ShmoopTube

Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.

Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos

A Midsummer Night's Dream 32884 Views


Share It!


Description:

Aren't midsummer night dreams the worst? You wake up all sweaty and gross, and for a minute there, you can't even remember where you are. And also, your upper half is a donkey? Yep, that's what happens in Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:04

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a la Shmoop. Based on the title, some of you may think

00:09

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a walk in the park. But we haven’t seen this much trouble

00:14

in Athens since the ides of March.

00:16

Laws being broken, forbidden love, fighting over a kidnapped kid, mishandled drugs, and

00:23

someone being an… ass. No, he really did get turned into a donkey.

00:28

Someone must be to blame for all this trouble, right? Let's take a good look at the suspects.

00:33

First on the scene is Duke Theseus. He just pillaged a foreign country and kidnapped a

00:38

hot girl to marry.

00:39

Way to rule a kingdom, buddy. Next possible perpetrator? Egeus.

00:44

He's an angry dad who likes things the way they’ve always been and doesn’t like people

00:48

marrying who they want to marry. Namely… his daughter Hermia.

00:52

But instead of his usual routine of calling into Dr. Laura’s radio show, he decides

00:53

to ask the duke to kill his daughter for punishment.

00:56

The duke, feeling that her father’s reaction is a bit extreme, offers Hermia the alternative

01:02

of becoming a nun for the rest of her life.

01:04

Are we surprised his daughter runs away? Not convinced it's either of those guys? Well,

01:10

how about the lovers?

01:11

Sure, they look innocent, but these hooligans break the law in the name of love, and can’t

01:16

even decide who they’re in love with!

01:19

Exhibit A is a chart of their love. “Hermia loves Lysander but not Demetrius,

01:25

who loves Hermia.

01:26

Helena loves Detemtrius who doesn’t love her. Then he does… so does Lysander, which

01:32

makes Hermia furious with Helena.

01:35

Finally Hermia gets with Lysander and Helena with Demetrius and everyone’s in love.”

01:42

Could the trouble have been caused by these criminals who were hitting the love potion

01:45

a little too hard? Our fourth suspect is the fairy king Oberon.

01:49

He really wants to fight his ex-lover Titania for an Indian child they somehow acquired.

01:56

He’s so jealous that he makes her fall in love with a donkey. And he uses his minion

02:01

Puck to make the lovers fall in love with the wrong people. For fun.

02:05

Sounds like someone’s not comfortable with their masculinity.

02:06

We’re still wondering why nobody is concerned that he kidnapped a little kid? Could he be

02:07

the one to blame? Last on the list is Puck: professional trickster.

02:12

When the mob rejected his application, he went to work for Oberon.

02:16

Unfortunately, he’s not very good at following directions. Or shaving his legs.

02:21

Could he be the culprit… sneaking love potions into unsuspecting lovers and turning men into

02:26

donkeys? There are a lot of choices, but it’s hard

02:30

to nail this mess on just one criminal…

Up Next

Utopias Becoming Dystopias
29763 Views

This video defines utopias and dystopias, and investigates how a utopia might become a dystopia. Can a seemingly perfect world actually be a dystop...

Related Videos

The Importance of Being Earnest Summary
123037 Views

They say that honesty is the best policy, but Jack lies about his identity and still gets the girl. Does that mean we should all lie to get what we...

The Giver Summary
105891 Views

Ever wish you could remember everything that you ever studied? How about everything that everyone has ever studied? Yeah, pretty sure our brains ju...

Invisible Man (Ellison)
1818 Views

Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is an American classic. Hope you're not expecting any exciting shower scenes though. It's not that kind of book.

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
1255 Views

Do not go gentle into that good night. In fact, if it's past your curfew, don't go at all into that good night. You just stay in your good bed and...