A Midsummer Night's Dream: Understanding the Text (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE English Literature)

Understanding the text

All questions in the Cambridge International Examination IGCSE English Literature encourage you to make an informed personal response. It is not enough just to know the text you are being examined on really well; you also need to develop a sound understanding of the themes, main ideas, settings, situations and events in the play you have studied, as well as an understanding of the significance of a particular moment or scene in relation to the whole text.

You also need to demonstrate an awareness of the text as a piece of drama and show an appreciation of the play on stage. All of this will help you to develop a sustained, critical understanding of the text, which will allow you to demonstrate your individuality and insights.

Each of the sub-topics below will help you to develop a better understanding of the text:

• Background information

• Dramatic context

• Key moments in context

Background information

A knowledge of the historical and social context of the play can help you to develop an informed personal response. However, it is very important that you do not include lots of historical information about William Shakespeare and/or the time in which the play was written in your answer. Your response to the play should focus on the question and the key theme, or themes, that the question prompts you to explore.

• William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon:

  • Shakespeare was a well-known dramatist in the Elizabethan and Jacobean era, sometimes called the English Renaissance

• A Midsummer Night’s Dream was written during a time when Shakespeare was being more creative with his plays:

  • It is believed that the play was written for an aristocratic wedding where it was also performed and Queen Elizabeth I was in attendance

• It is believed that the play was written in 1595 or 1596 at roughly the same time he wrote Romeo and Juliet

• Some critics believe that there are parallels between A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a comedy, and Romeo and Juliet, a tragedy 

• A Midsummer Night’s Dream differs from many of Shakespeare’s plays as it lacks one single written source:

  • Links have been made between the play and the story of Pyramus and Thisbe from Ovid’s poem, Metamorphoses 

  • Theseus and Hippolyta’s wedding has parallels with The Knight’s Tale from Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales

  • The theme of a daughter defying her father’s to marry the man of her choice is a common motif in Roman comedies

• The play features a range of characters, with names drawn from Classical Greek, like Theseus, to traditional folklore names such as Puck

Dramatic context

The literary context of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is that it is a Shakespearean comedy, with a range of genre conventions, some of which William Shakepeare may deliberately subvert or challenge. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a play designed to be watched by an audience, so this is the context in which we should read the stage directions and any other relevant information Shakespeare provides, in addition to the dialogue. 

Staging

• Shakespeare employs stage directions primarily to introduce new characters and set the scene for changing dynamics between characters and settings:

• A notable stage direction, “Re-enter PUCK, and BOTTOM with an ass’s head”,  sets the stage for one of the key comedic elements, which is Bottom being transformed into an ass

• Stage directions to add to the dramatic irony and tension in the play, for example when the audience understands the possible consequences for Titantia when: “Enter OBERON and squeezes the flower on TITANIA’s eyelids”

• Stage directions play a vital role in developing the comic elements of the play, such as character transformations

• There is also a play within a play, performed at the end by Bottom and his fellow actors, which includes stage direction

• However, it is worth noting that Shakespeare’s original stage directions are minimal:

  • This gives the director and actors freedom of interpretation and performance 

Key moments in context

It is not enough to just analyse a passage or scene in isolation; you must also consider why a  particular passage or scene is important to the text as a whole. What key themes or ideas does it represent? Does it foreshadow future events? Does it reveal more about a character’s motivations, thoughts or feelings, remind the audience of what has happened or anticipate what is to come? 

Revise some of the key moments from the play and how they are relevant to the rest of the text:

Key moment:

Act 1, Scene 1

Lysander: “The course of true love never did run smooth”

Summary of key moment:

• Lysander tries to comfort Hermia after her father and the Duke told her that she must either marry Demetrius, her father’s choice, or face the consequences 

Why this is important in relation to the play as a whole:

• This quote foreshadows the challenges and misunderstandings among characters that will unfold as the play progresses:

  • It sets the tone for the romantic complications that will be a central focus of the play’s plot 

• While A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a romantic comedy with elements of fantasy, Lysander’s remark introduces a touch of realism by acknowledging the complexities of love:

  • The realism adds depth to the characters and their relationships, making them more relatable to the audience

• The quote recognises that different characters in the play will experience love in diverse ways and each of these experiences will have its own set of challenges 

Key moment

Act 2, Scene 2

Robin: (squeezes flower juice on LYSANDER’S eyelids)

“Churl, upon thy eyes I throw

All the power this charm doth owe.

When thou wakest, let love forbid

Sleep his seat on thy eyelid.

So awake when I am gone,

For I must now to Oberon”

Summary of key moment:

• Puck, acting on Oberon’s orders, places the juice of the enchanted flower on Lysander’s eyelids, mistaking him for Demetrius

• Lysander wakes and falls in love with Helena

Why this is important in relation to the play as a whole:

• This quotation reveals a crucial point in the plot, the magical intervention of Puck:

  • It sets the stage for a shift in Lysander’s affections and further complicates the love triangle involving Hermia, Lysander and Demetrius

• Lysander, upon waking, falls in love with Helena and rejects Hermia:

  • He then begins to chase and pursue Helena while Hermia chases Lysander

• The ensuing confusion among the lovers adds to the humour and farcical nature of the play:

  • This action begins a series of events that will lead to misunderstandings, conflicts, and eventual resolutions

• The love potion creates a chaotic and unpredictable element in the play:

  • The audience anticipates the consequences of this magical intervention, heightening the element of surprise and amusement

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