A Midsummer Night's Dream: Act 5, Scene 1

The last scene in the book! This is so satisfying. OK... I'm making this quick. Prepare for a really really ridiculous run-on sentence.

So the four lovers tell Theseus what happened the night before and he's all pfft yeah right, I'm not believing you because lovers are crazy and they exaggerate too much (like, way to stereotype, and isn't Theseus a lover too??) so that problem is cast aside and they turn to see what they're going to do until it's bed time, like, can't you entertain yourselves, but OK sure, and for some reason unknown to all sane mankind they decide to watch Bottom's play, which ends up (surprise!) being really stupid but they're nice and only laugh at it a lot instead of non-stop, and then they go to bed and the fairies come and bless the house and ensure that their children won't be deformed, now isn't that nice?

So ends the play. Yippee. Now all that's left is the nine vignettes to write for the final project! And the final presentation of a selected scene, with costumes and memorized lines and props! Oh, and quarter tests are this week. And final exams are coming up, too. Not to mention all the final projects in every other class (except band, thank you oh wonderful Directors). I think I'm twitching slightly.

A Midsummer Night's Dream: Act 4, Scene 2

This scene, thankfully, was extremely short. Bottom's friends show how mentally addled they are by wishing that Bottom wasn't missing. Then he comes in the door, and they're happy. So am I because, Bottom only monologues for a paragraph, which is much shorter than usual and almost doesn't give me a headache from rolling my eyes too much.

A Midsummer Night's Dream: Act 4, Scene 1

OK... this scene starts off with Bottom totally getting pampered by Titania and her fairy attendants. Then she tells them (the fairy attendants) to go away, and falls asleep with him... stop thinking sick thoughts, people. So Oberon, who was watching this (stop thinking sick thoughts, people) tells Robin AKA Puck that now Titania is infatuated with Bottom the Ass (hey, it's the donkey, not the swearword!) she has given him the Indian boy. So they remove the spells (of course Titania won't remember about the Indian boy!) and the fairy king and queen are reunited. Hooray.

Then they play music to make the four lovers fall asleep. Must be some really boring music. Either that or so terrible that they try to suffocate themselves but just faint. Anyways. They leave.

Hippolyta, Theseus, Egeus, a bunch of hunting dogs, hunting people, and HORN PLAYERS!! enter. The three people who actually have lines are slightly nonplussed to see the four lovers randomly sleeping in the middle of the forest. They wake them up, and, due to the fairies fixing everything up again, Lysander loves Hermia and Demetrius loves Helena. Only he doesn't really love Helena, because he's under a spell, but let's not spoil the happy ending by looking into that too deeply, shall we? Anyways, the lovers are awakened, and Lysander, who has issues with keeping secrets, tells everyone about the elopement he and Hermia had planned. Egeus, who has anger management issues, orders that Lysander die. Theseus, who has sexism issues, decides that since Lysander (a MAN) lover Hermia, and Demetrius (a MAN) loves Helena, let everyone marry each other! But of course when Helena loved Demetrius, it meant nothing.

Moving on.

So they decide to all get married together, and everyone is pretty happy. They totally ditch the sleeping Bottom and go back to Athens. Bottom the n0-longer-a-literal-ass wakes up and thinks that the whole fairy thing was a dream.

And that's how it goes.

A Midsummer Night's Dream: Act 3, Scene 2

*sigh* Too busy to make a long post... I have a lot more homework to do, so this is another very short summary (for a very long scene).

Mmkay, so Robin AKA Puck tells Oberon the Loving Husband how Titania and Bottom are now... involved. Oberon the Loving Husband finds this hilarious. His good mood is ruined when Hermia comes in with Demetrius hitting on her. Oberon the Loving Husband informs Robin AKA Puck that he put the Magic Flower Juice on the eyes of the wrong Athenian man. Because Oberon was SO specific in his description, it must have been Robin's fault.

So Hermia leave and Demetrius falls asleep, and Oberon tells Robin AKA Puck to go get Helena while he anoints Demetrius' eyes. So Helena comes in as Demetrius wakes up, and Demetrius falls madly in love with... Lysander! No, sadly, he does not, although it would have been way funnier. He falls madly in love with Helena and joins Lysander in hitting on her. She thinks they're both mocking her, and, understandably, gets pretty pissed off. Then Hermia comes in and there's an awkward moment when she realizes that Lysander has left her for Helena, gets mad at Helena, and attempts to scratch her eyes out. She does not succeed. Oh, and she also gets called a dwarf because she's really short and Helena isn't. I'd say that I know how she feels, but being tall, I don't.

Yeah, so then Helena thinks that Hermia is part of Operation Mock Helena which all of Athens is involved in because Helena is the center of the universe. Meanwhile, Lysnader and Demetrius decide to have a duel to win Helena. This qualifies as Sexist Moment # 1340985287.

Oberon's lone brain cell is lonely and decides to work to pass the time. After a while, Oberon reacts and tells Robin AKA Puck to fix the situation. Robin AKA Puck impersonates Lysander to Demetrius and Demetrius to Lysander, and each of these bright young men chases after what they think is their mortal enemy. Then they fall asleep. So do Helena and Hermia. These people would be really good campers-- they can totally fall asleep with roots in their backs.

Oh yeah, and Robin AKA Puck puts the Magic Flower Juice on Lysander's eyes to undo the spell. Not sure why that wouldn't just make him fall in love with the first person he sees when he wakes up, but oh well.

End of Act 3.

A Midsummer Night's Dream: Act 3, Scene 1

Again, I am very very rushed right now so I need to hurry.

In this scene, Bottom the Lofty, Peter Quince, Flute, and co. meet in the woods to practice their play. Bottom the Lofty gets on my nerves more on more, so I am delighted when Robin transforms his head into that of a donkey's. His friends, understandably, freak, and run away. He somehow fails to notice his transformation, and thinks they're playing a trick to scare him. He decides to sing to prove that he's not scared. His singing wakes up Titania, who instantly falls in love with him because of the Magic Flower Juice that her wonderful husband Oberon put on her eyes. So she and her fairies pamper him and he seems pretty happy with that.

Next scene: cat-fight!

A Midsummer Night's Dream: Summary of Act 2, Scene 2

I really don't have much time, so I'm writing a very very basic summary for now and later I'll come back and beef it up.

So basically what happened was Oberon puts the flower juice on Titania's eyes while she's asleep, and the Robin AKA Puck goes and mistakes Lysander for Demetrius and puts the juice on his eyes, and he sees Helena when he wakes up and falls madly in love with her and she thinks he's mocking him so she gets pissed and goes off to find Demitrius and Lysander follows her and poor Hermia wakes up from a nightmare all alone.

A Midsummer Nights's Dream: Summary of Act 2, Scene 1

The scene starts out with a two fairies having a conversation, the purpose of which is to inform us that the King and Queen of the Fairies (Oberon and Titania) are mad at each other because Titania has a little Indian boy for her 'changeling' and Oberon wants the boy to be his squire. And plus they're always jealous of her. Oh, and Robin (IMPORTANT CHARACTER ALERT) is a trickster and is Shakespeare's twisted form of comic relief.

So then Oberon and Titania walk in from opposite sides of the stage, and they start arguing right away. Somehow they get from the Indian boy to accusing each other of cheating and sleeping around (both of these accusations are accurate, by the way) and so Titania, full of righteous anger, tells Oberon that their fights are messing up the natural order of things and the human world is suffering. Only she takes longer to say it. Oberon says that everything will be fine again if he can just have the Indian boy as his squire. Titania informs him that she is taking care of the Indian boy as a favor to his dead mother, who was one of her best friends. Oberon totally changes the subject (not at all suspicious!) and asks Titania how long she'll be staying in the woods, she answers, they bicker a bit more, and then she books. Oberon calls over Robin (AKA Puck) and tells him in a very roundabout way to go get a flower that can be put on a sleeping person's eyelids to make them fall madly in love with the next living person / animal they see. He wants to put it on Titania's eyelids and make her fall in love with some freaky thing so that he can have the Indian boy. But isn't the whole point of getting the Indian boy to make sure that Oberon is number 1 in Titania's attention? And wasn't he just being really jealous of her sleeping with Theseus? (Even though he slept with Hippolyta...) So wouldn't making her fall in love with some nasty thing totally defeat the purpose? Whatever... The point is, Oberon is a great husband.

So all of a sudden, Demitrius the worthy gentleman and Helena burst in, and Oberon watches invisibly because he's really polite. Demetrius the worthy gentleman tells Helena basically that she makes him sick and he hates her and if she keeps following her he'll murder her. Helena is troubled by this, but tells him he can hit her and yell at her, but PLEASE just let her stalk him. She's getting pretty pathetic. Demitrius the so-called worthy gentleman ditches her. Helena follows.

Robin, AKA Puck, comes back right then, and Oberon takes the flower from him, planning to carry out his plan on Titania, and make Demetrius love Helena, who he feels sorry for.

A Midsummer Night's Dream: Summary of Act 1, Scene 2

A group of actors have been commisioned by Theseus to perform a play at his wedding. They're assigning parts and distributing scripts.

The main guy, Peter Quince, who seems to be the leader, asks if everyone is there. A man called Bottom tells him to take roll like a responsible director. Geez, Peter Quince. Peter Quince, after a lot of back-and-forth lines with Bottom, announces that their play is 'The most lamentable comedy and most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisbe.' Not sure how that's a comedy, but sure.

Bottom seems to be an expert on the play, and assures everyone that it's a great play. He tells Peter Quince to take roll. Peter Quince asks if Nick Bottom is there-- because of course he can't tell by talking to him for only five minutes-- and Bottom says he is and tells Peter Quince to tell him what part he plays. Peter Quince tells him that he is to play Pyramus. Bottom, the expert on the play, asks who Pyramus is . Peter Quince says that he's a lover who 'kills himself most gallant.' Bottom brags about how he'll make the audience cry him a river, and then demonstrates by bellowing out completely unrelated lines from a different play. He pats himself on the back by saying 'that was lofty.' Bottom the Lofty tells Peter Quince to keep taking roll. Peter Quince asks for Francis Flute, and tells him that since his last name is that of a stereotypically girly instrument, he'll be playing Thisbe. Flute is not pleased, because he's growing a beard. Peter Quice says he'll wear a mask. Bottom the Lofty, who cannot keep his nose out of anything, says that he can play Thisbe, too! He can wear a mask, too! Look, he'll recite the lines for you right now! I'm beginning to think that Bottom the Lofty has an inferiority complex.

Peter Quince tells Bottom the Lofty that he's playing Pyramus, and Flute is playing Thisbe. He continues to take roll, and tells Robin Starveling that he is to play Thisbe's mother. Tom Snout plays Pyramus' father. Peter Quince himself will play Thisbe's father. Snug the joiner (whatever a joiner is) plays the lion. Snug, who is not very bright, asks if he can have his lines now because he takes a long time to memorize. Peter Quince reminds him that lions don't talk, and Bottom the Lofty, who has managed to restrain himself from speaking for 15 lines, butts in again. He says that he can play the lion, too. (And Pyramus! And Thisbe! And why not everyone else in the play, too? Why not just make the entire play about Bottom?!) Peter Quince says that if Bottom played the lion, he'd frighten the womenfolk with his roaring and they'd have everyone hung. I think that Athens is long overdue for a human rights movement.

Bottom the Lofty agrees that if he were to play the lion, he would terrify everyone, so he'll play the lion and roar softly, like a nightengale. Peter Quince handles the situation well by saying that he needs Bottom the Lofty to play Pyramus, because no one else is good or handsome enough. Bottom the Lofty concedes to take on the humble role of the star of the play, and demands to know what beard he'll be wearing. There's talk of beards, but finally Peter Quince tells everyone that they'll meet in the woods a league from town (hmm, who else said that?) to rehearse. Bottom the Lofty says that there they will rehearse 'most obscenely and courageously.' Peter Quince manages to cut off Bottom to give more specific directions, and then Bottom says something nonsensical for the last line of the scene.

So ends Act 1.

A Midsummer Night's Dream: Summary of Act 1, Scene 1

Now that we've finished with The Woman Warrior, we're reading a Midsummer Night's Dream by (can you guess??) Shakespeare. Mrs. Watson has asked us to summarize each scene as we read it in class and post it on our blog. So, here is my summary of Act 1, Scene 1.

So Theseus, the Duke of Athens, is psyched because he's going to get married to his fiance Hippolyta soon. He's talking to her about how it seems like so long from now and it's taking forever. She says it'll go by fast and soon it will be their wedding day. He tells his messenger Philostrate to get the Athenians excited about the upcoming wedding. Philostrate books, and Theseus tells Hippolyta that though he 'wooed thee with my sword / and won thy love doing thee injuries' (you can totally tell that Shakespeare is all for female equality), their wedding will more fun than him capturing her and other Amazon women from their homes and making them marry people they don't know.

Hippolyta doesn't have time to answer before Egeus barges in with three other people in tow and asks for Theseus' help. Egeus tells Theseus that his daughter Hermia is filling him with vexation because she wants to marry the man she loves (the nerve!). He wants her to marry Demetrius, but Lysander has apparently seduced her and turned her against her father. Theseus asks Hermia her opinion, but balances out the rationality of that with the sexist comment that she should listen to her father because he should be as a god to her, and since he 'composed her beauties' (it seems she had no mother) he can also squash her like a bug. He also says that Demetrius is a worthy gentleman. Hermia shoots back that Lysander is also a worthy gentleman. Theseus acknowledges this, but says that Demetrius is worthier because he's the one Egeus like better. Hermia wants Egeus to see Lysander the way she does, but Theseus says that she should see the situation like Egeus does. Hermia asks what will happen if she refuses to marry Demetrius. Theseus tells her that she'll either 'die the death' or 'live a barren sister all your life, / chanting faint hymns to the cold fruitless moon.' Apparently Athens is lacking in the happy, Sound of Music-type nuns. Hermia says that she'd rather be a virgin nun for the rest of her life than marry / sleep with Demetrius. Theseus tells her to think about it, and to decide by his wedding day.

Demetrius the worthy gentleman speaks up for the first time and makes a wonderful first impression by telling Hermia and Lysander to give up and yield to his certain right. Lysander tells Demetrius that since he has Egeus' love, he should marry him and let Lysander have Hermia. Egeus objects to this, and says that since he basically owns Hermia, he's giving her to Demetrius. Lysander says that he's just as good as Demetrius the worthy gentleman, and Hermia loves him, and Demetrius the worthy gentleman slept with Helena and Helena loves him so he shouldn't marry Hermia.

This is sounding more and more like a soap opera.

Anyways, Theseus says that he heard about that little affair and was going to ask Demetrius the worthy gentleman about it, but he forgot because he was obsessing about his wedding. So he tells Egeus and Demetrius the worthy gentleman to come with him, and wisely leaves the two desperate forbidden lovers alone together.

Lysander asks why Hermia is pale. Because of course, being told that you have to die or become a nun if you marry the man you love is nothing to be upset over. Hermia says she's going to cry. He comforts her by saying that the course of true love never did run smooth-- so it's destiny that they'll never be together! No, wait, maybe that wasn't too comforting. They go back and forth with the angsty lines together, when Lysander suddenly realizes that they can elope to his widowed aunt's house and get married there, where Athenian law can't touch them. This cheers them both up considerably. He tells her to meet him tomorrow night in the woods a league from the town (very specific, Lysander) and they can run away together. She promises, in very flowery poetic form, that she'll be there.

They have just finished planning their very very secret elopement when Hermia's friend Helena comes in for no apparent reason. Hermia greets her and calls her 'fair Helena,' which seems nice to me, but Helena doesn't seem to think so. She is very touchy, and tells Hermia not to call her fair because Hermia is the fair one, the fair one who Demetrius the worthy gentleman loves, that Demetrius the worthy gentleman cares nothing for Helena's fair, that only Hermia's fair can 'sway the motion of Demetrius [the worthy gentleman's] heart.' My first impression of this character is that she has major issues. Hermia says that even though she hates Demetrius the worthy gentleman, he loves her. Helena says the more she loves Demetrius the worthy gentleman, the more he hates her. They go back and forth like this for several lines, when finally Hermia stops it by spilling the beans to Helena about her and Lysander's plan. Then Lysander basically restates what Hermia said, but more poetically. Hermia and Lysander gush a bit more, then they both wish Helena good luck with Demetrius the worthy gentleman and leave.

Helena, being Hermia's faithful best friend, decides to tell Demetrius the worthy gentleman about the plan so as to win his admiration and trust and love. Yes, Helena does have issues.

That concludes Scene 1.