Note: In the Reading Assignment sections of the rest of the course lessons, you will find questions about the readings. These questions are provided to help focus your attention while reading Shakespeare’s plays and to help you develop ideas for the writing assignments. You do not need to submit your answers to the reading questions, since they are not graded.

As you read A Midsummer Night’s Dream, think about the following questions:

1. What is the “ancient privilege of Athens” that Egeus begs for?
2. What options does Theseus offer to Hermia if she refuses to marry Demetrius?
3. Why does Helena tell Demetrius about Hermia and Lysander’s plan to elope?
4. Describe Hermia’s dream when she’s in the woods; what happens after she awakes?
5. Notice when Lysander describes his love as rational; are his actions motivated by reason?
6. How does Oberon describe the creation of the love potion? How might we interpret the significance of this narrative in relation to the rest of the play?
7. Look for allusions to other mythological characters, such as Philomela. Why do the fairies call on Philomel to protect the Fairy Queen? Does their incantation work? How might these allusions influence our reading of Shakespeare’s play?
8. What happens to Hermia and Helena’s relationship when they are in the woods?
9. How does the play-within-the-play of Pyramus and Thisbe reflect events in the main play?
10. Why does Shakespeare frame the sub-narratives in this play within the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta? Keep in mind that many of the members of Shakespeare’s audience (any men who had attended grammar school) would be familiar with the mythology of these two characters. According to Greek mythology, Theseus and Hippolyta have a son, named Hippolytus, but their marriage ends soon afterwards (in some versions Hippolyta dies and in others, Theseus abandons her). Theseus marries another woman, Phaedra, who tries to seduce Hippolytus. When he rejects her, she accuses him of rape and kills herself. Then, Theseus curses his son, who soon dies a violent death. In light of this myth, why does Shakespeare frame this play with the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta? How might the myth of Hippolytus influence our interpretation of this play’s themes about love, marriage, and power?
11. One of the main themes in this play focuses on the relationship between the mortal world and the fairy world, and between reason and imagination.  Towards the end of the play, Theseus exclaims,