KS3 · English

Reading *A Midsummer Night's Dream*

Four lovers, one magic potion, one big mistake. By the end of Act 2, every one of them loves someone who doesn't love them back.

The plot, act by act

Tap an act to open it up. Watch where each one is set: Athens, then the forest, then Athens again.

Predict the love tangle

Before the potion: Helena loves Demetrius, Demetrius loves Hermia, Hermia loves Lysander and Lysander loves Hermia. The potion's rule: whoever has it on their eyes falls in love with the next thing they see.

Oberon wanted the potion on Demetrius' eyes. Puck puts it on Lysander's eyes instead, and Lysander wakes up and sees Helena. Now, who is loved back by the person they love?

Two conflicts, one pattern

Act 1 · Egeus against Hermia (Athens)vsAct 2 · Oberon against Titania (the forest)

Act 1 and Act 2 both begin with a conflict about patriarchy. Compare them side by side.

Focus

Who holds the power

Act 1 · Egeus against Hermia (Athens)

Men. Egeus is a father, and Duke Theseus supports him.

Act 2 · Oberon against Titania (the forest)

Oberon is king of the fairies, and the forest is still quite patriarchal.

The insight

Athens is a patriarchal society, where men hold the power. The play moves to the forest and finds it still quite patriarchal.

What the man demands

Act 1 · Egeus against Hermia (Athens)

That Hermia marries Demetrius, the man he has chosen for her.

Act 2 · Oberon against Titania (the forest)

That Titania gives up the young boy so he can be Oberon's servant.

How the woman resists

Act 1 · Egeus against Hermia (Athens)

Hermia refuses to obey. She says she will marry Lysander and won't marry Demetrius.

Act 2 · Oberon against Titania (the forest)

Titania refuses to give the boy up.

What the man can use

Act 1 · Egeus against Hermia (Athens)

Egeus asks for the ancient privilege of Athens, which gives him the right to kill his daughter. Theseus says she must obey, or face death, or be sent to a nunnery.

Act 2 · Oberon against Titania (the forest)

Oberon uses a magical potion to make Titania fall in love with the next thing she sees, so she'll give up the boy.

How it ends

Act 1 · Egeus against Hermia (Athens)

Hermia and Lysander run away. In Act 4 Theseus allows the lovers to marry who they wish.

Act 2 · Oberon against Titania (the forest)

In Act 4 Oberon gets the boy, then removes the potion from Titania's eyes.

Three readings

How should we read Oberon and Titania?

What does the fight over the boy tell us about Oberon and Titania?

Titania is Oberon's equal

  • She is in conflict with him.
  • She refuses to give him the boy.

Oberon is somewhat powerless

  • He has to use a magical love potion on Titania to get what he wants.
  • That reliance on a potion could suggest he is somewhat powerless.

Oberon abuses his power

  • He is willing to torment Titania.
  • That could suggest he is abusing his power.

Common ground

  • Oberon does get the boy from Titania.

Compare the positions, then weigh them yourself.

Facts and readings

All three are readings that can be argued from the same events, not facts about the play. The one thing they all agree on is that Oberon gets the boy.

Comparing 3 positions: Titania is Oberon's equal, Oberon is somewhat powerless, Oberon abuses his power.

Your verdict

Is it really a happy ending?

The claim

The play has a happy ending.

Place each piece of evidence to load the balance. Mark the strong ones — they count double.

  1. The play ends with a number of marriages.

    Evidence 1: does it support or challenge the claim?

  2. Theseus allows the lovers to marry who they wish.

    Evidence 2: does it support or challenge the claim?

  3. The lovers' relationships are sorted: Hermia and Lysander love each other again, and Helena and Demetrius love each other.

    Evidence 3: does it support or challenge the claim?

  4. Demetrius still has the potion on his eyes. That is why he loves Helena.

    Evidence 4: does it support or challenge the claim?

  5. People did not love who they naturally did.

    Evidence 5: does it support or challenge the claim?

Write it yourself

Explain a theme

Choose one theme from the play, either love and marriage or order and disorder, and explain it in two or three sentences. [3 marks]

0 words · your answer stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED

A quick recap of today's lesson.

Athens, a magical forest, one potion and one big mistake. Follow the plot act by act.

What you need to know

  • Start here: it's a Shakespearean comedy, a play designed to make you laugh, often built on misunderstandings.
  • Comedies usually end in marriage. That's a key convention of the genre, so weddings at the end are no surprise.
  • Plays are split into acts, the way books are split into chapters. This play has five acts.
  • Three sets of characters: rich nobles in Athens, poor actors in the city of Athens, and fairies in a forest outside it.
  • Where is it set? Athens at the start and the end, with a magical forest in the middle.
  • That forest is a Green World, an idea common in Shakespearean comedy: fantastical things happen there.
  • Then the play often moves back to the real world, where the status quo is reestablished.
  • Have a goAthens, forest, Athens. Which of those is the Green World, and where does the status quo come back?

    The forest is the Green World; the status quo is reestablished back in Athens.

    Fantastical things happen in the forest, and then the play often moves back to the real world.

  • Athens is a patriarchal society: men hold the power, and its laws and structures often prevent women having power.
  • The play moves from patriarchal Athens to the magical forest, which is still quite patriarchal.
  • Have a goIn Act 1, Egeus is backed by Duke Theseus himself. Why does that fit a patriarchal society?

    Men hold the power, and Athens' laws and structures back them.

    In a patriarchal society the laws often stop women having power, so Hermia is told to obey her father.

  • A theme is the main idea in a text, explored in a number of different ways.
  • Its themes: love and marriage, order and disorder, and appearance versus reality.
  • Have a goWhich is a theme: 'Puck puts the potion on Lysander's eyes', or 'order and disorder'?

    Order and disorder.

    A theme is the main idea explored in a number of different ways. Puck's mistake is one event inside it.

  • Explaining a theme takes three moves: name the theme, name the act, say what Shakespeare might be getting us to think about.

The big picture

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a Shakespearean comedy that starts in Athens, heads into a magical forest where a potion throws love into chaos, and returns to Athens for a number of marriages. Follow the plot act by act, then decide for yourself whether that ending is really happy.

Key points

1A Midsummer Night's Dream is a Shakespearean comedy: it is designed to make you laugh, often involves misunderstandings and usually ends in marriage.
2The play has five acts and three sets of characters: the rich nobles, the poor actors and the fairies.
3Its shape is Athens (Act 1), the magical forest (Acts 2 to 4), then Athens again (Act 5).
4The potion makes whoever has it on their eyes fall in love with the next thing they see. Puck's mistake with Lysander leaves all four lovers in unrequited love.
5At the end Demetrius still has the potion on his eyes, which is why he loves Helena. So whether the ending is truly happy can be argued.
6Athens is patriarchal and the forest is still quite patriarchal. Act 1 and Act 2 both open with a conflict about it.
7The themes are love and marriage, order and disorder, and appearance versus reality.

Worked example

Problem

Explain the theme of order and disorder in A Midsummer Night's Dream, in two or three sentences.

⚠ Watch out

Thinking the lovers just fall for the wrong person by accident and then everything is put right. The chaos comes from the potion's rule and Puck's mistake with Lysander, and at the end Demetrius still has the potion on his eyes. His love for Helena is still the potion's doing.

🧠

Memory hook

Athens, forest, Athens: the problem starts at home, goes wrong in the Green World and comes home sorted. Then check whose eyes still have potion on them.

✓

Check yourself

Explain to a friend why Demetrius loves Helena at the end of the play. Then say why that makes the happy ending something you can argue about.

Flashcards

(13)
What is an act?
The way a play is divided, like chapters in a book. A Midsummer Night's Dream is divided into five acts.
What makes this play a comedy?
It is designed to make you laugh, often involves misunderstandings, and usually ends in marriage, which is a key genre convention.
Who are the three sets of characters?
The rich nobles who live in Athens, the poor actors who live in the city of Athens, and the fairies who live in a forest outside Athens.
What is the Green World?
A concept common in Shakespearean comedy. Fantastical things happen, and the play often exists in the green world before moving back into the real world, where the status quo is reestablished.
What is a patriarchal society?
One where men hold the power, and the laws and structures often prevent women from having power. Athens is one, and the forest is still quite patriarchal.
What is a theme, and what are this play's themes?
A theme is the main idea in a text, explored in a number of different ways. Here: love and marriage, order and disorder, and appearance versus reality.
Act 1: where is it set, and what is the problem?
Athens. Egeus wants Hermia to marry Demetrius, but she wants Lysander. She refuses to obey, and she and Lysander decide to run away through the forest.
Act 2: where is it set, and what goes wrong?
The forest. Oberon and Titania are in conflict, and Puck puts the potion on Lysander's eyes by mistake. The act ends in confusion and chaos for the nobles.
Act 3: what happens to Bottom?
Puck gives him the head of an ass (a donkey). Titania wakes up, sees him and falls in love with him.
Act 4: what gets sorted out?
Oberon gets the boy and removes the potion from Titania's eyes, and Bottom is human again. Theseus finds the lovers and allows them to marry who they wish.
Act 5: where is it set, and how does it end?
Athens. The lovers watch the play put on by the poor actors, and the play ends with a number of marriages.
What is unrequited love?
Love that is not returned. After Puck's mistake, all four lovers experience it.
What does the magical potion do?
Whoever has it on their eyes falls in love with the next thing they see.

Tap any card to flip it, or use Study as deck to go through them one at a time. In the full lesson these run as a spaced-repetition deck — you rate each card Hard, Good or Easy and the tricky ones keep coming back until they stick.

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