shakespeare+questions

Act I, Scene 1 1. How is Hippolyta’s reasoning concerning how quickly the next four days will pass different from that of Theseus? Theseus thinks that the days cannot pass fast enough, he finds that they drag on. Hippolyta thinks that the days will slip by and they will be married it what seems like no time.

2. Why has Egeus brought his daughter and her two suitors to Theseus? What does Egeus expect him to do? Egeus expects Theseus to reason with his daughter and convince her to marry Demitrious.

3. What was the proper role for women/daughters in Athenian society according to Egeus and Theseus? What is Theseus’s ruling concerning Hermia? Theseus thinks that Hermia should idolize her father and follow his wishes, as was expected in society at that time.

4. How does Lysander’s comment about Demetrius’s previous love affair with Helena complicate things? Lysander tries to cast doubt on Demetrius's reliability and consistency by mentioning Demetrius's affair.

5. What do Lysander and Hermia plan to do about this seemingly impossible situation? Why do they tell Helena? Lysander and Hermia plan to marry at Lysander's aunt's house outside of Athens so they are untouchable by Athenian law. They tell this to Helena to give her assurance that Demetrius will not marry Hermia, and that perhaps she could get him back.

6. Even though Helena loves Demetrius and is Hermia’s best friend, why does she decide to tell Demetrius of Hermia and Lysander’s plans? Helena tells Demetrius of Hermia and Lysander's plans so that Demetrius would give up pursuing Hermia and reassume his love for Helena, because she loves him. 7. Identify Hermia’s basic dilemma. What are the choices outlined for her by Theseus and her father? What other choice does Lysander suggest? Her Father wants to either have her marry Demitrius, or to kill her. Theseus gives her another option; to become a nun. Lysander suggests that they elope, run to his aunt's house outside of Athens so that the law cannot control her, and marry there.

Act I, Scene 2 8. Why does Nick Bottom want to play all the parts? Because he believes that his acting ability is supiriour to anyone else's and that he would be best for all parts.

9. In what way is this scene funny? Why do you suppose Shakespeare included this scene? The scene is funny because it mocks theatre not allowing women to act, and it also is humerous because of Nick Bottom's ego. Shakespere probably included this scene to poke fun at his profession a little bit.

10. Where are the actors to meet the following night? Who else is meeting there at the same time? They are to meet at the Duke's Oak, where Lysander and Hemia have also arranged to meet.

11. How would you describe Bottom’s acting ability? What is Bottom’s own opinion of his acting ability?  Bottom's acting ability is not very great, as he seems as though he doesn't know really what he's doing, although he thinks that he is a phenominal actor, who can control the emotions of the audience.

Act II, Scene 1

10. What does the reader find out about the current relationship between Oberon, King of the Fairies, and Titania, Queen of the Fairies, from Puck and the first fairy? We learn that Oberon and Tatiania don't get along because Obern is jealous of Titania's love for a little Indian boy and wants him to himself.

11. How have Oberon and Titania been involved in the past with Theseus and Hippolyta; why have they come to Athens? Oberon has previouslty had a relationship with Hippolyta, and Titania has had one with Theseus. They have both come to Athens to attend the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta/

12. What effect has their quarrel had on nature, on the seasons, on humans? Their quallel has brought fog, caused rivers to overflow, and ruin crops. It has brought disease, and changed the course of the seasons.

13. Why won’t Titania give up the changeling to Oberon? Titania won't give Oberon the changeling because the boy's mother was a good friend of hers, and it was for his mother that Titania should not part with him.

14. What does Oberon send Puck to find? Oberon sends Puck to find and bring back pansies.

15. What are Oberon’s plans for Titania? Oberon wishes to use the juice from the pansies to drop on Titania's eyes as she sleeps, so when she awakens, she will fall in love with the first living creature she sets eyes on.

16. How does Helena react to Demetrius’s verbal abuse? After Helena is told by Demetrius that he doesn't love her, and she shouldn't follow him, Helena continues to speak of her love for him, and becomes more intent on following him.

17. What is her response to his threats of physical abuse? After Demetrius threaten's her, Helena says that she will follow him wherever he goes.

18. In what way is Helena’s behaviour inappropriate for Athenian women? Helena's behaviour is innappropriate for Athenian women at the time, because women then were supposed to be modest and not speak back to men. It was very immodest of Helena to follow a man into the woods and ignore his orders to leave him. Women weren't supposed to chase after men like Helena did.

19. What does Oberon tell Puck to do about Demetrius and Helena? Oberon commands Puck to put pansie juice on the eyes of the Athenien man who appears not to love the woman he is with.

Act II, Scene 2 20. Why does Oberon want Titania to wake and fall in love with some vile thing? Oberon want Titania to fall in love with a greusome creature because he's jealous of the attention the boy recieves from her, and wants the changeling for himself. He also wants to embarass her, to get revenge on her for embarassing him.

21. Why does Hermia insist Lysander sleep a little ways from her? Hermia insists that Lysander sleeps away from her because they were not yet married and it would've been indecent for them to sleep beside each other.

22. Why does Puck anoint Lysander’s eyes? Because Lysander was sleeping a ways away from Hermia, Puck was lead to believe that he didn't love her, and he was the Athenian man that Oberen had spoken of when he sent Puck with the juice.

23. How does Helena react to Lysander’s sudden love for her when he awakens? Helena assumes Lysander's sudden love for her to be a cruel joke, mocking her for chasing after a man who didn't love her.

24. How is Hermia’s dream a reflection of reality? Hermia dream's that a serpant ate her heart, but when she wakes Lysander doesn't love her anymore. Perhaps a serpant eating her heart was a metaphor for her heart being broken.

Act III, Scene 1 25. How are the actors going to keep from scaring the ladies when Pyramus kills himself or when the lion roars? The actors plan to tell the audience that it is not in fact a lion, but Bottom pretenting to be one. They will also insure that half of his face shows through the costume. And in the suicide scene, they will interupt the script to remind the audience that Pyramus is actually an actor pretending to kill himself.

26. How are the actors going to manage the setting/scenery such as the moonlight and the wall? To function as a wall, the actors are going to have someone dress as a wall, using plaster, and held his fingers so to represent the chink in the wall. For the moonlight, they plan to use actual moonlight and let it shine in. 27. Why do the rest of the actors run off when Bottom reappears? The other actors run away at the sight of Bottom because they see that he has the head of a donkey, although Bottom himself is unaware of this.

28. What does Puck plan to do when he follows after the other actors? He wants to leave the scene where Titania will awake to find Bottom with an ass' head.

29. How does Bottom react to Titania and the other fairies? He continues singing and doesn't seem very surprised.

30. Bottom says, "…reason and love keep little company together nowadays." Why is this such an apt statement at this point in the play? This quote also describes the way the other characters are falling in and out of love with each other seemingly without reason.

Act III, Scene 2 31. What does Hermia accuse Demetrius of doing? Hermia accuses Demitrius of killing Lysander.

32. How are Puck and Oberon going to correct Puck’s earlier mistake? Puck and Obern are going to put pansy juice in only Lysander's eyes and make sure that Hermia is the first one he sees, so he'll fall back in love with her.

33. Why is Helena upset when Demetrius says he loves her? Isn’t this what she had wanted all along? Helena still believes that she is being mocked by Demetrius when he says that he loves her. She thinks that he's making fun of her for loving him.

34. Of what does Helena accuse Hermia? Helena accueses Hermia of betraying her by playing along with Demetrius and Lysander 'pretending' to be in love with her.

35. How close had Hermia and Helena been in the past? Hermia and Helena had been very good friends since childhood.

36. How does Lysander treat Hermia? Why can’t she believe what he says? Lysander says that he hates Hermia, but she cannot believe him because only the night before, he had been in love with her, and they had been running away together.

37. Of what does Hermia accuse Helena? Hermia accuses Helena of seducing Lysander, doing something to make Lysander love Helena instead of Hermia.

38. Why is Helena afraid of Hermia? Helena fears Hermia because Hermia is very dangerous when she's angry.

39. What are Lysander and Demetrius going off to do? Demetrius and Lysander go off to fight over Helena.

40. What does Oberon tell Puck to do about the two young men? Oberon tells Puck to have the two men fall asleep and rub the magic juice into Lysander's eyes, to make sure that Hermia is the first one he sees when he awakes.

41. What is Oberon going to do about Titania? Oberon is going to 42. Why doesn’t Oberon fear the coming of day?

43. How well does Puck’s trickery work? Very well, both men think that the voice of Puck is actually the voice of the other man, and follows it.

 COMPLETION 6/10  EFFORT 6/10  CONTENT 6/10  TOTAL 18/30