A midsummer night’s dream, Shakespeare

A midsummer night’s dream = songe d’une nuit d’été de Shakespeare

The story is about a love story but we have a struggle btw main characters = in love with each other but not the right person = trouble in couple.

We have the notion of desir, Theseus is very happy to get married w/ his wife Hippolyta = positiv note about love and desir.

The story take places in Athens, Greece. Theseus is the duke of Athens, the two main characters beggining the scene but confusion bc T is very happy to marry her but H loves another one. Similar theme in Romeo and Juliet = four characters who in love with the wrong person. We have also Hermia and Lysander = problem bc this is like a love square (love triangle).

Héléna and Dimitrius = in love w/ the wrong person too

Theseus is engaged to Hippolyta, she is the Queen of the Amazon and before there a re fighting each other (amazon loose and athens win).

Hermia loves Lysander but he loves Helena. Helena loves Demitrius but he loves Hermia.

Egeus need the approval of the king to marry all theses ppl = to marry Hermia to Demitrius but she doesn’t want, she wants to marry Lysander. Hermia is the daughter of Egeus and if she doesn’t want to marry Demitrius her father gonna kill her.

All theses ppl goes to the forest, they meet a group of fairies (Helena, Demi, Hermia and Lysander)

=> fairies play tricks, they want all theses ppl fall in love with each other but wrong again.

==> it’s a mess, confusion

Inside the play we have a mini play => the characters are putting on a play, they playing another story inside. => super mess

For Shakespeare, life is like a stage., life is like a story. Ppl are like actors = way for the author to criticize the society and to pass a message.

Oberon (king of Fairyland) asks Puck (fairy) to keep an eyes to Titania to be sure that she falls in love with Demetrius. Titania gonna fall in love to Nick Bottom bc of the love’s potion. Nick is half human, half donkey => comic

Helena and Hermia are friend but they becomes ennemies bc they loves same boy. Same for Lysander and Demetrius => in a very funny way

At the end of the play they realized that love is complicated and everything is back to normal = Hermia married Lysander, Demetrius + Helena and everybody getting married.

At the end = all of that was a dream, the hole situation. The story is based on tragic love story.

The fairies:

Oberon = king of the fairies and wife Titania, she is in love w/ a young prince = he is very jealous and wants revenge so he used a love potion. Titania, falls in love w/ Nick bc of this potion. After we have Puck = bad fairy (or Robin Goodfellow), he is a jester (fou roi) and loves jocks and tricks on human. Very happy about the mission of Titania. He is the the one who responsible to the change of the head of Nick, here he give the wrong potion to human, he give it to Lysander instead of Dimi. This is the opposite of the characters of the fairies

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