WHAT IS DRAMA ?

Drama is one of the best literary forms through which dramatists can directly speak to their
readers, or the audience, and they can receive instant feedback of audiences. A few dramatists
use their characters as a vehicle to convey their thoughts and values, such as poets do with
personas, and novelists do with narrators. Since drama uses spoken words and dialogues, thus
language of characters plays a vital role, as it may give clues to their feelings, personalities,
backgrounds, and change in feelings. In dramas the characters live out a story without any
comments of the author, providing the audience a direct presentation of characters’ life
experiences. And the new popular types of drama is comedy, tragedy, farce, melodrama and
musical drama.
 BIOGRPHY
William shakespeare was an english poet, playwright, and actor. He was
born on 26 april 1564 in stratford-upon-avon. His father was a successful
local businessman and his mother was the daughter of a landowner.
Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the english
language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called
england's national poet and nicknamed the bard of avon. He wrote about 38
plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, of
which the authorship of some is uncertain. His plays have been translated
into every major living language and are performed more often than those
of any other playwright.
Shakespeare's plays remain highly popular today and are
constantly studied, performed, and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and
political contexts throughout the world.
SYNOPSIS
Celebrations are planned to mark the marriage of theseus, duke of athens, and hippolyta,
queen of the amazons. Egeus comes before theseus with his daughter hermia, who is in love with
lysander, although her father is insisting that she marry demetrius. The duke orders hermia to obey her
father, in accordance with athenian law, otherwise she will either be put to death or forced to enter a
convent.
Hermia and lysander decide to elope that night. They reveal their plan to hermia’s best friend,
helena. Helena is demetrius’ former lover and she is still in love with him, although he doesn’t love her
anymore. Hoping to win back his affection, helena tells demetrius of the plan. That night, hermia and
lysander steal away to the forest, with demetrius and helena in hot pursuit. Oberon and titania, fairy
king and queen of the forest, have quarreled over titania’s refusal to give up an indian boy – her foster
child – to oberon. Plotting his revenge, oberon orders puck to seek out a magic flower whose juice,
squeezed on the eyes of someone asleep, will cause them to fall in love with the first creature they see on
waking. Oberon sneaks up on the sleeping titania and drops the juice of the flower in her eye. He hopes
she will wake up when “some vile thing” is near.
 Taking pity on helena, oberon also tells puck to use the juice on demetrius so that he will fall in love with
her, but puck, mistaking the two young athenian men in the forest, uses it on lysander instead. Lysander promptly
falls in love with helena, forgetting all about his love for hermia. Trying to rectify his mistake, puck puts the love juice
on demetrius’ eyes and he too falls in love with helena. Now both young men love helena and “hate” hermia.

Meanwhile, bottom the weaver and a group of athenian tradesmen are planning to perform a play, the
most lamentable comedy and most cruel death of pyramus and thisbe, in celebration of the duke’s wedding. They
decide to rehearse in the forest so that no one will see them and their performance will be a surprise. Puck sees
bottom and the others rehearsing. He decides to have some fun with these “hempen homespuns” and casts a spell,
giving bottom the head of an ass. When the other tradesmen see bottom transformed, they run off in fear, leaving him
alone in the forest. Just then, titania wakes up, sees bottom, and falls rapturously in love with him.

Eventually, all the enchantments are lifted, the human lovers are happily paired, titania and oberon are
reconciled, and bottom is returned to normal. Hermia and lysander, and helena and demetrius, are given permission
to marry. Along with theseus and hippolyta, a multiple marriage celebration takes place.

The three new couples watch bottom’s acting troupe perform their play at the wedding celebration. Finally,
puck appears on stage to let the audience know that if they didn’t like the play, they should simply imagine it was all a
dream.
 THEORY OF INTRINSIC ELEMENT IN DRAMA
DRAMA IS A COMPOSITION OF PROSE OR POETRY THAT IS TRANSFORMED INTO A PERFORMANCE ON STAGE. THE STORY
PROGRESSES THROUGH INTERACTIONS BETWEEN ITS CHARACTERS AND ENDS WITH A MESSAGE FOR THE AUDIENCE.
DRAMA IS ALSO COMPOSED OF THE EXTRINSIC ELEMENTS. EXTRINSIC ELEMENTS OF DRAMA, SUCH AS :
• PSYCHOLOGICAL : DEALS WITH THE CHARACTERISTIC OF THE CHARACTER , E.G. BEHAVIOR, EMOTION, AND
THOUGHT.
• PHYSIOLOGICAL : DESCRIPTION OF THE PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF A CHARACTER, E.G. APPEARANCE AND GENERAL
HEALTH. PHYSICAL APPEARANCE MAY EFFECT ON THE CHARACTER’S FEELING REGARDING HIS/HER
SURROUNDING, OR THE FEELING OF BEING SECURE/INSECURE. PHYSIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF A CHARACTER ARE
OBSERVED THROUGH SEX, AGE, OR PHYSICAL APPEARANCE SUCH AS THE BODY SHAPE, WHETHER OR NOT A
PERSON IS BEAUTIFUL OR HANDSOME, OR THE COLOR OF SKIN AND HAIR.
• SOCIOLOGICAL : RELATED TO THE DESCRIPTION OF THE CONDITION OF CHARACTER’S ENVIRONTMENT.
SOCIOLOGICAL ASPECT CAN BE EFFECTIVELY ANALYZED THROUGH THE SOCIAL LIFE OF THE CHARACTER, E.G.
THE HOUSE, THE JOB, THE EDUCATION, AND THE SOCIAL STATUS.
• STAGING (SETTING STAGE) : THE PROCESS OF SELECTING, DESIGNING, ADAPTING TO, OR MODIFYING THE
PERFORMANCE SPACE FOR A PLAY OR FILM. THIS INCLUDES THE USE OR ABSENCE OF STAGECRAFT ELEMENTS AS
WELL AS THE STRUCTURE OF THE STAGE AND ITS COMPONENTS. STAGING IS ALSO USED TO MEAN THE RESULT OF
THIS PROCESS, IN OTHER WORDS THE SPECTACLE THAT A PLAY PRESENT IN PERFORMANCE, ITS VISUAL DETAIL.
THIS CAN INCLUDE SUCH THINGS AS POSITIONS OF ACTORS ON STAGE (OFTEN REFERRED TO AS BLOCKING),
THEIR GESTURES AND MOVEMENTS (ALSO CALLED STAGE BUSINESS), THE SCENIC BACKGROUND, THE PROPS AND
COSTUMES, LIGHTING, AND SOUND EFFECTS.
 ANALYSIS EXTRINSIC ELEMENT IN
DRAMA
• PSYCHOLOGICAL

THE GREATEST OF SHAKESPEARE’S COMEDIES IS ALSO, FROM A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW, THE GREATEST OF HIS PLAYS. NO
ONE WOULD MAINTAIN THAT IT OCCUPIED THIS POSITION IN THE MATTER OF PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY IF BY PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY
WE MEAN THE STUDY OF INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERS IN A PLAY. NO ONE WOULD MAINTAIN THAT PUCK WAS A CHARACTER IN THE SENSE
THAT FALSTAFF IS A CHARACTER, OR THAT THE CRITIC STOOD AWED BEFORE THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PEASEBLOSSOM. BUT THERE IS A
SENSE IN WHICH THE PLAY IS PERHAPS A GREATER TRIUMPH OF PSYCHOLOGY THAN HAMLET ITSELF. IT MAY WELL BE QUESTIONED
WHETHER IN ANY OTHER LITERARY WORK IN THE WORLD IS SO VIVIDLY RENDERED A SOCIAL AND SPIRITUAL ATMOSPHERE. THERE IS
AN ATMOSPHERE IN HAMLET, FOR INSTANCE, A SOMEWHAT MURKY AND EVEN MELODRAMATIC ONE, BUT IT IS SUBORDINATE TO THE
GREAT CHARACTER, AND MORALLY INFERIOR TO HIM; THE DARKNESS IS ONLY A BACKGROUND FOR THE ISOLATED STAR OF
INTELLECT. BUT A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM IS A PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY, NOT OF A SOLITARY MAN, BUT OF A SPIRIT THAT UNITES
MANKIND. THE SIX MEN MAY SIT TALKING IN AN INN; THEY MAY NOT KNOW EACH OTHER’S NAMES OR SEE EACH OTHER’S FACES
BEFORE OR AFTER, BUT NIGHT OR WINE OR GREAT STORIES, OR SOME RICH AND BRANCHING DISCUSSION MAY MAKE THEM ALL AT
ONE, IF NOT ABSOLUTELY WITH EACH OTHER, AT LEAST WITH THAT INVISIBLE SEVENTH MAN WHO IS THE HARMONY OF ALL OF THEM.
THAT SEVENTH MAN IS THE HERO OF A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM.
Physiological
Demetrius is an Athenian man. Egeus, Hermia's father, favors him and he seems like the perfect gentleman.
Theseus, the Duke of Athens, who is the one to decree that Hermia must marry Demetrius, says 'Demetrius is a worthy
gentleman'. For some reason, he has been able to pull the wool over Theseus' and Egeus' eyes and appear as the perfect
gentleman. Lysander, understandably, does not like Demetrius at all. The wool has not been pulled over his eyes, and he
insists that Demetrius is a 'spotted and inconstant man'.
Demetrius used to be in love with Hermia's best friend, Helena. Hermia insists that she has not encouraged Demetrius at
all; in fact she insists to her friend 'I frown upon him, yet he loves me still'. In fact, Hermia is in love with someone else,
Lysander, and wants to make sure her friend knows that she has not gone chasing after Demetrius.
Through this, we also realize that Demetrius is a fickle yet persistent man. He is fickle in his love; it appears as though
he quickly switched attention from Helena to Hermia. Helena describes his actions by saying 'So he dissolved, and
showers of oaths did melt.' He had made promises to Helena, but upon laying eyes on Hermia, those promises were
broken. Yet we do need to admire his persistence in that he pursue Hermia's hand despite the fact that she does not
encourage him.
On the surface, Helena doesn't fit well into today's ideals of a strong, independent woman. When her fiancé dumps her
for her best friend, she doesn't get angry or plot revenge. She also doesn't move on and try to meet someone else.
Instead, she spends a lot of the play desperately chasing after him. Demetrius is absolutely clear that he does not want
anything to do with her. He insults her and even threatens physical violence against her if she doesn't leave him alone!
But Helena persists, comparing herself to a dog who loves its master. However, there is more to this than Helena acting
like a lovesick puppy.
Sociological
William Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright and actor, widely regarded as both the
greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of
Avon". Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway,
hakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream was written early in Shakespeare’s career, probably between 1594 and 1596. It wasn’t his first
comedy.Shakespeare had already completed The Comedy of Errors, The Two Gentlemen of Verona and possibly The Taming of the Shrew.
This also seems to have been a transition time for Shakespeare – he had finished his major Henry VI–Richard III history series and had
just started writing his first great tragedy, Romeo And Juliet. Unlike many of Shakespeare’s other plays, there is no direct source for the
plot lines of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Shakespeare was, however, influenced in his writing by a number of pre-existing texts. Theseus
and Hippolyta appeared in Plutarch’s The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romanes (translated by Thomas North in 1579). They were
also characters in Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. Ovid’s Metamorphosis was an important source for Shakespeare, particularly the
story of Pyramus and Thisbe.
The character of Oberon may have been taken from the thirteenth-century French story Huon of Bordeaux, translated by John Bourchier,
Lord Berners, in the 1530s, and the character of Puck was popular in English country stories of Shakespeare’s time. Bottom’s
transformation into an ass is influenced by Lucius Apuleius’s second-century magical tale, The Golden Ass. A Midsummer Night’s Dream
is thought to have been written to celebrate the wedding of Elizabeth Carey, the daughter of an English nobleman. The bride’s
grandfather was Lord Hunsdon, the Lord Chamberlain, patron of Shakespeare’s theatre company. The play was probably first performed
at the London home of the Carey family and later at court. The first public performance of the play was likely at the Theatre, to the north-
east of London, just outside the city limits. This was about three or four years before the Lord Chamberlain’s Men lost the lease on that
venue and built the Globe Theatre on the south bank of the Thames.
Staging (Setting Stage)
This drama was written by Shakespeare in 1590-1596 in the Elizabethan era. However, the setting stage of drama could not set as
what happen in this era such as how people in England dressing at that time and how the kingdom looks like because the story
itself tells about the Athenians so the setting stage of the drama should precisely set like how the kingdom in Greece looks like at
the past time and also how people in Greece dressing and style at that time in the stage. The characters will wearing the Khiton, it
is the name of the wool or linen which is wrapped around the body with the lower reaches of the knees and only cover one
shoulder (for man) and for woman they should wearing it until its close their feet. The characters also need to wear the leather
sandals as what people did in Greece long time ago.
This drama also mentioned about the mythical creature like fairies and magic. Fairy in European folklore is a form of spirit. It is
also equated as Angels and Demons in Christian tradition. So the fairies in the stage will dressing and style so different like the
other characters. The fairies will look a bit like angels and demons at the same time which they are going to have these wings with
long ears and also has weird face.
The story of the drama also happen in the forests, in the middle of the summer precisely as what it is mentioned in the title of the
drama so the setting stage should showing how the summer it is looks and how the nature looks by putting some trees and flowers
to making some sort of fake forest in the stage. The drama also happens at night so having reduce of lightening will necessary
need and also having the spotlight to follow the characters will helpful at the stage. The spotlight also can be the representative of
the moonlight. This drama has love story and comedy background so some classical music or orchestra like from Mendelssohn
with McGill Symphony Orchestra with title Midsummer Night’s Dream will really necessary to convey this drama in the stage.
 CONCLUSION

SHAKESPEARE’S A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM WAS WRITTEN EARLY IN SHAKESPEARE’S

CAREER, PROBABLY BETWEEN 1594 AND 1596. IT WASN’T HIS FIRST COMEDY.SHAKESPEARE HAD ALREADY
COMPLETED THE COMEDY OF ERRORS, THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA AND POSSIBLY THE TAMING
OF THE SHREW. THIS ALSO SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN A TRANSITION TIME FOR SHAKESPEARE – HE HAD
FINISHED HIS MAJOR HENRY VI–RICHARD III HISTORY SERIES AND HAD JUST STARTED WRITING HIS
FIRST GREAT TRAGEDY, ROMEO AND JULIET. UNLIKE MANY OF SHAKESPEARE’S OTHER PLAYS, THERE IS
NO DIRECT SOURCE FOR THE PLOT LINES OF A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM. THE GREATEST OF
SHAKESPEARE’S COMEDIES IS ALSO, FROM A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW, THE GREATEST OF HIS PLAYS. NO
ONE WOULD MAINTAIN THAT IT OCCUPIED THIS POSITION IN THE MATTER OF PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY IF
BY PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY WE MEAN THE STUDY OF INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERS IN A PLAY. NO ONE
WOULD MAINTAIN THAT PUCK WAS A CHARACTER IN THE SENSE THAT FALSTAFF IS A CHARACTER, OR
THAT THE CRITIC STOOD AWED BEFORE THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PEASEBLOSSOM. BUT THERE IS A SENSE IN
WHICH THE PLAY IS PERHAPS A GREATER TRIUMPH OF PSYCHOLOGY THAN HAMLET ITSELF. THIS
DRAMA ALSO MENTIONED ABOUT THE MYTHICAL CREATURE LIKE FAIRIES AND MAGIC. FAIRY IN
EUROPEAN FOLKLORE IS A FORM OF SPIRIT. IT IS ALSO EQUATED AS ANGELS AND DEMONS IN CHRISTIAN
TRADITION. SO THE FAIRIES IN THE STAGE WILL DRESSING AND STYLE SO DIFFERENT LIKE THE OTHER
CHARACTERS. THE FAIRIES WILL LOOK A BIT LIKE ANGELS AND DEMONS AT THE SAME TIME WHICH
THEY ARE GOING TO HAVE THESE WINGS WITH LONG EARS AND ALSO HAS WEIRD FACE.