Imagine a time when great kings rule with the sword and win their loves with battles; a time when the price of love may be your head. A time, too, of ghouls, imps and fairies; when the fortunes of humans are tied together with the fortunes of the spirit world. In such a time lived Theseus, legendary ruler of ancient Athens, and Titania and Oberon, the fairy queen and king. These characters inhabit Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

A Midsummer Night's Dream is especially appropriate for high school students because its major theme is love — a subject on the minds of most teenagers much of the time. There is plenty of comedy to entice those who are not interested in love, and although there are fairies, they are not like Tinker Bell in Peter Pan. Even the most reluctant student should have fun with the Pyramus and Thisby production by the artisans.

Another theme is friendship. Friends and what they think and say are extremely important to adolescents. Most will have had some experience of two friends liking the same person of the opposite sex and the difficulties that situation brings about. Is friendship stronger than love? Certainly that question is one explored in this play and one that is worthy of discussing as is what it means to be loyal to friends.

Illusion versus reality is another theme students should enjoy looking into. Teenagers are well aware things are not always as they seem, and this is especially true in A Midsummer Night's Dream where almost nothing is what it seems to be. Then too there is the parent-child conflict over who the child can be in love with — not at all an uncommon situation for many young people. Hermia's rebellion against her father ends happily, but Thisby's rebellion ends in death. However, the farcical nature of the play within the play as presented by the artisans keeps this from being tragic, as in Romeo and Juliet.

This web site is organized in the following manner: a brief overview followed by learning activities to be used before, during, and after reading the play. These ideas are meant to help students understand the play as well as explore issues confronted in the play that have importance in the students' lives.

The "before" and "after" reading questions for each Act, as well as the "study questions" that follow the synopsis of each scene can be used in a variety of ways: as formal study guides, class discussion starters, or review for a test. Since the action in the play is somewhat confusing, these questions will also help to keep the action straight.