Beliefs about the Universe

Bear Baiting

letters and seals

heralds and heraldry

signs

bowls

Great Household

Fencing

Hawking

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

The BasicsThe Basics• A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy

by William Shakespeare written sometime in the late-1500s.

• It is a comedy, set in Athens, and the nearby woods

• Themes include love, friendship and the idea of illusion versus reality

The Athenians

Theseus

• Good friend of Egeus • He is the Duke of

Athens. He is a character who represents authority.

Hippolyta

• She is Theseus' bride and Queen of the Amazons.

Egeus

• Egeus is a member of the Duke's court. As Hermia's father, he objects to her love for Lysander and wants her to marry Demetrius.

Hermia

• Egeus' daughter is a spirited, petite brunette who will defy her father to be with the man she loves

Lysander

• He loves Hermia

Helena

• Hermia's childhood friend, she is a tall blonde who is in love with Demetrius.

Demetrius

• He is Hermia's suitor, with her father's approval. Formerly Helena's love interest, he broke her heart.

• in love with Hermia but ends up in love with Helena

The supernatural characters

Oberon

• King of Faerie, he is handsome, jealous, and moody. He is currently quarreling with his queen over custody of a small child

- Queen of Faerie. She is concerned with beauty, sweetness, and pleasantness.

Titania

Puck

• As Oberon's jester, he contributes to the romantic confusion of the play.

The Mechanicals

Peter Quince

carpenter, who leads the troupe

Nick Bottom

weaver; he plays Pyramus in the troupe's production of "Pyramus and Thisbe," and receives a donkey head from Puck so that Titania will magically fall in love with a monster.

Francis Flute

• He plays an embarrassed "Thisby" but his regular job is as a bellows-maker.

Tom Snout

• The most visually comic player, he plays the "Wall" and is usually a tinker.

Snug

• His intelligence makes him a perfect "Lion" but he is actually a joiner.

Robin Starveling

• the tailor who plays Moonshine .