A Midsummer Night's Dream

Kidnapping of Hippolyta

5/28/2014

Hippolyta was the Queen of the Amazons. The Amazons were a girl warrior tribe. Before you could join the Amazons you would have to kill a man. The Amazons believed that girls didn’t need men in their life. They also believed that girls are more powerful and men only drag them down. Therefore, they would fight men and kill them. As the myth goes Hippolyta and her warriors the Amazons saw a large ship approaching. The ships sail was white indicating they come in peace. The Amazons agreed to let the passengers on the boat come to shore. As Queen, Hippolyta came aboard the ship baring gifts as a friendship offering. On board were Theseus king of Athens, and his men. When Theseus saw her, he immediately fell in love with her. He kidnapped her and took her to Athens and forced her to marry him. The Amazons were furious and charged to Athens and started a huge battle against the Athenians. Hippolyta and Theseus had a baby boy named Hippolytus. The Amazons took their queen with them and headed back home. Hippolyta had to leave her son behind in Athens. Theseus quickly fell in love with another woman named Phaedra.

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Lifestyle in Athens

5/28/2014

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Just like in the play, Ancient Athens laws did not give much status to women. They were only allowed outside the house when their fathers or husbands, depending on whether they were married or not. Marriage was decided between the father of the to-be bride, the to-be groom and his family. Women were not allowed to mingle with other men, including their brothers, uncles and nephews.

The commoners had a very mingling lifestyle (men) especially in the town squares and courtyards.

Slaves occupied a large part of the population and had a hard life, similar to those of Egyptian slaves. This could be because of the Greek influence in Egypt and vice - versa.

When a girl was born, the family announced her birth by pinning some sheep’s wool to their front door. This is seen as a symbol of the female’s life of domestic work. Some girls were lucky that their families wanted then even though they were born a girl. Some babies were left in a public place where anyone can pick them up or adopt them as slaves.
When a boy was born, the family announced the birth by pinning olive leaves to our front door.

For them, olive leaves represent success and victory. Olive leaves are a good symbol for the birth of a son because boys are expected to achieve more than girls.

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Greek Gods, Monsters and Heoroes

5/28/2014

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Although the play did not include anything major about Greek mythological creatures, we thought we might include some info about them. The Greeks believed in many different mythological creatures and gods.

GODS AND GODESSES:-        The Olympian gods were the main gods in ancient Greece. They ruled the world after overthrowing their ancestors. There throne was on mount Olympus the tallest mountain in Greece which was built by Cyclopes. The gods were like mortals except each one of them had their special powers and responsibilities. Instead of having blood run through their veins, they have ichor which is like gold. The main gods are: Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Ares, Apollo, Hephaestus, Hermes and Dionysus. The main goddesses are Hera, Athena, Aphrodite, Artemis, Demeter and Hestia.

Heroes:   Heroes were like the gods minions. They would go on quests and defeat monsters to please the gods. They often loved to bargain with the gods and challenge them. The 5 most popular heroes are - Jason, Persues, Odysseus, Hercules and Theseus. All of them completed certain tasks that helped the gods, the people around them or their country. Theseus, who is the Duke of Athens in A Midsummer Night's Dream, had the qualities of a hero - he was intelligent, powerful, cunning and brave. He had completed many adventures and was crowned king of Athens.

Monsters:       There were many mythological monsters in Greek mythology. Each hero would have to defeat a monster on their quest to gain his/her status. Greek myths and legends are full of mythological monsters. Such as giants, dragons, demons, ghosts and more.

Cyclopes- the one eyed giants.
Centaurs- the half horse half man creature.
Minotaur’s-A monster with the head of a bull and body of a man.
Hydras- a dragon with many snake heads.

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Celebrations on a midsummmer night

5/27/2014

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The midsummer festival was celebrated with dances around bonfires which were supposed to bring good luck. The people collected plants with medicinal or magical powers. On the eve of Midsummer, the Mummers provided entertainment at the 'Festival of Fire' reviving memories of legends like St George and the Dragon. They also drank alcohol and it was a time to celebrate the fertility of crops and of the people. Dating, marriage and love was being "foreseen" and it was also a time of superstition and magic which also meant that bad spirits came out on the night. Young maidens and men could discover who their true love is through dreams and the "Midsummer Madness" was believed to affect the community, especially young lovers.

A lot of these believes and celebrations are related to a midsummer nights dream. It was a time of celebration, (Theseus and Hippolyta had a big celebration before and after their marriage), bad spirits came out on the night which in the play were the fairies and Puck who acted mischievous throughout the play. Love and marriage was also foreseen (the four lovers fell in love and got married). Magical plants were collected, Oberon and Puck used the magical flower which made the lovers fall in love with the wrong people. Demetrius and Titania found out who there true loves were through there dreams.

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Elizabethan views on fairies

5/27/2014

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Titania the Queen of fairies with Bottom

In the Elizabethan era fairies were thought of bad spirits who played tricks on people they also believed that fairies were the ones that caused disease, illness and misfortune this personality is almost exactly the same as the role of puck who plays a trick on Titania, the queen of fairies. Fairies were viewed as the same size and shape of humans; people were sometimes thought to be fairies because the fairies size was supposed to be as tall as a short person. They often wore green as they were associated with nature they also loved cleanliness and rewarded humans for keeping their homes clean and free from dirt, if a human kept his house dirty he was often punished and the most common punishment was pinching which left the victims with bruises. Elizabethan fairies needed humans to supply them with basic resources which people fearfully supplied, however the thing that fairies wanted the most was milk and cream and because of this fairies were also associated with the dairy industry. When humans followed fairy commandments, fairies were known to cure diseases, bring large quantities of food, clean houses, protect, bring fortune, and tell the future.

This part of the plot in A Midsummer Night's Dream was more consistent with the Elizabethan view on fairies.

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Pyramus and Thisbe

5/26/2014

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Reading some parts of the summary may have confused some readers as you may not know what Pyramus and Thisbe means. The story of Pyramus and Thisbe is the romantic tragedy of two lovers who are forbidden to be involved with one another due to their parents' rivalry. They are neighbours who share a common wall and whisper romantic things to each other via a crack in the wall. During one of these conversations they decide to elope and meet under a mulberry tree. When Thisbe reaches at the venue there is a lion whose mouth is red from a kill from the previous day. She flees the place, terrified, and accidentally drops her veils behind, which the lion starts ripping with its mouth. Pyramus arrives to see this sight and assumes that Thisbe is dead. Distraught, he kills himself with his sword and his blood splashes on the white mulberry fruits. Thisbe arrives there, eager to tell Pyramus about what happened to her, only to come and see him dead. She prays one last time to the Gods and kills herself and the Gods decide to fulfil her last wish, which was to permanently turn the mulberry fruit red, in honour of Pyramus. This story is part of Ovid's Metamorphoses, which is a 15 book series. Shakespeare uses this story as inspirations as inspirations for two of his plays - Romeo and Juliet and a Midsummer Night's Dream.

While Romeo and Juliet takes a similar tragic turn as the original, Pyramus and Thisbe is used as a framing device and inspiration in A Midsummer Night's Dream. A framing device, when the Mechanicals perform it as entertainment for the wedding of the Duke and Duchess and inspiration when Hermia and Lysander are forbidden by her father to love each other and also when they plan to elope. Below is a slideshow outlining the story in picture form.

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A Summary....

5/23/2014

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A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's only plays that involves magical and supernatural elements. It revolves around four main plot lines, which are; two sets of lovers that are camping in a magical forest, the land of the Fairy King, Queen and their elves, and a group of craftsmen attempting to stage a production of "Pyramus and Thisbe" for the wedding of the Duke of Athens. There are three sets of characters as well; the people in the Court of Athens, The Fairy Court and The Mechanicals performances. The themes of the play revolve around love, jealousy and friendship.

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Kidnapping of Hippolyta

Lifestyle in Athens

Greek Gods, Monsters and Heoroes

Celebrations on a midsummmer night

Elizabethan views on fairies

Pyramus and Thisbe

A Summary....

Quotes

Authors

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