Mr_Shank

OK, first off, I’d like to say that this play isn’t that bad – that is, once you get through all of the language.  I’m actually kind of liking the plot line.  Also, the jokes are slightly funny.  They aren’t that funny, but they’re decent.  What do you guys think of the play so far?

For this blog I’m deciding to go a different direction with how I direct the discussion.  I’m going to pick one thing from every scene that I think is a relevant discussion topic.  So…

Act I, Scene I

One of the more interesting part of the scenes (for me) was the conversation between Lysander and Hermia after Egeus, Theseus, and Demetrius leave.  The two talk about how true love always has obstacles around it. There was one particular quote by Lysander that caught my interest:

Or, if there were a sympathy in choice                                                                                                                 War, death, or sickness did lay siege to it,                                                                                                           Making it momentary as a sound,                                                                                                                        Swift as a shadow, short as any dream,                                                                                                              Brief as the lightning in the collied night;                                                                                                           That, in a spleen, unfolds both heaven and Earth,                                                                                               And ere a man hath power to say “Behold!”                                                                                                         The jaws of darkness do devour it up.                                                                                                                 So quick bright things come to a confusion.

Basically what Lysander is saying here is that even if the two people were truly compatible things like war, death, and sickness could make it end quickly – as short as a dream.  This was interesting to me because the title of the play is A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  I may be reading way too far into this quote, but it seems to me that Shakespeare could be foreshadowing that the love between Hermia and Lysander will end quickly (without Puck’s interference).  What do you guys think?  Explain what you think the quote means (and do NOT use my explanation of the quote).

Act I, Scene II

I don’t know about you guys, but I really don’t understand why this scene and its characters is important to the play at all.  But one thing I did pick up on was a possible reference to Romeo and Juliet.  I don’t know if this was written after said play, but I do think it is possible that Shakespeare was making an allusion here.  

So the main part gist of this scene was that this group of actors is performing at the upcoming wedding for Theseus and Hippolyta.  This introduces the element of a play within a play (Taming of the Shrew, anyone?).  The play the group is performing is entitled A Very Tragic Comedy About the Horrible Deaths of Pyramus and Thisbe.  Obviously, Romeo and Juliet was not a comedy, but the same plot line seems to stand in both plays.  Quince says that Pyramus is, “A lover that kills himself, most gallant, for love.”  This is almost identical to Romeo and Juliet in which Romeo poisons himself because he believes that Juliet is dead.  Another similarity between the two is the title.  Shakespeare based Romeo and Juliet on a narrative poem called The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet (yes, the spelling is correct – even “tragicall”).  Both titles involve the word “tragic” and mention the names of the two lovers – first the male and then the female.  Finally, a similarity between both is the theme of duality.  The fictitious play in A Midsummer Night’s Dream has the words “tragic” and “comedy”.  The idea that both a depressing story could be funny to watch is totally contradictory and leads back to the thought that good and evil coexist.  So once again, I ask, am I reading too much into this or am I onto something here?  Do you see any other allusion to Shakespeare plays in this section?  I would also like you to think about Lysander and Hermia.  How do they fit into the star-crossed lover archetype?  

Act II, Scene I

Act II of the play introduces a new setting – the woods.  This is what I wish to discuss.  The change of setting also changes almost everything that is going on in the play.  Act I took place in Athens, a city-state which is watched over by Theseus, seemingly one of the most rational characters so far in the play.  Act II takes the audience from the calm, controlled, and practical environment of Athens to the the wild and unpredictable woods.  This change of setting leads to a change in the atmosphere.  The logical thoughts of Theseus are instead replaced by the magic and fantasy of the fairies.  Suddenly, all the action seems out of touch with reality, such as Puck being able to “put a girdle round about the Earth/In forty minutes”.  And yet, despite all of these changes, the theme of the play still exists – love, in every way possible.  There is Helena’s obsessive love for Demetrius, Demetrius’ obsessive love for Hermia, Hermia and Lysander’s true love, Oberon and Titania’s not-so-smooth-at-the-moment love, and love in the form of friendship between the Indian woman and Titania.  Why do you think two such different settings and characters are used?  Why is the theme consistent although everything else is not?

Act II, Scene II

Scene II develops the idea that love is not so much about compatibility, but about outward appearances. This begins when Puck puts the flower juice on Lysander’s eyes to make him fall in love.  Helena wishes throughout the scene that she could be as beautiful as Hermia because she believes that is why Demetrius is in love with her.  Specifically, Helena is jealous of Hermia’s eyes, “For she hath blessèd and attractive eyes.” Helena also says, “What wicked and dissembling glass of mine/Made me compare with Hermia’s spherey eyne?”  Lysander is another example of this concept.  When he falls in love with Helena he tells her, “Who will not change a raven for a dove?”, indicating that she is far more beautiful than Hermia.  He also comments on her eyes where he says, “your eyes, where I o’erlook/Love stories written in love’s richest book”.  Why do you think Shakespeare is concentrating on the idea of appearances forming love?  I’d also like to mention that I used the word “eyes” several times, each time in italics.  The juice that Puck puts on Lysander’s eyes is supposed to make him fall in love with the next thing he sees.  This, in combination with the eyes, suggests that Shakespeare is returning to the idea of love at first sight (Romeo and Juliet alert).  This play, however, has a comical, almost satirical quality about it.  What do you think about the love at first sight idea?  Do you think that Shakespeare was trying to perpetuate this idea or ridicule it?  Explain your opinion.

Recap:

1. What do you guys think of the play so far?
2. What do you think about Lysander’s quote?
3. Is my Romeo and Juliet theory correct?  Are there any other Shakespeare allusions to be found?
4. How do Lysander and Hermia fit into the star-crossed lovers archetype?
5. Why do you think two such different settings and characters are used?  Why is the theme consistent although everything else is not?
6. What do you think about the idea of love at first sight?  Do  you think Shakespeare was trying to perpetuate or ridicule it?
   

Erin B.

P.S. - I don’t know what’s up with that big quote I posted at the top.  For some reason it’s coming up really weird looking.  I swear, I didn’t write it like that.