Shakespeare Flashcards
theseus
the Duke
engaged to the Amazonian Hippolyta throughout the play
Is set to have a wedding by the end of the play
Is approached by Ergos, Hermia’s father, because he wants her to marry Demetrius instead of Lysander
Gives Hermia 3 choices
marry Demetrius
become a nun
face death
hippolyta
An Amazon Queen who marries Theseus. She is not happy about having to marry Theseus because Amazons aren’t supposed to marry. After hearing the tales of what happened in the forest, Hippolyta is not doubtful of the story, unlike Theseus.
egeus
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hermia
She is one of the main characters in the story. In the beginning both of the men. Lysander and Demetrius, but she only likes Lysander. In the middle of the play, both men fall for Helena. In the end Hermia ends up with Lysander after all the love juice mess up is figured out. Her father is Egeus, who will not allow her to marry Lysander. Because of this they snwho will not allow her to marry Lysander. Because of this, they sneak into the woods and the love potion fiasco goes down.
lysander
is a young Athenian man who is in love with Hermia. He is stuck in a sticky situation because he cannot marry Hermia since her father, Egeus, will only allow her to marry another Athenian man, Demetrius, whom he feels is more worthy of his daughter’s hand in marriage. Hermia and Lysander decide to sneak off into the woods together but they become victims of Puck’s messed up magic when he mistakes Lysander for Demetrius and accidentally makes him fall in love with Helena. In the end, everything ends up how it should be and Lysander ends up marrying Hermia.
helena
- falls in love with Demetrius; Demetrius takes her virginity and dumps her (what an asshole) , and then he wants Hermia instead; Helena is relentless and follows Demetrius around and into the woods, still hoping to win him back; Demetrius gets the love potion and falls in love with Helena (but she thinks she’s being tricked by him, Lysander, and Hermia); in the end Demetrius and Helena end up together again.
demetrius
BLANK
titania
Queen of the fairies, wife of Oberon, powerful, and is raising a little boy. She fights with her husband a lot, and is sassy and self centered. She is afraid that the natural order of things will be upset by her and her husband’s quarrels, but is still unwilling to compromise. She also falls in love with Bottom, because of a spell set by her husband. However, even after the spell is released, she doesn’t really care that she was in love with another man.
oberon
The king of all the fairies, married to Titania. Oberon wants to raise a changeling child as a servant but Titania disagrees because it is her child with one of her mortal followers. Their arguments affect the weather. He tricks Titania into loving Bottom and it is not until it affects all the other characters that he feels ashamed for doing so, and reverses the spell.
puck/robin goodfellow
is a mischievous elf who serves Oberon. Oberon sends him to get a magical flower with juice that can make the person anointed fall in love with whatever they first see. After Oberon sees Demetrius acting cruel to Helena, he orders Puck to anoint Demetrius and make him fall in love with Helena. Puck mistakenly anoints Lysander so that Lysander falls in love with Helena. Puck also transforms Bottom’s head into that of a donkey. Puck later mends his mistake by leading Lysander and Demetrius in opposite directions. They fall asleep and Puck makes them love who they originally loved. At the end of the play, Puck urges the audience to see the play as a dream.
rude mechanicals
A group of skilled laborers from Athens who put on a play for Theseus and Hippolyta. Peter Quince (carpenter) is the leader of the group and assigns parts and directs the play. Snug (carpenter who makes doors, window frames and cabinets) is “slow of study” and plays the part of the lion. Nick Bottom is egotistical and is given the lead role in the play (Pyramus). Francis Flute (bellows mender) plays Thisbe. Tom Snout (tinker) is cast as Pyramus’ father, but due to lack of funds to build the set for the play, he ends up playing the part of the wall. Robin Starveling (tailor) is originally supposed to play the part of the Thisbe’s mother but ends up playing the part of “moonshine” because the rude mechanicals don’t know if there is a window in the room they will be performing in.
bottom
Nick Bottom, a weaver, is a loud and charismatic member of the acting troupe called the Rude Mechanicals in Athens, Greece. The troupe plans to put on the play “Pyramus and Thisbe” for the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta and Bottom is cast as the lead: Pyramus. However, as they rehearse in the forest, things go awry when the fairy Puck turns Bottom into a donkey. When the rest of the Mechanicals see him, they run away in fear. Bottom, unaware of his transformation, believes they are playing a trick on him and begins to sing loudly. Meanwhile, the fairy queen Titania, whose husband Oberon put the juice of a flower in her eyes while she was asleep to make her fall in love with the first creature she sees, is woken up by Bottom and falls in love with him. Eventually, Oberon feels bad for his wife and lifts the spell, causing Titania to recoil from Bottom in disgust. Later, Bottom plays Pyramus in the play at the wedding, which ends up being a comedy despite its tragic intent.
