8-1Pyramus&Thisbe

WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM AND “PYRAMUS AND THISBE”? //Answer prepared by Kimberly H.// The History of __A Midsummer Night’s Dream__ and __Pyramus and Thisbe__ __A Midsummer Night’s Dream__ is a play full of love and magic. It is considered by some one of William Shakespeare’s most well known, if not best, plays. It is one of his few comedies. So you may wonder how this masterpiece came to fruition. What is its history?

__A Midsummer Night’s Dream__ was first performed between 1595 and 1596. In the Elizabethan Era, there was such high demand for entertainment that the play would have been performed even only weeks after it was penned. The first copies of the script that have been found are dated 1600, which means they are pirated versions. None of Shakespeare’s works were published until 1623, after his death. This is the year the First Folio was published. The First Folio included 36 of Shakespeare’s plays, including __A Midsummer Night’s Dream__. __A Midsummer Night’s Dream__ has inspired many films and is still one of the most widely performed works of Shakespeare. It is believed that __A Midsummer Night’s Dream__ was first performed by Shakespeare’s company for an aristocratic wedding, perhaps for a Duke as in the play. It was one of Shakespeare’s’ most well-liked plays even at that time. __Shakespeare for Everyone: A Midsummer Night’s Dream,__ by Jennifer Mulherin, suggests that __A Midsummer Night’s Dream__ was actually influenced by Shakespeare’s youth in Stratford. He uses the fairy tales and nursery rhymes he heard as a young boy in the story. Many of the characters in the story resemble average Stratford citizens as well. It is mostly thought that Shakespeare took the characters of Theseus and Hippolyta from Greek mythology, but Amanda Mabillard points out in the section entitled “Sources for A Midsummer Night’s Dream” on her website “Shakespeare Online” that Shakespeare also could have taken those characters from Geoffrey Chaucer’s //The Canterbury Tales//. The character Puck is most likely from the mysterious “hobgoblins” that were the scapegoats of farmers.

In one of the intertwining stories of A __Midsummer Night’s Dream__, the Rude Mechanicals; which consists of Bottom, Peter Quince, Snug, Snout, Flute and Starveling are putting on a play for Theseus, the Duke of Athens and Hippolyta, his bride. William Shakespeare was very fond of the play-within-a-play form and also used it in Hamlet. During the course of the play, the Rude Mechanicals rehearse this play, and many hilarious quotations come from their musings and decisions. This play-within-a-play is __Pyramus and Thisbe__. __Pyramus and Thisbe__ is a tragic tale of two lovers who can not be together. It most likely inspired Shakespeare’s masterpiece __Romeo and Juliet__. The story first appeared in Ovid’s Metamorphosis between the years of 43 B.C. and 18 A.D. Ovid’s Metamorphosis is a work of poetry that describes the creation and history of the world, as well as mythological stories of transformation which is where __Pyramus and Thisbe__comes in. It was first written in Latin and was translated into English meter in 1597. __Pyramus and Thisbe__ is related to __A Midsummer Night’s Dream__ because like Lysander and Hermia, Pyramus and Thisbe are two lovers who cannot be together. Francois Larouque, author of __The Age of Shakespeare__, applauds Shakespeare on the ability to “move from laughter to tears….by simple changes of perspective and atmosphere”. Larouque is referring to how Shakespeare used__Pyramus and Thisbe__ in the making of a tragedy, __Romeo and Juliet__, and a comedy, __A Midsummer Night’s Dream__.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a fantastic play, different from most others you will ever see. Its format is almost unheard of. It is unknown how many hours it took William Shakespeare to write A __Midsummer Night’s Dream__, but in my opinion, it was probably a lot. It is obvious why __A Midsummer Night’s Dream__ has a long and complicated history. That is just what any play of its caliber deserves. Works Cited Mulherin, Jennifer. //Shakespeare for Everyone: A Midsummer Night's// // Dream//. Morristown, New Jersey: Silver Burdett Press, 1988. Print.

The Folger Shakespeare Library Organization, "Metamorphosis." //Folger// // Shakespeare Library//. 19 Apr 2009 <[]>.