Midsummer Night's Dream ACT I HANDOUT
Miss Simison


So, you’ve read the first chapter…..love it? Hate it? Don’t really care about it?

A few important things to remember:
We are introduced to the play’s theme of love and marriage early on with the speeches of Theseus and Hippolyta. Where do these crazy names come from? Well, Shakespeare learned of Theseus from a book called Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans; to him and his contemporaries, Theseus was not a legend, but historical fact. Back in the day, Theseus was most heroic during a war on the Amazons, a mythical nation of women-warriors.

Stichomythia~ (stick-o-myth-eee-ah) a fun word! Ever heard of it? Well, it’s a technique in drama or poetry, in which alternating lines, or half-lines, are given to alternating characters, voices, or entities. The term originated in the literature of Ancient Greece, and is often applied to the dramas of Sophocles, though others like Shakespeare are known to use it. Etymologically it derives from the Greek stichos ("rows") + mythos ("speech"). Stichomythia occurs very rarely in Shakespeare where characters speak single alternating lines. As you have probably noticed, it is present in A Midsummer Night’s Dream


Stichomythia is particularly well suited to sections of dramatic dialogue where two characters are in violent dispute. The rhythmic intensity of the alternating lines combined with quick, biting ripostes in the dialogue can be quite powerful.

So here’s what we have:
Scene I : Theseus and Hippolyta are to be married
Hermia and Lysander want to be married but…..
Egeus, Hermia’s father, wants her to marry Demetrius but….
Demetrius is loved by Helena, his ex-girlfriend

The plan: All four lovers will go to the woods the next night, Hermia and Lysander to elope; Demetrius to prevent the marriage (Helena warned him); and Helena in hopes of being with Demetrius

Scene II: We’ve got some strange characters who are completely different from the ones we met in the first scene, they speak comically, as opposed to the formal poetry spoken by the lovers. Funny enough, they are very connected to our lovers:
1. The men are preparing a play to entertain and the wedding where Hermia must announce her decision
2. The subject of their play is very relevant to Hermia’s plan
3. They have a plan to rehearse the next night in the Duke’s wood, which puts them in the same geographical location as the lovers. There must be a reason for this!



Just when you thought soap operas were a modern-day invention…………


And we haven’t even met the fairies yet!