Shakespeare’s Comedies
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Shakespeare ’s Comedies A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM INTRODUCTION
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Shakespeare’s Comedies. A Midsummer Night’s Dream Introduction. Let’s start with a quiz!. William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, in the year 1564. Shakespeare wrote three types of plays. What are they? Tragedies Comedies Histories. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Transcript of Shakespeare’s Comedies
Shakespeare’s ComediesA MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM INTRODUCTION
Let’s start with a quiz!
William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, in the year
1564
Shakespeare wrote three types of plays. What are they?
Tragedies
Comedies
Histories
The name of Shakespeare’s famous theater was
The Globe
Shakespeare wrote much of his plays in unrhymed iambic pentameter, also known as
Blank verse
Shakespeare has his characters speak in prose to show their
Low social class / behavior
Comedies vs. Tragedies
Why are tragedies considered tragic? Comedies, on the other hand, have happy
endings. Comedies often include
◦ Greater emphasis on situations rather than characters◦ A struggle for young lovers◦ Deception (often mistaken identity)◦ Multiple plots◦ Different types of comedy, including slapstick, puns,
practical jokes, and bawdy humor◦ Pastoral setting◦ Often ends with marriage
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Written early in Shakespeare’s career
Intertwined plots: Theseus and Hippolyta’s wedding; the artisans; the lovers in the woods
Set in Athens, Greece
Fairies, sprites, and laborers
AMND continued
What is Midsummer Night? One of the nights of the year when sprites were
powerful
Flowers gathered on MN were magical
People dream of their true loves; sometimes go insane
AMND continued
Important questions: What is love?
How and why do people fall in and out of love?
Are lovers in control of themselves and their destinies?
Which is more real: reason or passion?
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream does not always do exactly what we might expect, and in this way it
keeps its audience guessing…”
-Catherine Belsey
