ESSAY TOPICS FOR AMSND

Read the instructions well and try to the questions. Then complete the tasks.
DISCUSS TOPIC A.
CHOOSE A FURTHER TOPIC (FROM B, C, D).
The essay should not exceed 3 pages.

TOPIC A. mandatory.

Reread act five and concentrate on the mechanicals’ plays – consider :

a. The introduction of all the pastimes suggested for the wedding;( do you find
something humorous in the titles?)
b. The various prologues to the play and the presentation of the characters
c. The style of playacting.
TASK
Write a short essay ( 1 page) on the elements of medieval acting that are parodied in the
mechanicals’ performance. Consider the ways in which the mechanicals’ play can be an
indirect comment on the Athenian lovers adventures in the forest.

TOPIC B.

Read and discuss Theseus’ comparison between lovers, madmen and poets (Act 5) , focusing on
the meanings that are given to imagination. Consider the association of imagination with
dreams, using information from P. Holland’s Introduction. Which character is best endowed with
a poetic imagination and why?
What effort of imagination is required of the audience (of you in particular) to enjoy the play?

TOPIC C

Look at the relations of power that govern the couples in the play (mortals and fairies).
Compare the royal couples and the lovers – what conclusion can you draw about the women’s
part and their treatment? Think of their attempts to resist power.
What comparisons can you draw between Hippolyta and Titania ? Are Hermia and Helena’s
situation altogether different?
Discuss Titania’s infatuation with Bottom.

TOPIC D

Would you call the love relations in the play romantic? What definition would you give to the
term “romantic”?
What role does the loss of identity (the change caused by bewitchment) by the two lovers have
in this puzzle? How does it compare with Titania’s bewitchment? How does the love of
Pyramus and Thisbe strike you by comparison?