The play's title, for instance, refers to an English holiday custom: on "Midsummer Eve,"" or the night of the summer solstice on June 23, English men and women would spend the night outdoors around bonfires, telling supernatural tales of fairies and witchcraft. ... By the time Theseus reappears at the end of the play, however, he and Hippolyta seem genuinely and mutually happy together, and he presides over a magically resolved triple wedding in which everyone gains their heart's desire. The character of Theseus appears in Greek myth (he was a friend of Hercules and a giant-killer...

• Word Count: 10864
• Approx Pages: 43
• Grade Level: High School

These highly subjective sonnets are wonderful tales full of love, deception, and betrayal. ... The first quatrain introduces the theme with the image of reflected beauty, "Look in thy glass and tell the face thou viewest" (ll. 1). ... The final portion of the sonnet tells how Shakespeare's beloved differs from the summer in various respects. ...

• Word Count: 3329
• Approx Pages: 13
• Grade Level: High School

"Tales, description and anecdotes of the fairies from all over the country and, indeed, from all over the world, make it clear that they are not generally conceived as existing in a independent and self-contained state, but have great concern with mortal things" (Briggs, The Fairies in Tradition and Literature, 95). ...

• Word Count: 9832
• Approx Pages: 39
• Grade Level: High School