A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Short Questions
1. Who is the playwright of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”?
Answer: William Shakespeare.
2. What is the main theme of the play?
Answer: Love.
3. Who is the Duke of Athens in the play?
Answer: Theseus.
4. What is the name of the fairy king?
Answer: Oberon.
5. Who does Hermia love?
Answer: Lysander.
6. What does Puck transform Bottom’s head into?
Answer: An ass (donkey).
7. Why do Lysander and Hermia plan to elope?
Answer: To escape Hermia’s father’s order to marry Demetrius.
8. What is the name of the magic potion used in the play?
Answer: Love in Idleness.
9. Who is in love with Demetrius at the start of the play?
Answer: Helena.
10. Where do the workmen plan to rehearse their play?
Answer: In the woods.
11. What is the name of the play the workmen want to perform?
Answer: Pyramus and Thisbe.
12. Who is the queen of the fairies?
Answer: Titania.
13. What does Oberon want from Titania?
Answer: Custody of the Indian boy.
14. Who applies the love potion to Lysander’s eyes by mistake?
Answer: Puck.
15. How does the play end?
Answer: With happy marriages and celebrations.
Long Questions
1. Why does Oberon use the love potion on Titania?
Answer: Oberon wants to teach Titania a lesson and gain custody of the Indian boy. He uses the potion to make her fall in love with a creature, causing comic confusion.
2. How does Puck’s mistake with the love potion affect the lovers?
Answer: Puck applies the potion to Lysander instead of Demetrius, causing Lysander to love Helena. This leads to confusion and quarrels among Hermia, Helena, Lysander, and Demetrius.
3. What role does the setting of the woods play in the story?
Answer: The woods create a magical, chaotic space where fairies and humans interact. It allows for mistaken identities and enchantments that drive the plot.
4. Why does Theseus initially oppose Hermia’s marriage to Lysander?
Answer: Theseus supports Egeus, Hermia’s father, who wants her to marry Demetrius. He later allows the marriage when he sees Demetrius loves Helena.
5. How does Shakespeare show the theme of love in the play?
Answer: Shakespeare shows love as confusing and influenced by beauty or magic. The characters’ shifting affections highlight love’s irrational nature.
6. What is the significance of the workmen’s play “Pyramus and Thisbe”?
Answer: The workmen’s play adds humor and mirrors the lovers’ romantic confusion. It entertains the audience at Theseus’s wedding with its clumsy performance.
7. How does Oberon resolve the confusion caused by the love potion?
Answer: Oberon orders Puck to fix the mistake by removing the potion from Lysander’s eyes. This restores Lysander’s love for Hermia and pairs Demetrius with Helena.
8. Why is “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” called a comedy of errors?
Answer: The play is full of mistaken identities and misunderstandings caused by the love potion. These errors create funny situations that are resolved happily in the end.
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