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- Shakespeare's comedy: A Midsummer Night's Dream
Shakespeare's comedy: A Midsummer Night's Dream
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A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's most popular comedies, and many schools study it in Key Stage 3. It mixes young lovers, quarrelling fairies and a group of workmen putting on a play.
Three worlds, one wood
What happens
Oberon tells Puck to use a magic flower's juice, which makes a sleeper fall in love with the first creature they see on waking. Puck puts it on the wrong Athenian, and chaos follows.
Puck also gives Bottom the head of a donkey (an ass), and Titania, under the spell, falls in love with him.
In the end the spells are put right, the couples marry, and the workmen perform their play.
Famous lines
Why is 'The course of true love never did run smooth' a good summary of the play?
- Hermia and Lysander are forbidden to marry.
- The magic flower makes the lovers swap who they love.
- Love in the play is full of obstacles before it ends happily.
Answer: Every couple in the play faces obstacles, from a strict father to magic spells, before the happy ending.
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy set in Athens and a magical wood. Love is confused by a father's orders and by Puck's mistakes with a magic flower, but everything ends in marriage and a play.
The interactive lesson includes the diagrams for this topic.
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