but on the other hand he’s very Shakespearian. He comes from “miles glorious”.
He make his friend believe he’s very brave and a hero. He goes beyond comical. Friend of prince Hal= Henry V (favourite king of Shakespeare) that when he was younger was very irresponsible, womanizer and a liar. They enjoy themselves together. He appears also in historical dramas (Falstaff) and died by sadness.
2.2 – Comedy and tragedy. Historical drama (photocopy of literary works)
Shakespeare’s dark period (but also lightened because it was eloquent). “King Lear” add to tragedies III with Julius Caesar, hamlet… “All’s well that ends well” “Romeo and Juliet”: city of Verona. Italy didn’t exist as a country in those times. There’s nothing in his characters that would predispose them to tragedy, they’re normal people. The tragedy comes from outwards circumstances. “They are star-crossed lovers” Friar Lawrence (que las estrellas estan en su contra). They are in-luck (mala suerte). This is essential because is the following tragedies, the psychological insight of the protagonist is fundamental for the denouncement. (desenlace). Those protagonists have something in their psychological make-ups that brings them to tragedy. They carry tragedy within themselves. (Shine in-luck total mala suerte). Aristotle: “character hero, which has a flaw” Hubris: he considers himself as a godindestructible. (Julius Caesar). Excess of self- confidence. It blinds your abilities. Othello: he’s a military, he is rush and impulsive and vulnerable when a steamy character because he wants to destroy him. King Lear: ambition Macbeth (carried away by a woman).
Italian and Spanish = two quartets and two tercets. English=three quartets and one couplet from Thomas Wyatt (Shakespeare was not the 1 st^ one) the final couplet is usually an emphasis or a brief summary.
(TRANSLATION OF THE SONNET XXII AND THE SONNET CXVI)
DIEGO
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: SONNETS
Life and Times of William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Most influential writer of English Middle-class grammar school no further education 1582 > married older woman (Anne Hathaway) > 3 children together > 1590 > leaves family to work in London as playwright and actor > became most popular playwright and part owner of the Globe Theater > Favourite of Elizabeth I and James I (also later writers admire him = Ben Johnson)
Many details of Shakespeare’s personal history = mystery > Theories: plays in reality were written by someone else (Francis Bacon or the Earl of Oxford) = not very reliable 37 plays and 154 sonnets (for sure) > high influence in later literature Centre of literary cannon > mixes universal and eternal values (consequence of country situation) > Shakespeare and Marlowe = dramatic poets
The Sonnets
Different from plays, but dramatic elements + overall sense of story > complex work, considered one of most universal and modern texts Each sonnet = personal theme > own meaning but also relation to surrounding poems > autobiographical feel, but unknown if real facts, so voice of sonnets = speaker (as dramatic character) Continuities throughout poems> to 126 addressed to unnamed young nobleman
loved by speaker > Rest (but last 2) = to a dark lady > 2 groups, young man sonnets and dark lady sonnets) > competes with rival poet for young man’s patronage and affection Maybe young man = loved / dark lady = lover / dark lady and young man = lovers > stories give sense of narration (narration flow)
New = skeptical and moral attitude > didn't repeated Petrarch and Dante patterns
Historical Mysteries of the Sonnets
Sonnets publication = 1609 > to “Mr. W.H,” = “onlie begetter” of the poems > young man and the dark lady identity = mystery > so Mr. W.H. > Young man seems to be financial patron, so maybe also Mr. W. H. > initials reversed could be = Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton > maybe dark lady = wife Intro talking about “Mr. W.H” > maybe even him
Reasons for writing
- Economic > noble family member didn't success in love > asks him for help > WS obsessed w/ money so accepted
- Literary > Drama genius, but wanted to show he was able to do more > Could use language not only on stage
- Personal reasons > love story w/ noble man who asked him to help him Themes, Motifs & Symbols
Themes
- Different Types of Romantic Love Romantic love = good reason > feelings for beloveds and patrons > Shakespeare's earlier set of poems = Venus and Adonis and Rape of Lucrece , to Henry Wriothesly, earl of Southampton > sonnets to unnamed young man, not to Donna Angelicata Different types of love > young man + old man (Shakespeare), man + dark lady, young man + dark lady To young man > praises his beauty > homosexual desire Dark lady > earthy, sexual, faithless > opposition to rest lovers Other sonnets theme = nature of love > idealized love found in poems, complicated love in real life.
- The Dangers of Lust and Love
Falling in love = painful emotionally and physically > to dark lady = + erotic and physical love than young man > many of them warn about dangers of love and lust = mistake sexual desire w/ true love > love alters powers of reception > love makes us “savage, extreme, rude, cruel” (4, 129) > lust leads to venereal disease > sex not only romantic expression, = physical need potentially horrible Love causes fear, alienation, dispair... > not always pleasant > love + worry (due to misbehavior of young man and promiscuity of dark lady > love triangle, speaker in the mid = afraid of losing friendship w/ young man Despite pain of love > inescapable for humans, we cannot avoid > love part of human nature
- Real Beauty vs. Clichéd Beauty
Usually > women = idealized, patron (men) = brave > Shakespeare (130) points out defects of dark lady > imperfect love, but real, not idealized (= false) > beauty = quality of many people, not really a compliment
- The Responsibilities of Being Beautiful
Responsibilities of young man (for being beautiful) (1-126) > make beauty immortal having children, procreating > beauty allows to have bad behavior, but bad behavior ends up w/ beauty > responsibility of take care of that beauty behaving properly.
Motifs
Making a famine where abundance lies, Thyself thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel. Thou that art now the world’s fresh ornament And only herald to the gaudy spring, Within thine own bud buriest thy content And, tender churl, makest waste in niggarding. Pity the world, or else this glutton be, To eat the world’s due, by the grave and thee.
Summary 1 st^ quatrain > “From fairest creatures we desire increase”procreate to preserve their “beauty’s rose” 2 nd^ > Begs young man to procreate > he = selfish if he don't do, narcissist 3 rd^ > Beauty of young man will fade due to time > but his beauty can live in his sons 4 th^ > Again try to convince young man man to reproduce, not to be selfish
Commentary Introduction to themes time (life and death), virtue (beauty) and wasteful self- consumption Love for young man > begs him to procreate, for the good of the humanity > if don't = immoral, wasting alone his beauty
- 3 Sons not to lose beauty > death w/out kids = death of your beauty
- 15 Strong image of lyrical I When/then give logical structure to show a conclusion 2nd^ stanza > Ovid's idea, things reach perfection and then decrease until
disappear and die Themes: fight vs time > takes away love (death) > love and poetry = eternal > st words = rhetorical device Another interpretation: erection
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm’d; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d; But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou growest: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Summary
Question to beloved: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” > next lines = devoted to such a comparison > line 2 differentiates young man from the summer’s day: he is “more lovely and more temperate.” > young man = better > Summer’s days tend toward extremes = “too hot,” or too dim > summer = too short, leads to autumn > beauty of young man forever, summer not > beauty preserved in the poem Commentary Most famous of Shakespeare and maybe in English > Only “to be or not to be” better-known > sonnet about poetry, understood as about love = metafictional sonnet (poetry to talk about poetry) Surface =simply praise to beauty of the beloved > language = comparatively unadorned, not heavy with alliteration or assonance, nearly every line own clause, almost every line ends with some punctuation + pause > negative sentences to emphasize perfection of young man Sonnet 18 first not theme procreation > beauty can also live in poetry > poem to his beauty > immortal > “his” denotes he is a man
- 20 Ambiguous > woman face, but master mistress (man) > combination = hermaphrodite > powerful description Passion = love and poetry (together again) Opposite movement from face to heart > heart =not artificial, = nature beauty (eyes = face = physical only) 2nd^ stanza > comparison to a man > has control > internal (woman) and physical (man) attraction Couplet > modern idea of love and sex > not necessarily love to have sex Platonic love > people divided in two, male and woman part > two halves separated > soul mate, so only heterosexual = real love > but speaker = problems choosing what he wants Female rhyme in every line
- 29 Plenty of rhetorical devices in structure > cause and consequence > people getting depressed = pre-Freudian poem about identity and psychology through lyrical I feelings = inside vision of himself > description of depression, how you feel and how to get over it Word “state” evolution > 1st^ = society, then psychology, finally politics
Poetry = powerful construction created by human being > comparison w/ other humans constructions > 2 similes + 4 negative verses = negative similes Ideas linked w/ death > humans responsible of monuments and war that destroys them Poetry = construction, words = bricks, material to build > last sextet = cultural space = rooms = stanzas (in poetry) > rhyme = eternal = defeats time = eternity of love
mentions of eyes = humans fall in love but they are only organs > only eternal = poetry (love, memory themes) = classical idea of eternity of the poet Strong and powerful sonnet > lyrical I feels absolutely bad
That time of year thou mayst in me behold When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
3rd^ quatrain > what love is not > not susceptible to time > beauty fades but love does not Couplet > certainty on what he says Commentary As sonnet 18 and 130, 116 one of most famous > love definition anthologized in poetic canon > extreme idea of romantic love = no changes, no fades, no flaw, eternal > only true love if immortal, unchanging and forever, and if not so, no man ever loved > simple division, ideas in quatrains > importance =not complexity, but strong linguistic and emotional conviction
Language =not remarkable for imagery or metaphors > standard imagery and metaphors all along sonnets > but language = extraordinary, discussion = restrained, intensely disciplined rhetorical structure > master control of rhythm, variation of tone... = legalistic argument for eternal passion of love, emphasized thx to speaker's conviction.
The expense of spirit in a waste of shame Is lust in action; and till action, lust Is perjured, murderous, bloody, full of blame, Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust, Enjoy’d no sooner but despised straight, Past reason hunted, and no sooner had Past reason hated, as a swallow’d bait On purpose laid to make the taker mad; Mad in pursuit and in possession so; Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme; A bliss in proof, and proved, a very woe; Before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream. All this the world well knows; yet none knows well To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.
Summary Idea of sexual desire in longing, fulfillment, and memory = lust longing for future pleasure, remembered as pleasurable experience, but is source of shame > lust =
waste, shame (all negative points) 2 nd^ quatrain > joy not longer than despise > after action lust = shameful action 3 rd^ quatrain > lust = mad in all 3 forms = pursuit, possession, and memory Couplet > world knows lust = shame, but cannot avoid beauty and attraction Commentary Speaker has experienced each stage of lust > knows it very well > now in hell stage > to describe it, jumps uncontrollably from one stage to another > but poem represented as impersonal, speaker never says it's his own experience
My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips’ red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damask’d, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks; And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak, yet well I know That music hath a far more pleasing sound; I grant I never saw a goddess go; My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground: And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare.
Summary Comparison of lover to other beauties > negative verses (1st^ stanza) > perfection divided in pieces 2 nd^ quatrain > mistress has not that characteristics, not so beautiful as roses
(nature objects) 3 rd^ > voice of lover = beautiful, not so much as music Couplet > love to imperfect more valuable than if perfect, imperfect = real, perfect = pretended (criticism to Donna Angelicata)
Commentary Joke on conventions of love poetry = Petrarch model, Donna Angelicata, idealized woman Shakespeare vs Petrarch > Sh = to young imperfect man and not idealized woman, Couplet > idea love doesn't need conceits (perfection) to be real, neither need woman to be loved = blazon idea of poem = volta Rhetorical structure > 1 st^ quatrain = comparison mistress and objects (of nature)
2nd^ and 3trd more descriptions = unrhymed lines (=imperfect) As a whole, sonnet about poetry and how to speak about love, what is real love, perfection does not exists, neither in woman or love > beauty of imperfection
- 138 (Alex) Love language = beyond truth and false > love = own language where truth not important 2 first lines = speaker knows woman lies him, but tells her he believes her > love makes him to do that Lyrical voice pretends being innocent and believe everything = effect of love = looking at that person in a non real way. Love language surpasses truth > truth = simply, love = complex > Speaker also lies, tells he is young > both lie, so perfect = nature of love Not telling truth = idea that love makes you create your own realities, away from real idea of truth and falseness Double meaning of “lie” = not tell truth and have sex (lie in the bed) > keep lying = keep having sex > own decision of the couple, not of other people, not affected about their attitude.
- 146
Poor soul, the centre of my sinful earth, [...] these rebel powers that thee array; Why dost thou pine within and suffer dearth, Painting thy outward walls so costly gay? Why so large cost, having so short a lease, Dost thou upon thy fading mansion spend? Shall worms, inheritors of this excess, Eat up thy charge? is this thy body’s end?
Athens is a city but also it has a symbolic meaning, devoted to Athena, the goddess of wisdom (with an owl). Athens is not only a setting but also it symbolises order, reason, authority and justices (daylight). The other setting is the wood, but once again is full of meaning. It symbolises the disorder, something that goes beyond reason, subconscious, irrational, related to love especially to young love (night time). Sometimes love drives one mad and he is not in command of his feelings. They’re the victims of their own love and feelings. Woods mean all that. There, the fairies live, and they have a very important presence. They are both female and men with different sizes and they are naughty. This is characteristically Celtic. They have a king and a queen (overall and titania). They’re both in a fight with each other for the desire of a child. The fairies kidnaped children. Those children were called “changelings”. What happens in the woods is real or a dream? Shakespeare leaves the door opened, he does not have positions on one or another, he liked them both. What happens in the woods, is a serious tricks and misunderstandings, there’s a lot of comical elements that combine with the sufferings. A lot of things happen there, a metamorphosis also which is comical. They go back to Athens, Theseus marries Hippolyta and everything is solved. There’s a happy ending, characteristic of Aristotelian literature. The play ends with the fairies blessing the nuptial bed. One of the important issues of the plat is to fertility rituals. Spring is associated with the blossoming of life, the rebirth in spring. People celebrated
this in rituals by going from the city to the woods and back eso son las romerias en mayo. There’s a great combination of all sources that make great the play. The happy ending (“Every Jack has its Jill” = “Cada oveja con su pareja”). It starts from a conflict and it evolves into a good ending. Funny elements: the artisans (humble people) the have a humoristic function in the play. Everything is solved with the happiness of everyone. Even the shade of death is learning (está acechando). One of the punishments is death (disobedient); another way of punishment is becoming a nun (spinsterhood life= chastity). A very troubled scene: important setting; enlightenment, reasoning. Socially accepted marriage between Theseus and Hippolyta, but the father comes to ask for another marriage for his daughter (Demetrius) and she refuses. Act 1, scene 1 rhymed. Blank verse is the majority rhythm he uses in his plays. Moon is a time’s medidor. Feebe: luna. Malapropism=word which belongs to a discourse culted in a mouth of an included person.
DIEGO Plot Overview Theseus (duke of Athens) preparing marriage to Hippolyta (queen of Amazons) = festival > Philostrate = organizer > Egeus into court w/ daughter Hermia + 2 young men, Demetrius and Lysander > Hermia loves Demetrius, Lysander wished by father, both love her > Wants Athenian law to punish her if disobeys him > Theseus considers, until wedding, if to disobeying = death or convent > Hermia and Lysander escape Athens in night to marry in Lysander's aunt's house in the forest > tell Helena, loving Demetrius tells him to regain his love > he follows couple and so Helena Into goods > also 2 groups, 1 = fairies (Oberon king, Titania queen, returned from India to bless Theseus marriage), 2 = Athenian craftsmen rehearsing play for wedding
Oberon and Titania argue bc young Indian prince given to Titania by his mother
beautiful, Oberon wishes him, Titania refuses > Oberon revenge = through Puck, to fall in love w/ 1 st^ (also wants Puck to make Demetrius fall in love w/ Helena, too cruel w/ her) Puck mistakes Lysander w/ Demetrius > both in love w/ Helena, take it as mock Hermia jealous > they want to fight but Puck prevends it > Puck undoes mistake Titania sees Bottom = most ridiculous Athenian, ass-headed by Puck > immediately love Eventually = Oberon obtains Indian boy, fixes Titania and Lysander love Lysander, Demetrius, Helena and Hermia found by Theseus company > after group wedding, LyHer, DyHel, Bottom fellow craftsmen performance (=fumbling, hilarious version of Pyramus and Thisbe) > play ended, lovers go to bed, fairies bless couples, Puck talks to audience, if they disapprove, take it as a dream, A Midsummer's night dream. Character List
Puck a.k.a. obin Goodfellow = Oberon’s jester, mischievous fairy, delights pranks on mortals > little character development in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and no true protagonist, but Puck most important character > cause of mischief = deliberate and unfortunate pranks (to human chs) > pervades atmosphere w/ enchanting spirit antics, complicate other groups (potion to Lysander, Bottom's ass-headed) magical fancy, fun-loving humor, lovely evocative language = permeate atmosphere of play > contrast btw earthy craftsmen and delicate graceful fairies = recurrent in AMSND, illustrated in Puck = graceful, not in excess as fairies, somewhat bizarre looking (not so beautiful) > good-hearted but capable of cruelty
Oberon - King of fairies, argument w/ wife Titania for young Indian prince = revenge by Puck love-potion flower juice = main instrument of confusion, as Puck
Titania - beautiful queen of fairies, resists the attempts of husband to make a knight of young Indian prince given by his mother > scene with ass-headed Bottom = foremost example of contrast
Lysander - young man of Athens, loves Hermia > couple = theme of love's difficulty = 1 father negation, magic against him
Demetrius - young man of Athens, 1 st^ love Helena, then Hermia, finally Helena >
two-couple agreement at the end
Hermia - Egeus’s daughter, a young woman of Athens, childhood friend of Helena > loves Lysander > jealous of Helena when mischief = she short, Helena tall > all restored w/ potion
Helena young woman of Athens, loves Demetrius, once were betrothed > loves Hermia when met her, abandons Helena ch involved in dramatic events > lovesick, desperate love for Demetrius > most complex character (not very) > left out of love triangle > believes her more beautiful than Hermia > tells Demetrius Hermia's plan to regain love > confused by mischief of
Motifs
Contrast
Contrast in groups = opposites and doubles > Helena tall, Hermia short / Puck pranks, Bottom victim / Titania beautiful, Bottom grotesque > Greek mythology, English folklore and classical literature = 3 groups = powerful contrast with one another
fairies = graceful and magical, craftsmen = clumsy and earthy, merry, lovers = serious > flowers of Titania to ass-head of Bottom > all this = surreal atmosphere
Symbols
Theseus and Hippolyta
Disappear during most play until found young lovers > only in daylight = order and stability = contrast w/ uncertainty, instability and darkness of most play > no control in dream realm = contrast w/ always control of Theseus and Hippolyta > appearance in daylight = end of dream state
The Love Potion
Juice of flower struck by Cupid's misfired arrow > Puck mistakes Lysander w/ Demetrius, mischief to Titania (=humiliated) > potion = symbol of unreasoning, undeniably powerful nature of love, leads to inexplicable and inevitable behavior
The Craftsmen’s Play
Play-within-a-play > comprises many of main ideas and themes of plot > craftsmen = satyr of Pyramus and Thisbe, joyful > Parental disapproval, romantic confusion by darkness of night > story involving powerful emotions made hilarious by comical presentation = both, AMND and play Key Facts
CLIMAX · no real climax, conflicts resolved by magic > greatest tension = quarrel between lovers
PROTAGONIST · three main groups = no single prota > Puck considered most important one
ANTAGONIST · None; tensions result of circumstances, accidents, and mistakes.
SETTINGS (TIME) · Combines elements of Ancient Greece with Renaissance England ones
SETTINGS (PLACE) · Athens and forest outside its walls
FALLING ACTION · craftsmen’s play
FORESHADOWING · difficulties that lovers face
TONES · Romantic; comedic; fantastic; satirical; dreamlike; joyful; farcical
SYMBOLS · Theseus and Hippolyta represent order, stability, and wakefulness; Theseus’s hounds represent the coming of morning; Oberon’s love potion represents the power and instability of love.
THEMES · The difficulties of love; magic; the nature of dreams; the relationships between fantasy and reality and between environment and experience
MOTIFS · Love out of balance; contrast (juxtaposed opposites, such as beautiful and ugly, short and tall, clumsy and graceful, ethereal and earthy) Important Quotations Explained 1. Ay me, for aught that I could ever read, Could ever hear by tale or history, The course of true love never did run smooth....
Lysander to Hermia, difficulties of their love = father = death/nunnery > true love always implies difficulties = birth/age, friends (Demetrius 1 st^ to Helena, then Hermia), war, death, sickness (mischief) > but Hermia “lovers must persevere”, difficulties = price for romantic bliss > that's end of play = face difficulties, overcome them = happy ending
Through Athens I am thought as fair as she. But what of that? Demetrius thinks not so. He will not know what all but he do know. And as he errs, doting on Hermia’s eyes, So I, admiring of his qualities. Things base and vile, holding no quantity, Love can transpose to form and dignity. Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.
Irrational nature of love = erratic, inexplicable, exceptionally powerful (concept of love in play through her) > distressed by non-corresponding love, she = prettier than Helena, irrational Demetrius likes her not more, he unable to look at her in the same way that looks at Hermia > love depends not on objective assessment of appearance but rather on an individual perception of the beloved = also seen in Titania's love for ass- headed Bottom
Lord, what fools these mortals be!
Puck amazed at ludicrous behavior of young Athenians > importance = pithy humor, and theme = exaggerated silliness of lovers' behavior (1), contrast human lovers (absorbed in emotions) vs magical fairies (impish, never too serious) (2)
