A Midsummer Night's Dream Read Online Free PDF

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SCENE-BY-SCENE ANALYSIS
ACT 1 SCENE 1
    Lines 1–129: Theseus and Hippolyta discuss their wedding, measuring the time they must wait by the moon—a key motif in the play. Theseus has defeated Hippolyta in battle, but promises to wed her “in another key.” Egeus interrupts, bringing his daughter and her two suitors. In formal language, reflecting the court setting, he complains that Demetrius has his permission to marry Hermia, but that she loves Lysander, who has “bewitched” her, raising the themes of love and magic. Egeus asks for the “ancient privilege of Athens,” whereby Hermia must obey him or be executed. Hermia, subject to patriarchal rule, is reduced to a commodity by Egeus’ claim that “As she is mine, I may dispose of her.” As Hermia argues that Lysander is as “worthy” as Demetrius, she raises another key motif in the play: the idea that perceptions of “worth” are often created solely by the desire of others. Theseus rules that Hermia has until his wedding to decide whether to marry Demetrius, “die the death,” or “endure the livery of a nun” (a futile and “barren” existence). Hermia shows strength, claiming she will live and die a virgin as she “consents not to give sovereignty” to Demetrius. Egeus, Lysander, and Demetrius argue over Hermia, with Lysander insisting that he is “As well possessed” as Demetrius, and furthermore that, until recently, “inconstant” Demetrius courted Helena, who “dotes” on him. Theseus decrees, however, that he may not “extenuate” Athens’ law.
    Lines 130–182: Hermia and Lysander discuss their circumstances. Lysander says that all the evidence of his reading from “tale or history” shows that “The course of true love never did run smooth.” He lists various examples of thwarted love, perhaps implicitly drawing attention to the varied source materials for the play and acknowledging the familiar narrative theme of forbidden love. Hermia agrees to meet Lysander in the woods the next night and runaway to his aunt’s house where they can marry, safe from “sharp Athenian law.”
    Lines 183–254: Helena wishes she looked like Hermia so that Demetrius would love her. Hermia protests that she does not ask for Demetrius’ love, which he gives her even though she curses him, but Helena blames her nonetheless. Hermia and Lysander tell Helena of their planned flight and wish her luck. Once alone, Helena dwells on how she is considered as “fair” as Hermia throughout Athens, but this does not matter, as Demetrius does not think so. She observes how “Things base and vile, holding no quantity, / Love can transpose to form and dignity”: desire can give something or someone worth. She resolves to tell Demetrius about Hermia and Lysander’s intended escape.
ACT 1 SCENE 2
    The second group of characters is introduced—the artisans who are to perform as part of the wedding entertainment. Their preparation and performance of the play-within-the-play creates comedy and a clear sense of theatrical self-awareness, as the limitations of their stagecraft highlight the sophistication of the wider play. The position of this scene between one involving the mortals and one involving the fairies perhaps emphasizes the role of the theater in the movement between reality and illusion.
    Quince allocates parts in “The most lamentable comedy and most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisbe,” a humorous muddling of the genres of comedy and tragedy, but a reminder that there