A Midsummer Night's Dream Reading Questions
A Midsummer Night’s Dream Acts IV and V Reading Questions
ACT 4
Scene 1 1. Is Bottom as an ass any different from Bottom as a man? a. Yes, because he feels hairy and itchy. 2. What has happened to the changeling child? b. They ask for hay to eat but when Titania gives him nuts he criticizes them. 3. Once her vision has been cleared, what is Titania's response to Bottom? c. She is madly in love with him. 4. How does Demetrius explain the return of his love to Helena? d. He thinks Helena is the apple of his eye. 5. The last sleeper to awake is, of course, Bottom. How does he describe his experience? e. Bottom wakes up crying and claims he had a rare dream.
Scene 2 1. Why are the other actors so happy to see Bottom return? a. They are happy because now the play can go on.
ACT 5
Scene 1 1. The play of Pyramus and Thisbe is, of course, a mess. How do Theseus and Hippolyta respond to it? a. They critic it. 2. What is most funny about the play? b. Everything is stated in the play. 3. Is Quince's prologue nonsense because of the way it was written, or of the way he recites it, or both? c. Both, because he is telling everyone the lion is not really which they are aware because it is a “PLAY”. 4. What absurdities of stage-management occur in the mechanics' play? d. The wall speaks as does the lion. The man holding the “moon” states he is the man in the moon yet he holds his dog. 5. Which of the actors makes the funniest blunders in language, and what trait of his character leads him to make them? e. Snug because he seems a little slow and not quite all there. 6. Do the comments of the spectators have any effect on the actors? f. The actors try to explain instead of just acting. 7. What is the function and effect of the fairies' blessing of the house? Why does it appear at the end of the play? g. They bless the house so
ACT 4
Scene 1 1. Is Bottom as an ass any different from Bottom as a man? a. Yes, because he feels hairy and itchy. 2. What has happened to the changeling child? b. They ask for hay to eat but when Titania gives him nuts he criticizes them. 3. Once her vision has been cleared, what is Titania's response to Bottom? c. She is madly in love with him. 4. How does Demetrius explain the return of his love to Helena? d. He thinks Helena is the apple of his eye. 5. The last sleeper to awake is, of course, Bottom. How does he describe his experience? e. Bottom wakes up crying and claims he had a rare dream.
Scene 2 1. Why are the other actors so happy to see Bottom return? a. They are happy because now the play can go on.
ACT 5
Scene 1 1. The play of Pyramus and Thisbe is, of course, a mess. How do Theseus and Hippolyta respond to it? a. They critic it. 2. What is most funny about the play? b. Everything is stated in the play. 3. Is Quince's prologue nonsense because of the way it was written, or of the way he recites it, or both? c. Both, because he is telling everyone the lion is not really which they are aware because it is a “PLAY”. 4. What absurdities of stage-management occur in the mechanics' play? d. The wall speaks as does the lion. The man holding the “moon” states he is the man in the moon yet he holds his dog. 5. Which of the actors makes the funniest blunders in language, and what trait of his character leads him to make them? e. Snug because he seems a little slow and not quite all there. 6. Do the comments of the spectators have any effect on the actors? f. The actors try to explain instead of just acting. 7. What is the function and effect of the fairies' blessing of the house? Why does it appear at the end of the play? g. They bless the house so