SHAKESPEARE  - An Internet Study Guide
A
Midsummer
Night's Dream
Shakespeare's play, A Midsummer Night's Dream, is a comedy set in Ancient Athens. However, many things in it are from the time period of his life, called Elizabethan England because Queen Elizabeth ruled during this time. In this play, Shakespeare combined many beliefs and ideas from both time periods to create a magical world of fairies, potions, love, weddings, theater and more! In order to better understand the play, it helps to have some background knowledge of the things in the play, and of the world of Shakespeare.
For this Internet search, click on the underlined main topic, then read and/or view the information on your computer to answer the questions under each main topic. You need to write your answers on the worksheet. You need not use complete sentences, but do be sure to answer the question that is asked. If you finish early, feel free to go back to any links you visited and see if they link you to anything else interesting.

1. Who was William Shakespeare?

What did Shakespeare's father do for a living?

What were his children's names?
 
 Besides writing, what was another source of income for Shakespeare?
   

Where is Shakespeare buried?
 
2. Marriage and Family
What were the legal marrying ages for boys and girls?

Why was cash and property from the husband's family part of the marriage contract?
 
What was the attitude about love in a marriage?
 
 
Explain the household power structure -  who was the property of whom? 
 
 
3. Fairies
What kinds of beings were fairies considered to be like in Shakespeare's day?


Was belief in witchcraft common in Shakespeare's day?


What does Puck enjoy?


Why did Shakespeare want to use fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream?
 
 
 
4. Theseus
What is another name for the Amazon Queen Antiope?

How did she end up with Theseus?
 
According to legend, whom did the Amazons hate?
 
5. Pyramus & Thisbe

Who forbade Pyramus and Thisbe from becoming lovers?


What physical structure separated the two lovers?


What flaw in that structure allowed their love to grow?


Where did they decide to secretly meet?


What happened to Thisbe on her way there?  Be specific.


What did Pyramus think happened to Thisbe?  Be specific.


What did Pyramus do as a result of his grief?


What did Thisbe do when she found Pyramus?
  

6. Elizabethan Theatre
Why weren't plays allowed in London?
 

Where was the first theater, The Theater, built, and in what year?
 

Which was the most famous theater in the old London area?


What caused the 1613 fire in the Globe Theater?
 
 
While viewing a play, where was most of the audience located?
 
 
Why were performances held in the afternoon?
 
 
Who played the female roles in the plays?
 
 7. Midsummer Festival
What date was Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Eve? 


What Christian saint later was assigned this day in his honor?
 
What sleep custom did most young people practice on Midsummer's Eve?
 
 
 Besides snakes, what other creatures were supposedly "active" on St. John's day?
 
 
  
 
 
8. Why do we study Shakespeare?
List what you consider the three most important reasons to study Shakespeare, according to Rachel Mendell.
 
 
 


 

 
 
 
9. Enjoying A Midsummer Night's Dream 
Read over this site and learn about the themes, characters, history, etc of this fun play.
This lesson was created by Carrie Thiel  1/7/03. Updated 1/4/07
This site can be printed off the Internet and then used as a worksheet for answering the questions