She has a complicated relationship with Hermia – she is supposed to be her best friend, but Helena tells Hermia’s secret to Demetrius to try to get his gratitude. There is a dispute over the scenario of the play as it is cited at first by Theseus that "four happy days bring in another moon". [15] The wood episode then takes place at a night of no Moon, but Lysander asserts that there will be so much light in the very night they will escape that dew on the grass will be shining like liquid pearls. [16] Also, in the next scene, Quince states that they will rehearse in moonlight, [17] which creates a real confusion. It is possible that the Moon set during the night allowing Lysander to escape in the moonlight and for the actors to rehearse, then for the wood episode to occur without moonlight. Theseus's statement can also be interpreted to mean "four days until the next month". Another possibility is that, since each month there are roughly four consecutive nights that the Moon is not seen due to its closeness to the Sun in the sky (the two nights before the moment of new moon, followed by the two following it), it may in this fashion indicate a liminal "dark of the moon" period full of magical possibilities. This is further supported by Hippolyta's opening lines exclaiming "And then the moon, like to a silver bow New-bent in heaven, shall behold the night of our solemnities."; the thin crescent-shaped moon being the hallmark of the new moon's return to the skies each month. The play also intertwines the Midsummer Eve of the title with May Day, furthering the idea of a confusion of time and the seasons. This is evidenced by Theseus commenting on some slumbering youths, that they "observe The rite of May". [18] Loss of individual identity [ edit ] Edwin Landseer, Scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream. Titania and Bottom (1848) In 1863, Charles Cowden Clarke also wrote on this play. Kehler notes he was the husband of famous Shakespearean scholar Mary Cowden Clarke. Charles was more appreciative of the lower-class mechanicals of the play. He commented favourably on their individualisation and their collective richness of character. He thought that Bottom was conceited but good natured, and shows a considerable store of imagination in his interaction with the representatives of the fairy world. He also argued that Bottom's conceit was a quality inseparable from his secondary profession, that of an actor. [38] According to Kehler, significant 19th-century criticism began in 1808 with August Wilhelm Schlegel. Schlegel perceived unity in the multiple plot lines. He noted that the donkey's head is not a random transformation, but reflects Bottom's true nature. He identified the tale of Pyramus and Thisbe as a burlesque of the Athenian lovers. [32] In 1817, William Hazlitt found the play to be better as a written work than a staged production. He found the work to be "a delightful fiction" [32] but when staged, it is reduced to a dull pantomime. He concluded that poetry and the stage do not fit together. [32] Kehler finds the comment to be more of an indication of the quality of the theatrical productions available to Hazlitt, rather than a true indication of the play's supposed unsuitability to the stage. She notes that prior to the 1840s, all stage productions of this play were adaptations unfaithful to the original text. [32]

The 20th century brought new insights into the play. In 1961, Elizabeth Sewell argued that Shakespeare aligns himself not with the aristocrats of the play, but with Bottom and the artisans. It is their task to produce a wedding entertainment, precisely the purpose of the writer on working in this play. [41] Also in 1961, Frank Kermode wrote on the themes of the play and their literary sources. He counted among them fantasy, blind love, and divine love. He traced these themes to the works of Macrobius, Apuleius, and Giordano Bruno. Bottom also briefly alludes to a passage from the First Epistle to the Corinthians by Paul the Apostle, dealing with divine love. [41] [b] Asbel • August • Eyvel • Finn • Galzus • Karin • Kempf • Leif • Lifis • Mareeta • Miranda • Nanna • Olwen • Osian • Reinhardt • Ronan • Saias • Salem • Sara • Tanya • Veld O me, you juggler, you canker-blossom,You thief of love! What, have you come by nightAnd stol’n my love's heart from him? Director 3: People go to outdoor productions of Shakespeare all the time, I can see this being really engaging.Also in 1964, Jan Kott offered his own views on the play. He saw the main themes of the play as being violence and "unrepressed animalistic sexuality". [43] Both Lysander and Demetrius are, in his view, verbally brutal lovers, whose love interests are exchangeable and objectified. The changeling that Oberon desires is his new "sexual toy". [43] The aristocrats of the play, both mortal and immortal, are promiscuous. As for the Athenian lovers following their night in the forest, they are ashamed to talk about it because that night liberated them from themselves and social norms, and allowed them to reveal their real selves. [43] Kott's views were controversial, and contemporary critics wrote either in favour of or against his ideas, but few ignored them. [43] Mancewicz, Aneta (2014). Intermedial Shakespeares on European Stages. Palgrave Studies in Performance and Technology. Springer. ISBN 978-1-137-36004-5. Dismissive – he is mean to Hermia when the potion makes him fall in love with Helena. He forgets her and leaves her in possible danger in the woods at midnight. Amelia • Artur • Caellach • Colm • Cormag • Dozla • Duessel • Eirika • Ephraim • Ewan • Gerik • Gilliam • Innes • Joshua • Knoll • L'Arachel • Lute • Lyon • Marisa • Myrrh • Natasha • Neimi • Orson • Rennac • Riev • Ross • Saleh • Selena • Seth • Syrene • Tana • Tethys • Valter • Vanessa • Vigarde Also writing in 1971, Hugh M. Richmond offered an entirely new view of the play's love story lines. He argued that what passes for love in this play is actually a self-destructive expression of passion. He argued that the play's significant characters are all affected by passion and by a sadomasochistic type of sexuality. This passion prevents the lovers from genuinely communicating with each other. At the same time it protects them from the disenchantment with the love interest that communication inevitably brings. The exception to the rule is Bottom, who is chiefly devoted to himself. His own egotism protects him from feeling passion for anyone else. Richmond also noted that there are parallels between the tale of Pyramus and Thisbe, featured in this play, and that of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. [47]

Honey Tanberry - Summer's older sister. Honey and Summer have a difficult relationship, but Honey is concerned about Summer's health. This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sourcesin this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( April 2021) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Director 1: Steve, using the smoke to represent the contagious fog and bad weather brought on by Oberon’s temper was inspired. Altena • Annand • Arden • Ares • Arion • Arthur • Arvis • Ayra • Azelle • Brigid • Ced • Deirdre • Díthorba • Eldigan • Erinys • Ethlyn • Febail • Fee • Hilda • Ishtar • Jamke • Julia • Julius • Lachesis • Larcei • Lene • Lewyn • Lex • Patty • Quan • Scáthach • Seliph • Shannan • Sigurd • Silvia • Tailtiu • Tine • Travant • UllrMarshall, David (1982). "Exchanging Visions: Reading A Midsummer Night's Dream". ELH. The Johns Hopkins University Press. 49 (3): 543–75. doi: 10.2307/2872755. eISSN 1080-6547. ISSN 0013-8304. JSTOR 2872755. S2CID 163807169. Over Hill, Over Dale", from Act 2, is the third of the Three Shakespeare Songs set to music by the British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. He wrote the pieces for a cappella SATB choir in 1951 for the British Federation of Music Festivals, and they remain a popular part of British choral repertoire today. James Halliwell-Phillipps, writing in the 1840s, found that there were many inconsistencies in the play, but considered it the most beautiful poetical drama ever written. [30] Presenter: Hello and welcome to The Big Scene. We’re at rehearsals for A Midsummer Night’s Dream . It’s Act 4, scene 1, and fairy magic has been transforming Bottom and just won’t stop. The challenge facing the director today? How can this player be made to look like a right donkey? She’s got options, but it’s a big ask. Can she pull it off on this team’s budget? She’s got great vision this director, but this has got to be convincing for the crowd and still allow for a great performance from the player.

Presenter: Well, now, this is a classic Bottom tactic, and arguably it gets the job done, but are we getting the best performance out of this chap where we can’t see his face? And the heat is really getting to him. Elvis Costello composed the music for a full-length ballet Il Sogno, based on A Midsummer Night's Dream. The music was subsequently released as a classical album by Deutsche Grammophon in 2004.In 1971, James L. Calderwood offered a new view on the role of Oberon. He viewed the king as specialising in the arts of illusion. Oberon, in his view, is the interior dramatist of the play, orchestrating events. He is responsible for the play's happy ending, when he influences Theseus to overrule Egeus and allow the lovers to marry. Oberon and Theseus bring harmony out of discord. He also suggested that the lovers' identities, which are blurred and lost in the forest, recall the unstable identities of the actors who constantly change roles. In fact the failure of the artisans' play is based on their chief flaw as actors: they can not lose their own identities to even temporarily replace them with those of their fictional roles. [46] In 1987, Jan Lawson Hinely argued that this play has a therapeutic value. Shakespeare in many ways explores the sexual fears of the characters, releases them, and transforms them. And the happy ending is the reestablishment of social harmony. Patriarchy itself is also challenged and transformed, as the men offer their women a loving equality, one founded on respect and trust. She even viewed Titania's loving acceptance of the donkey-headed Bottom as a metaphor for basic trust. This trust is what enables the warring and uncertain lovers to achieve their sexual maturity. [54] In 1988, Allen Dunn argued that the play is an exploration of the characters' fears and desires, and that its structure is based on a series of sexual clashes. [54] The next scrumptious story in Cathy Cassidy's Chocolate Box Girls series, following Cherry Crush and Marshmallow Skye . Perfect for fans of Jacqueline Wilson. Summer has always dreamed of dancing, and when a place at ballet school comes up, she wants it so badly it hurts. Middle school ends and the holidays begin, but unlike her sisters, Summer has no time for lazy days and sunny beach parties. The audition becomes her obsession, and things start spiralling out of control...The more Summer tries to find perfection, the more lost she becomes. Will she realise -- with the help of the boy who wants more than friendship -- that dreams come in all shapes and sizes? Third must-have title in this gorgeous series from one of the UK's best-loved girls' authors, Cathy Cassidy. Each sister has a different story to tell, which one will be your favourite? Cathy Cassidy was voted Queen of Teen in 2010 -- beating Jacqueline Wilson and Louise Rennison to the throne. Praise for Cathy's books: Touching, tender and unforgettable . ( Guardian ). Cathy Cassidy wrote her first picture book for her little brother when she was eight or nine and has been writing fabulous stories ever since. The Chocolate Box Girls is a sumptuous series starring sassy sisters, super-cool boys and one of Cathy's biggest loves -- chocolate. Cathy lives in Scotland with her family