MND ACT III Scene i
Miss Simison
6 February 2007
Handout IV

Yep, we’re still in the woods. And we are re-visited by the Athenian Workmen Quince, Snug, Bottom, Flute, Snout, and Starveling. In yet another comical scene, they rehearse their play.
Bottom alerts Quince to things in the play that may not please the audience:
1. Pyramus must kill himself with a sword
Solution: Leave the killing out? Reciting a prologue that explains everything…the swords are harmless, Pyramus isn’t really dead…..Pyramus is actually Bottom the Weaver. Make believe is make believe.
2. Won’t the ladies be afraid of the lion?
Solution: The lion costume doesn’t completely cover the actor, and announcement that the lion isn’t really a lion, and that his name is actually Snug the Joiner
There are two other production problems:
1. Thisbe and Pyramus are supposed to meet by moonlight
Solution: The moon is supposed to shine the night of the play, the almanac says so, so a window was going to be opened but then Quince offers the alternative of having a man presenting moonshine with a lantern and thorn bush
The men don’t want to take a chance with the real moon, they think it’s better to have one of their own men standing by instead of relying on something natural that may not be there
2. Thisbe and Pyramus must talk through a wall
Solution: Bottom says to have a man with some sort of substance on him stand in for a wall and hold his fingers up for Pyramus and Thisbe to speak through
They way they treat the play intensifies the relationship between ILLUSION and REALITY. The men insist on differentiating between the two during their performance of ‘Pyramus and Thisbe.’ The result? Comedy, which is a contrast to all the confusions in the play.


Perhaps the most important part of this play with when Puck places the head of an ass on Bottom. The rest of the men flee the wood because they fear they are haunted and Bottom is alone. Keep in mind that this takes place right after the men have made sure the man playing the lion is recognized as a man, and not a lion, so as not to confuse the audience. What does this make them think about the seemingly solid world?

Bottom is very confused as to why his friends have left him and figures they are playing a practical joke on him.

Now that Bottom is an ass from the neck up, is there a better creature for Titania to fall in love with? Nope!
Bottom’s whistling wakes Titania and she’s in love!
How does Bottom respond? Easy graciousness with extraordinary new companions. He has an ability to adapt immediately to whatever life offers him. His innocence gets him into the fairy world and he enjoys it

We also meet four fairies……what is Bottom’s response to the following two?

Cobweb: he will use him if he cuts his finger, cobwebs were used to stop bleeding

Mustardseed: Bottom says he is aware of the patience associated with him and says that mustardseed has caused his eyes to water, which refers to the spice.