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Information on Author: William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564 in the UK and died on May 3, 1616. He was baptized in the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon three days after birth. He was the third son of John Shakespeare and Mary Arden. He had two older siblings, Joan and Judith, and three younger brothers, Gilbert, Richard and Edmund. He attended King's New School in Strantford, which taught reading and writing.

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On November 28, 1582 he married Anne Hathaway in Worcester, Canterbury Province. She was older than she looked when they married and she was pregnant. Susana, his first daughter was born on May 26, 1585, and two years later, in February, the twin, Hamlet and Judith were born. After the birth of the twins, nothing was known of the life of William Shakespeare.

Moreover, in his working life, he made his living as an actor and playwright in London, from 1592. For that year he had several plays. William Shakespeare was a managing partner at Lord Chamberlain Men, an acting company in London, this happened during the 1950s. Already by 1597 he had published 15 works attributed to him. He made his own theater with the help of his business partners in the south bank of the Thames River, which he called the Globe. So he became an artist and entrepreneur, is also believed that these investments helped him to write his work without interruption.

Most of the works of William Shakespeare stories were written in the 1950s, with the exception of Romeo and Juliet. Some of his works were: Richard II, Henry VI and Henry V. He also wrote several comedies like: Dream of a Summer Night, Merchant of Venice romantic, wit and wordplay of Much Ado About Nothing, the charming As You Like It and Twelfth Night. In the last period, after 1600, was that wrote Hamlet, King Lear, Othello and Macbeth. These are vivid impressions that are timeless and universal. The last thing I wrote was tragicomedies as: Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale and The Tempest.

Also, his plays were mayorly clasified in comedy, history, tragedy and apocrypha. He wrote poetry, such as Shakespeares sonnets and The rape of Lucrece.

Historical aspects of the Act

In the Renaissance period, classical Greek mythology appears often in works of famous authors of the time, such as William Shakespeare. In act v of the famous play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare uses classical mythological characters such as Theseus and Hippolyta in order to further develop the story for the reader. Also the author was influenced by the play Pyramus and Thisbe to close the act in form of comedy instead of a tragedy, which even used in future plays. That being said, references to Greek mythology also give the story additional meaning, and differences in understanding lead to a greater appreciation for the work as a whole.

Synopsis

In the first scene of Act V, Theseus was with Hippolyta in the palace talking about Demetrius, Lysander, Hermia and Helena. The four of them said that they experienced a magical experience that made them love the wrong person. Hippolyta believed in them but Theseus did not. He was saying that the Athenians were young and when people fall in love, they believe in events that do not really happen. Hippolyta told him that it was ironic that all four of them narrated the story in the same way. Then, the two couples entered. Theseus asked Philostrate to read him a list of performances to entertain the audience. Philostrate named some, but the Duke only wanted: “A tedious short drama about young Pyramus and his love Thisbe, a very sad and tragic comedy” even though Philostrate warned him that it was a horrible play. Theuseus insisted that Craftsman had to be given a chance. Quince, the leader of the group started the prologue of the play with incorrect placed commas. He was trying to say that their intent was for the audience’s delight, not repented. There were six actors. Starveling was moonshine, Snout was a wall with a chink, Snug was a lion, Bottom was Pyramus and Flute was Thisbe. They act out a satirical version of the play. Sometimes, they talked out of character to explain to the audience the meaning of several aspect of the play. Because of this, the nobleman and women including the Duke joked among themselves about the actors. The plot of the play was the imposibble love between two people, because of the disapproval of the women’s father. This led the couple in communicated through a chink. Pyramus committed suicide and because of this, Thisbe commits suicide as well. Bottom asked the audience if they wanted an epilogue or a dance. Theseus chose a dance. Then, everyone went to sleep. Robin, the puck and the queen and king of the fairies entered the room. Oberon and Titania (the queen and king) blessed the palace with a song so the children of the couples could be beautiful and for the loyalty and safety of the couples. Puck reenters and apologizes for the act, noting that all of the play was a dream and a manifestation of the sub conscience.

Major Components

Plot

First, Theseus and Hippolyta complain about not believing the story that the workers told them.This is not relevant to them because they´re too happy. The celebration continues and the search for the entertainment of the festivity begins. After Theseus chose the workers´ play, it begins with a prologue made by Quince. Theseus, Lysander and Hippolyta complain about the punctuation, speed and the out-of-control sounds. The atmosphere of the play makes the audience interested in what they´re going to see. The characters of the play introduce themselves. The play begins with a brief explanation of the story and its characters. Theseus seems to be very involved because he has been paying attention to every detail of the play. At some point, Hippolyta expresses that for her, the play is silly. During the rest of the play, Theseus, Demetrius, Lysander and Hippolyta are in constant discussion of what they´re watching. At the end of the play, Theseus mentions that there is no need for an epilogue because the actors are dead and so no one needs to be blamed. When everyone leaves, just Robin, Titania, Oberon and the fairies stay to give good luck to the palace and celebrate. They also wish good luck to future children of the couples. The action ends, when Robin wants the audience to feel that the play A Midsummer Night´s Dream was all just a vision or a dream.

Setting

Act V takes place in Athens, Greece, in Theseus’s palace where they were having the marriage festivity. Also, “Pyramus and Thisbe, a very sad and tragic comedy” takes place in the palace’s theatre and in the world created by the Craftsman during this play. The act is developed between the years of 1590 to 1596, integrating the elements of ancient Greece.

It has a comical, joyful and burlesque atmosphere, because it expresses the feelings of gratitude of Theseus towards the Craftsman, the happiness of the 3 couples due to their wedding, the play of Pyramus and Thisbe was based on comical events and the actors were constantly making a fool of themselves due to their lack of talent. Shakespeare posses an emotive, joyful and satirical tone. It can also be a dreamlike atmosphere and tone, because at the end Robin (puck) reveals that it was all a dream.

In addition, it has a play within a play that takes up most of Act V, is used to represent many of the issues and ideas important in the main plot and setting.

The setting is represented directly, since it is specified in the stage directions, for example, at the beginning of Act V Shakespeare specifies that they are at the Duke’s palace. However, it is also indirect, because it does not specify the atmosphere and some hidden settings, such as the world created by the craftsman.

Characters

The characterization technique used to describe the characters was indirect, because Shakespeare described the characters through their actions. For example, when Theseus says: "I’ll never believe any of these old legends or fairy tales. Lovers and madmen hallucinate about things that sane people just can’t understand." we can see that he lacks of magical beliefs.

Major Characters

• Theseus
  

The Duke of Athens, married to Hyppolita. He represents order and power. Theseus is a realistic person and has no magical beliefs. He supports people and believes in their efforts. He is a sterotypical character, because he represents an entire group or category (dukes).

• Nick Bottom (the weaver)
  

Bottom is part of the craftsman's play for Theseus marriage celebration. He Performs as Pyramus a lover who kills himself for love. He believes in his own abilities and he is sure of himself despite the fact that he lacks of acting talent. During this act he is surrounded by a humoristic atmosphere and it stems from the fact that he is unaware of his ridiculousness. Bottom constantly made grammatical mistakes during the play and got out of character to clarify his mistakes since he took his participation seriously. He is a stereotypical character, because his behavior represents the naive characters in most plays and even daily life. An example of this is when he gets out of character to explain the meaning of the wall in a serious attitude, not knowing that the nobleman and women were making fun of them.

• Peter Quince (the carpenter)
  

He is the oficial leader of the craftsman play for Theseus's wedding celebration. He plays the prologue and is the one with more knowledge about the development and plot of the play, but he is constantly out shined by Nick Bottom. Quince has gramatical errors at the beginning of the play. He is a stereotypical character, because he represents the naive and uneducated workers of ancient Greece.

• Francis Flute (bellows - repairman) & Robin Starveling (the tailor)
  

Flute plays Thisbe in the craftsman play for theseus's marriage celebration. Thisbe is a women, so Flute played the character in a high voice constantly making a fool out of himself. On the other hand, Starveling plays the moonshine. He preformed this with a light in his hands saying he was the man on the moon and was mocked for this reason. They both are stereotypical characters, because they represent the naive and uneducated workers of ancient Greece.

• Tom Snout (the handyman) & Snug (the cabinetmaker)
  

Snout plays the part of the wall in the craftsman play for Theseus's marriage celebration. Although he made a fool out of himself in the play, he kept being sure of himself and he even got out of character to clarify some aspects of his character. Snug played the lion. He was afraid that his roar with scare the ladies, so he decided to clarify that he was not a real lion. These characters are stereotypical, because they represent the uneducated workers and the typical naive characters.

• Robin Goodfellow (the puck)
  

Puck is a mischievous and enchanting spirit that pervades the atmosphere. He is the one that announces that the entire play is a dream. He is loyal to his superiors and he hides from the light. Puck is a stereotypical character since he represents the mischievous spirits in general. He is also a static character, because he does not undergo any internal changes.

Minor Characters

• Philostrate
  

Theseus's manager of mirths. He organizes the performances and entertainment for the Duke's marriage celebration. He is not a appreciative person. Philostrate is a stereotypical character because he represents a group or category, which are the "servants" of the duke and he has a stereotypical behavior. An example of this is when he inters and says: "Here, mighty Theseus." He is a static character as well, because he does not undergo any internal changes during the act and he plays a supporting role for the major character.

• Hippolyta
  

Queen of the Amazons. Hippolyta is married to Theseus, the Duke of Athens. She believes in magical events and she is not an appreciative person. Hippolyta gets influenced by other people opinions. She is a stereotypical character, because she represents the entire category or group of "Queens" and so does her behavior. She is also a static character, because she does not undergo any internal changes during the act and she supports the major character

• Lysander & Demetrius
  

Lysander is a young man of Athens, married to Hermia and Demetrius is married to Helena. The are judgmental people with a big sense of humor and mockery. The are both stereotypical characters, because they represent all of the young men of the renaissance and like in many stories and plays they represent the noble young men who fall in love with a woman. They are also static characters, because they do not undergo any internal changes during the act and they support the major character.

• Helena & Hermia
  

Hermia is the daughter of Egus, a young woman from Athenas and Helena is Hermia's est friend. They are married to Lysander and Demetrius. They perform the function of static character, because they are mentioned in the play, but they do not speak at any moment. They merely function as a support for the major character. They represent the young women stereotype.

• Lords & Attendants
  

They are merely silhouettes in the play. They are stereotypical and static characters, because they are expressed in two groups (stereotypes) and they do not undergo any internal changes during the act.

• Oberon & Titania
  

They are the king and queen of the fairies and they are also noble creatures. Just like the Duke and his wife they represent order and power. These are stereotypical characters, because they represent kings and queen and there behavior represents it as well.

• Servants & Followers (Fairies and Elfs)
  

These are loyal to the king and queen. These creatures do a dance to bless the house and the couples in it. These are merely static characters, because they do not undergo any type of change during the act. Also, they are presented in act v as a stereotype, because are name in 2 groups.

Theme

Throughout the act five of the play A Midsummer Night's Dream are represented certain characters and the play of Pyramus and Thisbe as symbols in this. Shakespeare uses Theseus and Hippolyta, the ruler of Athens and his warrior bride, to represent order and stability, which present in the act satisfaction and stability. Nick Bottom and Puck symbolize the humor and the dreams in this act because both were the speakers of the play Pyramus and Thisbe and believed do it perfectly, causing humor and at the end Puck extends the idea of dreams to the audience members themselves, saying that, if they have been offended by the play, they should remember it as nothing more than a dream, showing how the impossible happens. The play Pyramus and Thisbe represents mostly the main plot because it symbolizes a satire of the characters themselves culminating in a funny and happy end.

Stage Directions

A midsummer night dream play Act V, has stages directions to establishe a relation between the script and the characters. First of all, a stage direction is an instruction written as part of the script of a play. In the first line of the act V there is a stage direction that indicates the place of the entire action of the act that refers to Athens, in the palace of Theseus. Then said that Theseus, Hippolyta, and Philostrate enters, with a number of lords and servants, this establishes that they come to the house to view the action of the imaginary play. After that, the next directions is that Lysander, Demetrius, Hermia and Helena enter; this says that the atmosphere in this part is love and happiness. Giving a paper Philostrate to Theseus for him to read and choose what part of the play he wants to act. Here Philostrate criticizes the actor and Theseus wants to give them a chance. Now we can see that opportunity and indifference are showing. Then Philostrate exits and enters again, to announce Quince is going to deliver the prologue, but the pronunciation and grammar is bad, this means that he is uneducated. This also provokes mockery from the audience.

Later, Bottom enters as Pyramus, with Flute as Thisbe, Snout as wall, Starveling as moonshine, and Snug as lion, the author uses these stage directions for impregnate mystery, curiosity and blood. The Wall represents the little hole where the lovers always see each other secretly; the lion represents badness and blood, Thisbe the tenderness and Pyramus the risky love. Then Pyramus enters say that the night is so black, a comparison of the sadness and the black color establishes that he wants the moonshine to lumber him. The lion and Moonshine enter to define their objects in the world. Then Thisbe enter, runs off, dropping her cloak, she represent the virginity, ignorance and frightfulness of the era. Pyramus sees that unforgettable moment and decides to kill himself but before that he tells the moon that is time for him to go away, because his life was over and he had no more inspiration. When Thisbe searches for him and knows that he was dead she decides to commit suicide too. Finally, all exit, because the fairy time is ended. All exits except Robin, he lets the audience know that everything was a dream.

Critique of Act

After reading A midsummer night´s dream, we can say that is a play full of imagination. In Act V, was one full of imagination, old English and accuracy were in manifest. Imagination can be seen throughout the play, but in this act is seen when imaginary actors appear and at the end of the act Robin says it was all a fantasy. In terms of accuracy, this act does not include many details for a single event, but it gives you the option to infer the whole act. Also, A midsummer night´s dream is a different play and it is very interesting, because it reflects stories that are unusual and invite you to be dynamic and not static in a sense, but imagine deeper.

On the other hand, it must be said that the most disturbing and difficult aspect in this act is the old English. A midsummer night´s dream, written in 1590 by William Shakespeare, makes it difficult to transport to an ancient era where English was different.

Finally, it is an astonishing play, precise and short. It also gives the reader the opportunity to conduct conversations with study groups. It was a rewarding experience, having read this book.

Additional Changes

We would change the end of act v, because we would like the story to be true. But apart from that aspect we believe that changing this act would change the whole purpose of the play. Every detail is present because it has an objective. This is why we prefer not adding or subtracting any aspect of Act V. It is seamless the way it is.

Adaptations

The movie He's Just Not That Into You is an adaptation to A Midsummer Night's Dream. If we compare the ending of the movie with the ending of the play, we can say that both pieces had a happy ending. But, all the couples in A Midsummer Night's Dream end up together, unlike He's Just Not That Into You that only that only 3 couples are together (Neil and Beth, Mary and Connor and Gigi and Alex). Another diference of these two pieces is that the play within a play does not exist in He's Just Not That Into You. On the other hand, the same confidence that the craftsman have in A Midsummer Night's Dream, the characters in the movie have it as well. Also, at the end of the play you find that Robin Goodfellow talks alone and tells everyone it is a dream. You can find that at the end of the movie Gigi's voice appears alone telling that path to happiness is not through finding another person, but through finding yourself. So Robin and Gigi perform the same function.

External Links

• http://www.gradesaver.com/midsummer-nights-dream/study-guide/section5/
• http://www.shmoop.com/midsummer-nights-dream/act-5-scene-1-summary.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Midsummer_Night%27s_Dream
• http://www.online-literature.com/shakespeare/midsummer/
• http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/msnd/canalysis.html
• http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/a-midsummer-nights-dream/character-analysis/hermia.html
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1wMfOwlAZ8
• http://www.william-shakespeare.info/shakespeare-play-a-midsummer-nights-dream.htm
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Midsummer_Night%27s_Dream_%28opera%29
• http://www.online-literature.com/shakespeare/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare
• http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/msnd/
• http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/msnd/facts.html

References

He's Just Not That Into You (2009) - Synopsis. (2012, December 4). IMDb - Movies, TV and Celebrities. Retrieved February 26, 2013, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1001508/synopsis
No Fear Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Act 5, Scene 1, Page 18. (2013, January 25). No Fear Shakespeare: Shakespeare's plays plus a modern translation you can understand. Retrieved February 26, 2013, from http://nfs.sparknotes.com/msnd/page_180.html
Transitional Words & Phrases. (2012, May 10). Study Guides and Strategies. Retrieved February 26, 2013, from http://www.studygs.net/wrtstr6.htm
Wikipedia:Picture tutorial. (2013, February 22). Wikipedia. Retrieved February 25, 2013, from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Picture_tutorial
William Shakespeare. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 01:51, Feb 26, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/william-shakespeare-9480323.

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