William Shakespeare was born on 23rd April, 1564.

He died on 23rd April 1616.

The dates above are approximate because there is no
record of neither his birth nor death. We only have
records of his baptism and burial.
If we accept the dates, Shakespeare was born and
died on the same day in fact Shakespeares death
occurred on his 52nd birthday.
Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, but later
moved to London for work.
Shakespeare had three children with his wife, Anne Hathaway.
When he left for London, Shakespeare left his family behind in
Stratford. He did, however, retire back to Stratford at the end of his
career.
There is evidence that Shakespeare was a secret Catholic.
By the end of his life, Shakespeare was a wealthy gentleman and
had a coat of arms. His final residence was New Place, the largest
house in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Shakespeare was buried inside Holy Trinity Church in Stratford.
Shakespeares grave has a curse engraved upon it.
Shakespeares birthday is celebrated worldwide every year. The
main festival is in Stratford-upon-Avon on Saint Georges Day.
Shakespeare was not a one-off genius, as many
people would have you believe. Rather he was a
product of his time.
Shakespeare grew up during the renaissance.
Queen Elizabeth I ruled for much of Shakespeares
life and she would sometimes come and watch his
plays.
Shakespeare wrote 38 plays.
Shakespeares plays are split into three genres:
tragedy, comedy and history.
Hamlet is often regarded as the Bards best play.
Romeo and Juliet is often regarded as the Bards
most famous play.
Shakespeare may have co-authored many of his
plays.
Shakespeare wrote 157 sonnets.
The sonnets are split into sections. The first follows
the Fair Youth and the second follows the so-called
Dark Lady.
It likely that the sonnets were never intended for
publication.
Sonnet 18 is often regarded as Shakespeares most
famous sonnet.
Shakespeares sonnets are written in a strict poetic
meter called Iambic Pentameter and have 14 lines
each.
The theatre experience in Shakespeares time was very different to
today crowds would eat and talk through the production and plays
would be performed in the open air.
The Globe Theatre was made from the materials of a stolen theatre
that Shakespeares theatre company dismantled at midnight and
floated across the Thames River.
Shakespeare described the Globe Theatre as the Wooden O
because of its shape.
The original Globe Theatre was demolished to make way for
tenements in 1644 when it fell out of use.
The building that currently stands in London is a replica built from
traditional materials and techniques. It is not on the original site, but
very close to it.
Today, the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is the worlds
leading producer of Shakespeare and is headquartered in the Bards
hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon.
A type of drama that is humorous.
Has a happy ending.
Includes humor that makes the characters and their
situations seem funny, amusing, or ludicrous.
Humor points out the foibles or incongruities of
human nature.
Sarcasm, exaggeration, puns and verbal irony.
1. Love
2. Loves Difficulty
3. Problem with Time
4. Loss of Individual Identity
5. Ambiguous Sexuality
6. Feminism
7. Magic
8. Dreams

Hermia loves Lysander, Lysander loves Hermia,
Demetrius loves Hermia, Helena loves Demetrius, and no
one loves Helena. Oh, and Egeus wants his daughter killed
if she doesn't follow his plan of marrying Demetrius.

About twenty lines into the play, we hear Egeus's
complaint against his daughter Hermia, and we know the
initial situation is a conflict itself. The play will definitely
be about resolving this pickle.

Titania and Oberon are quarrelling, Lysander and Hermia have run off
together and gotten lost in the woods, and Demetrius and Helena have
followed.

Further conflict arises in yet another set of main characters: Oberon and
Titania. The fairies' fight (over a relatively small thing) has the potential of
very serious consequences for the entire natural world. In contrast, the young
lovers are worried about a serious thing (love), but the way they deal with it
only matters to themselves and their families. The scene is set for our
Athenian heroes to get involved in this other conflict. As Titania and Oberon
announce that the natural world is all mixed up, the four lovers go wandering
into that very natural world, with predictably zany results. We're all set for
the young Athenians' problems to become even more complicated, reflecting
the conflict that brews in the wood around them.

Puck has put love potion on Lysander's eyes by accident, causing
him to fall in love with Helena and forsake Hermia. Oberon enchants
Demetrius and he too falls in love with Helena. Puck has turned
Bottom's head into that of a donkey.

Puck's mistaken enchantment of Lysander further complicates an
already difficult situation. True love has betrayed itself (Lysander
leaves Hermia) and, with the addition of Demetrius's enchantment,
false love appears to be true (Demetrius claims to love Helena). Now
the pendulum has swung from loving Hermia to loving Helena.
Elsewhere in the forest, Puck has interfered with the Mechanicals'
rehearsal by transforming their main character into a beast and
sending the others all screaming off into the woods.

Lysander and Demetrius fight; Hermia and Helena fight.

This is an ugly resolution to the whole love-juice situation. Demetrius
and Lysander would've fought over Hermia anyway, but now they fight over
Helena, which inspires Hermia to try and fight Helena. During this row in
the woods, some pretty harsh words are thrown around, and ugly things get
brought up from the past (like how Helena thought Hermia was a vixen
when they were younger). It's especially hard to hear the girls say things like
this when you know they aren't under any kind of spell (only the guys are).
Titania's love for Bottom is climactic insofar as it lets us know there will be
a turning point. Eventually, Oberon will have Titania released from the spell
(once he gets the Indian child) and likely he'll have everything fixed with the
lovers by then, too. Until then, we can enjoy the madness at the peak of the
play.

Puck leads Demetrius and Lysander in opposite directions;
Hermia and Helena's fight seems irreparable.

This part of the play would be a bit worrisome if we didn't
know already that comedies end nicely. Demetrius and
Lysander haven't resolved their quarrel and, even as they fall
asleep, they're vowing to kill each other. Even more
frightening is the emotional quarrel that's occurred between
two formerly dear friends, Hermia and Helena. Helena runs
away from a fuming Hermia, and the Jerry Springer things
they said to each other leave open the distinct possibility that,
no matter what, their friendship might never recover.

Oberon releases Titania from the spell. Puck gives Lysander the remedy
juice. Demetrius declares that he's in love with Helena. Theseus announces
that the couples will be married. Also, Bottom awakens with his own head
back.

Oberon has gotten the Indian child that he wanted from Titania, so he no
longer has any beef with his wife. When she wakes up from her
enchantment, the couple goes back to normal, which restores harmony to the
natural world. Puck solves the problem of Lysander loving Helena by putting
the potion's remedy on Lysander's eyes. He solves the problem of Demetrius
not loving Helena by leaving the pansy-juice on Demetrius's eyes. Thus,
when everyone wakes up, the couples have neatly paired off. Finally, the
transformation and return of a normal-headed Bottom to Athens solves the
Mechanicals' worry that they couldn't put on the play.

The three couples are married in Athens. Pyramus and Thisbe is
performed, and Oberon, Titania, and Puck bless the house and the couples.

All the Mechanicals' hard work finally pays off they get to perform a
play that touches on the severity of what could have happened to two
doomed lovers (Pyramus and Thisbe here serve as a tragic reflection of the
happier Lysander and Hermia). While the humans leave the play in party
hats, the fairies come out and close the play, saying matters in the world are
really more serious than all this might suggest. Puck reminds us that
everyone will die, which is a nice conclusion. Oberon and Titania put the
real conclusion on by promising that the characters are all busy (even while
they speak) making babies, which is a good way to preserve yourself from
death. Also, Oberon promises the couples will be happy and in love for the
rest of their lives.

Theseus Duke of Athens
Hippolyta Queen of the Amazons, betrothed to Theseus
Philostrate Master of the Revels
Egeus father of Hermia, wants her to marry Demetrius
Hermia in love with Lysander
Helena in love with Demetrius
Lysander in love with Hermia
Demetrius in love with Hermia at first but later loves Helena

Oberon
Titania's husband and king of the
fairies
Titania
Oberon's wife and queen of the
fairies
Puck
called Robin Goodfellow, servant to
Oberon
Peaseblossom
Cobweb
Moth
Mustardseed
fairy servants to Titania
First and Second
Fairies

Peter Quince
Carpenter, leads the troupe and
plays Prologue
Nick Bottom Weaver, plays Pyramus
Francis Flute Bellows-mender, plays Thisbe
Robin Starveling Tailor, plays Moonshine
Tom Snout Tinker, plays Wall
Snug Joiner, plays Lion

Mischievous
Quick-witted sprite
Has a capricious spirit, magical fancy, fun-loving
humor and lovely and evocative language
Graceful but not so saccharine as the other fairies
Given to a certain coarseness
Good-hearted but capable of cruel tricks.
Bizarre looking
Overconfident weaver
Hilariously overt
Believes extraordinarily in his own abilities
Comically incompetent
Unaware of his own ridiculousness
Unaware of the fact that his head has been transformed
into that of an ass
Lovesick young woman desperately in love with
Demetrius
Thinks most about the nature of love
Says Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind
Utterly faithful to Demetrius despite her recognition of
his shortcomings
Extremely unsure of herself
Act One (1)
Scene One (1)
Scene Two (2)

Act Two (2)
Scene One (1)
Scene Two (2)

Act Three (3)
Scene One (1)
Scene Two (2)
Scene Three (3)
Act Four (4)
Scene One (1)
Scene Two (2)

Act Five (5)
Scene One (1)
Scene Two (2) and Epilogue
Summary and Analysis of Acts and Scenes

Represents order and stability
Show that in dream realm, one is not in control of
ones environment
Their reappearance in the daylight of Act IV to hear
Theseuss hounds signifies the end of the dream
state of the previous night and a return to rationality.

Becomes a symbol of the unreasoning, fickle, erratic
and undeniably powerful nature of love.


Symbol for the story which involves powerful
emotions that is made hilarious by its comical
presentation.

The entire play is constructed around groups of
opposites and doubles.
Nearly every characteristic presented in the play has
an opposite.
The three main groups of characters are designed to
contrast powerfully with one another.
There is no scene in which extraordinary contrast is
not present.