A Midsummer Night’s Dream

1. What is the purpose of the Mechanicals in A Midsummer Night’s Dream? How do their speech patterns differ from other characters in the play, and what does Bottom contribute to the play as Titania’s love interest?

2. Shakespeare’s sonnets differ from traditional sonnets in that he thinks about real world issues such as loss of love, aging, and depression. Choose one of the sonnets we read for class and discuss how he uses the format to consider some of life’s more difficult experiences.

3.Puck (or Robin) is a character who causes mischief but not necessarily harm. How do his actions, and his monologue in the end of the play, show that he is not necessarily an antagonist, but rather a positive character?

4.The theme of control is huge in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Choose a conflict that involves control (could be father daughter, or something between the lovers) and analyze how it contributes to the larger theme of control.

5.Analyze Helena as a character. Despite the fact that she has a happy ending, she does spend the majority of the play very depressed and frustrated. Compared to the other characters in the play, how is Helena more complex, and what does her complexity do for you as the reader?

6.What do you feel Othello’s tragic flaw actually was? Discuss how this lead to his downfall in the play.

7. How does Iago feel about and treat women throughout the play? What personality traits does this display, and how do they maybe tie into his master plan to bring down Othello?