At the time that the play was written, these traditions had come under attack by the English Puritans, who thought that they were "pagan- practices that gave the people too much opportunity for mischief. ... When Shakespeare's company performed Act V, for instance, the noble men and women in the first audience of the play would be watching other noble men and women (Hippolyta, Theseus, Helena, Demetrius, Hermia, and Lysander) doing on stage exactly what they themselves were doing in real life: watching a play meant to entertain them at a wedding. ... Strangely, she does not seem t...

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

Critics find it a task to explain the intricateness of the play, audiences find it very pleasing to read and watch. ... Oberon's plan is carried out, but the potion is also placed on Lysander's eyes. ... Puck persuades them to sleep all together and more of the antidote is placed on the eyes of Lysander. ... Hermia and Helena were once intimate friends, but Helena is suspicious of Hermia's involvement in the men's "joke." ... The fairies never think and love, which explains all of the deceit and odd events that go on during the play. ...

• Word Count: 2837
• Approx Pages: 11
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

However, directors are as much a product of a cultural framework as their plays are. ... This enables me to highlight their specific features. ... This also affects their position with regard to the humans. ... In their gold coats spots you see; Those be rubies, fairy favours; I must go seek some dewdrops here, And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear," (2.1.9-14). ... Such physical allegories were first used in the fifth century B.C to explain Greek mythology, because; "with the growth of philosophic rationalism in Greece [], the traditional myths [with its humanlike, and sometimes i...

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

Before they go, he orders Hermia to take the time remaining before his marriage to Hippolyta to make up her mind. ... Hermia and Lysander confide their plan to her and wish her luck with Demetrius. ... Helena remarks to herself that she envies them their happiness. ... She invites Oberon to go with her to dance in a fairy round and see her nightly revels, but Oberon declines, saying that they will be at odds until she gives him the boy. ... Oberon makes himself invisible so that he can watch and hear them. ...

• Word Count: 4960
• Approx Pages: 20
• Grade Level: High School