4.
3 Midsummer Night’s Dream: William Shakespeare
1.) Draw a character sketch of Oberon as an enemy of his wife but a friend of the lovers.
Ans: Oberon is a strong character of A Mid Summer Night’s Dream written by Shakespeare. Oberon
is the king of fairies but he is double faced man, who as his wife Titania’s enemy is a chargeable and
very authoritative. When he sees his wife is affectionate towards the Indian boy, he become envious
and wants to make the boy his servant. Titania refused to give up that’s leads to fight between her
and Oberon. Oberon told Puck to pour a love Potion on his wife’s eyelids, so that she falls in love
with the first person she sees. He finds it amusing when Titania falls in love with a donkey headed
man. It shows the vengeful side of Oberon, but he has a kind and loving side also. Throughout the
act we see Oberon as a complex characters who has both good and evil side.
2.) Comment on the loving pair of Lysander and Helena from the point of view of developing
their character sketch.
Ans. As per the initial story we see that the actual couples were Hermia and Lysander and they
loved each other dearly, they eloped in the forest to get married. On the other hand, Helena and
Demetrius were actual couples but due to the effect of the magic potion ‘Love in Idleness’ the juice
of which if poured on the eyelids of a sleeping person, makes him/her fall madly in love with the
first person he/she sees after waking up. This same potion was put on Lysander’s eyes while he
was sleeping. Therefore, as he woke up, the first person he saw in front of his eyes was Helena and
he started developing feelings for her (under the impact of the potion).Thus, his love feelings for
Helena leads to the rift between Hermia Helena on the other hand loved Demetrius and she was
trying hard to prove it.
Lysander, before falling under the spell of the potion loved Hermiatruely, but the effect of the magic
potion was so strong that now he hates Hermia to the core. But even with that immense hate, he
didn’t for once wanted something bad to happen to her. It shows how true and deep Lysander’s
feelings were for Hermia before falling under the spell of the magic potion. But ultimately we see
by the end of the play how the true loves again come back go each other and the ironic pair of
Helena and Lysander shows that love cannot be forced onto someone, it’s a feeling that emerges
from deep within.
SETTING
1.) Correct the given sentences with justification.
i) The play is restricted to only a part of the woods.
Ans. The play is not restricted to only a part of the woods, other parts of the woods are also shown
in the play, for example, there’s a scene showing Quince’s cottage which is in the other part of the
woods. Thus we can see many such references, showing the different parts of the forest.
ii) Since there is a reference to the Indian boy, there are some scenes from India too.
Ans. We see reference of an Indian boy in Act 2, scene1, but no scenes from India are to be seen in
the play. We see Oberon, the King of the Fairies grappling with Titania, the Queen of the Fairiesfor
the custody of the Indian boy. The whole scene of the play was in the forest only.
2.) The characters are a part of the stage setting. How does this reflect when the characters of
the play range from the Duke and the Indian boy to the fairies?
Ans: It is absolutely correct to say that the characters are essential part of stage. As the setting
changes the characters also changes according to the settings. Some of the characters in the play are
real and some are made out of the writer’s sheer imagination like the presence of fairies and use of
magic. The Duke instructs Philostrate to arrange the celebration with great pomp gives us the sense
of realism, on the other hand in the other part of the wood Oberon and Titania are grappling and
using their magic for the Indian boy and the couples who are deeply in love with each other fall
Prince@Pune 1
prey to the wizardry of the fairy king. So we see different kind of characters doing their best in the
different parts, places and scenes of the play.
3.) Comment on the versatility and the aptness of the stage settings, as per the requirement of
the play ‘A Mid-Summer Night Dream’.
Ans: As the play ‘A Mid-Summer Night Dream’ starts in the Duke’s palace then the play proceeds
in two different parts of the woods. Through the introduction of different places and different
scenes we can see the versatility and aptness of the play. The stage setting also changes as per the
requirement of the play.
Plot
1.) State whether the following statements are true/false:
(i) Lysander and Demeritus fall in love with Helena as a result of the love Potion. True
(ii) Oberon transforms Bottom’s head into that of an ass. True
(iii) Titania falls in love with an ass. True
(iv) Both Lysander and Demeritus fight for Hermia. False
2.) Give reasons:-
1.) Oberon and Titania fight for the custody of the Indian boy because:-
Ans. Oberon wanted the Indian boy as he felt the boy was very beautiful and Oberon somehow
wanted that boy to be one of his followers or as it is said ‘the knight of his train. And somehow we
felt that Oberon wanted to spend more time with Titania as well so he wanted the boy to be with
him. On the other hand Titania felt responsible towards the little boy as she was the son of one of
her close friends, who died while giving birth to this Indian boy.
3) The consequence of Oberon’s jealousy for Titania are comic rather than tragic, comment.
Ans: The comic scene in the drama is when Titania falls in love with donkey headed Bottom which
Oberon does out of jealousy towards Titania who has the Indian boy and doesn’t want to lose him
at any cost. The conflict between both of them does not give a sense of tragedy at all, instead it
makes the audience laugh.
4.) There were some reasons why Theseus was initially against but later gave consent for the
marriage of Hernia with Lysander. Explain.
Ans: The Duke wants Hermia to obey her father’s decision and marry as per his will. But it was
Hermia’s true love that made her make the decision of eloping with Lysander, instead of obeying
her stern father. That’s why finally the Duke changes his decision and accepts Hermia and
Lysander’s marriage.
Form
Q). Select the correct options:-
1.) A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a
(a) Poetic drama (b) Comedy of errors
(c) Comedy based on fantasy (d) A character play
(e) A revenge tragedy (f) A play that belongs to realm of dreams
Ans: (b) Comedy of errors
2.) Find 2/4 expressions of Humour from the extract.
Ans:Some expressions of humour from the extract are-
1. An ass‘s noel fixed on Bottom’s headbyPuck.
2. And forth my mimic comes. When they him spy,
3. “Get you gone, you dwarf;
You minimus, of hind’ring knot-grass made;
You bead, you acorn.”
4. “Your hands than mine are quicker for a fray
My legs are longer though, to run away.”
Prince@Pune 2
The last two expressions in the form of dialogue shows the comic timing and the characters’
conversations in the best way possible.
3.) ‘A Mid-Summer Night Dream’ is one of the best examples of Shakespeare comedy of errors.
Comment.
Ans: A comedy has a happy ending ‘A Mid-Summer Night Dream’ is one of the best comedy play
with comedy of errors which always includes mistaken identity. Here Puck mistaking Demeritus
for Lysander. The use of Potion and its consequences are hilarious. Puck mistakenly pouring the
love Potion on Lysander eyelids instead of Demeritus is very humorous. These errors create trouble
for all other four characters in the wood. The most interesting error is when Titania falls in love with
an ass, who actually was Bottom. It happens due to influence of love potion that Oberon had poured
on her to teach her a lesson. So we can see confusion and chaos throughout the play, but still it made
the audience chortle and we see a happy ending as well.
THEME
1.) Shakespeare is acknowledged as the greatest writer because he understood human nature
better than anyone else. Explain the statement in context of the play.
Ans. Shakespeare in his plays give us the greatest sense of human life- of how people live and love
and above all the importance of human relationships. These characteristics are shown by other
writers of his time or of any other time, but Shakespeare presented in the best way possible.
Shakespeare is also considered as poet of nature, or in apt words the human nature because his
characters are natural, they act and behave, think and speak as if we are seeing real life events. His
characters are the faithful representations of humanity which is very much clear from this play as
well, where we see how humans are boundwith feelings like love, hatred, little trifles, some laughs
etc., which makes the audience fall in love with it more.
LANGUAGE
1) Interpret the following lines in simple English.
a) Puck : I’ll follow you.
Bottom : The Finch, the sparrow.
Ans. ‘The Finch, the sparrow’ is actually line of the song that Bottom sings after Puck changes his
head into that of an ass with his magic. Bottom doesn’t even know that what exactly has happened
to him but he feels awkward when he sees everyone is frightened of him and he is left alone in the
forest. He sings this song to show that he is not frightened alone in the forest.
2) Comment on the literary device, used in the following lines:
a) Titania: Be kind and courteous to this gentleman….
Ans. Tautology, the word kind and courteous almost refers to the same meaning, is used here
together to have more effect on the line.
b) Titania: Come wait upon him : lead him to my bower.
Ans. Repetition, the word ‘him’ is used more than once in a single sentence.
Prince@Pune 3
