Oct 27th & 28th Entry #8

Shakespeare makes many references to mythological figures in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  He makes references to characters that would have been familiar to many of the audience members, but are unfamiliar to us.  Many of the characters he mentions come from Celtic folklore that many of the uneducated audience members watching from the pit would have heard in the form of folktales.  For the educated audience, references to classical Roman and Greek mythology are abundant and would be familiar to those people who had the privilege of attending school.

Your task is to access the online text of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by following the link provided on plone.  Begin reading the text by choosing an Act, and click on an interesting reference to a mythological character you would like to learn more about.  Once you have click on a character, you will be taken to a list of mythological characters found in the play.  Locate the character you would like to learn about and click on the name to learn more.  

For your blog assignment, you must choose 4 mythological characters that are referenced in the play and for each one provide some information regarding the meaning of the reference and the significance and history of the character.  You must write 50-100 words on each character you choose, so you may have to do some additional research. 

Puck: He is a supernatural being the the play. An amoral spirit that played mean tricks on people. He is a representative of the Trickster. Puck is someone that causes lots of conflicts and makes lots of mischief in the area. In the play Midnight's Summer Dream, Puck is Oberon's slave. He pretty much does everything that Oberon tells him to do.

Hermia: She is a young beautiful woman, with short brown hair. She is in love with a man named Lysander, but is being forced to marry a man name Demetrius. If she doesn't marry Demetrius then she will be doomed to become a nun for the rest of her life.

Cupid: Is the God of Love. He has wings of gold that make him able to fly like a bird. He carries a basket of arrows that he shoots at people to make them fall in love.