MND Plotting

PLOTTING in A Midsummer Night's Dream

A playwright uses many techniques to convey an idea through handling of the story. These techniques (such as parallel scenes, use of foil characters and thematic use of imagery) are called plotting.

Plotting 1: Interwoven Stories

Plotting 2: Imagery for Theme (Sample answer available.)

Plotting 3: Play within a Play: "Pyramus and Thisbe"

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Plotting 1: Interwoven Stories

There are four different stories in A Midsummer Night's Dream:

the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta
the love conflicts of the four Athenian lovers
Oberon's jealousy of Titania and her love of Bottom
the production of "Pyramus and Thisbe"

Question 1:

How does Shakespeare weave these four stories together into a coherent play? Consider some of the questions listed below:

A. All of the stories are about love, and Lysander tells us that "the course of true love never did run smooth" (1.1.136). Each love pair (Theseus and Hippolyta, Hermia and Lysander, Helena and Demetrius, Oberon and Titania, Bottom and Titania, Pyramus and Thisbe) faces a different problem. What is the outcome of the problem for each pair and how would you state the "moral" of their story? When you put all these results together, what does the play seem to be saying about love?

B. There are numerous ties between Oberon and Titania and the Athenian Theseus and Hippolyta:

Each pair are the rulers of their world--in Athens and in the woods.
The Fairy King accuses Titania of loving Theseus, and the Fairy Queen accuses Oberon of an affair with Hippolyta (2.1.70-83 "Why art thou here").
Oberon and Titania bless the bridal bed of Theseus and Hippolyta in 5.1.

In many productions these two couples are "doubled." That is, the actors who play Theseus and Hippolyta also play Oberon and Titania. In addition to reducing costs for actors' salaries, this doubling suggests that once Oberon and Titania work out their emotional problems in the forest, their alter egos (that is, their "other selves") in Athens can deal with their problems better in a societal setting. Discuss this theory and show why you agree or disagree with it.

To respond to Question 1 on Plotting, copy the question into a word processor, write your response and then submit it as indicated by your instructor.

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Plotting 2: Imagery for Theme

The audience "sees" things in plays not only because objects appear on stage, but also

in images (that is, "word pictures") of things mentioned in speeches
in figures of speech such as metaphors and similes which describe concepts or feelings by analogy to images
in symbols, which refer to a real thing that has taken on abstract meanings

Question 2:

Answer one of the questions below to show how imagery, figures of speech and symbols support theme in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Note: You may find it useful to search for words or word clusters by clicking on "Text" in the header. The Instructional Guide gives directions for using the word search at the site you will link to.

A. The play is full of talk about dreams.

Puck tells the audience to think of the play as only a dream in the Epilogue.
Titania, Hermia and Lysander are shown sleeping, and Hermia even tells us about her nightmare (2.2.152 "Do thy best...").
Oberon says the lovers, awakened later by Theseus, will remember their adventures only as "the fierce vexations of a dream" (4.1.70).

Why is it useful to insist on the dream-like-ness of the action in the play?

B. The whole play questions the nature of love. Helena says in 1.1.238-41:

Things base and vile, holding no quantity,
Love can transpose to form and dignity.
Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind;
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.

And when Oberon uses his magic, he does so by putting a magic potion on the eyes. What does seeing have to do with loving?

C. Analyze a cluster of images in A Midsummer Night's Dream for thematic significance. Here are some suggestions:

imagination, imagine, dream, vision, sleep, eye, see, blind, vision, play, act

To see a sample answer, click here.

To respond to Question 2 on Plotting, copy the question into a word processor, write your response and then submit it as indicated by your instructor.

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Plotting 3: Play within a Play: "Pyramus and Thisbe"

The play of "Pyramus andThisbe" functions in several ways within the play A Midsummer Night's Dream:

The play-within-a-play provides story links to the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta (and the 2 young Athenian couples) and to the fairy world in the woods.
It provides a comic reminder of the tragic possibilities of love. Click below to see a 1935 production with Joe E. Brown and James Cagney (9680K):

The process of producing the play provides a comic perspective on any drama that a cast creates and an audience watches.

Question 3:

Consider what "Pyramus and Thisbe" contributes to A Midsummer Night's Dream by writing on one of the following topics:

A. Assume that you are teaching a theater class for writers, actors and directors. Give your students advice on what not to do, illustrating your remarks by using Quince and his players as negative examples.

B. How does the play of "Pyramus and Thisbe" bring together all the story lines in the play?

C. Write a triple review of the play "Pyramus and Thisbe" from three different points of view:

How would the players (Quince and company) rate their performance?
How would the noble Athenian audience (Theseus, Hippolyta and guests) rate the play?
How do you, as Shakespeare's audience, rate the performance?

Be sure to use quotations or paraphrases from Act 5 in support of your review. Note: If you click on "Text" in the header, you can find and copy passages from the play and paste them in your answer.

To respond to Question 3 on Plotting, copy the question into a word processor, write your response and then submit it as indicated by your instructor.

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URL: php.iupui.edu/~shakes/mnd/mndplo.html

Last updated by Jonathan Edwards on 13 May 1998