3/8 Notes from class
A Midsummer Night's Dream
By William Shakespeare
Theseus
The duke of Athens. Theseus is a hero from Greek mythology—he refers to the fact that he’s Hercules' cousin at one point—so his presence signals to the reader that the play takes place in a mythical Greek past. At the beginning of the play, Theseus has recently returned from conquering the Amazons, a race of warrior women, and is about to marry the conquered Amazon queen, Hippolyta. Because of this impending wedding, the mood of the play is one of holiday festivity, characterized by a heightened sense of erotic expectation and anticipation. Theseus himself projects confidence, authority, and benevolent power.
＊impending:
describes an event ,usually something unpleasant or unwanted ,that is going to hppen soon
【Synonym】approaching、imminent、looming(negative)
＊benevolent : kind and helpful
【Synonym】benign、caring、compassionate、generous、humane、philanthropic
Hippolyta
The legendary queen of the Amazons, engaged to marry Theseus. Although Hippolyta is marrying Theseus because he defeated her in combat, she does not act at all like an unwilling bride. Theseus is very courtly in his manner toward Hippolyta, and she is unfailingly deferential toward him.
＊deferential: polite and showing respect(Adj.)
＊deference: respect and politeness(Noun.)
--> respect and esteem due a superior or an elder; also
affected or ingratiating regard for another's wishes
【Synonym】compliance、acquiescence ac·qui·es·cence \-ˈe-sən(t)s\、obedience
Egeus
A respected nobleman in Theseus’s court. Egeus complains to Theseus that his daughter, Hermia, refuses to marry Demetrius, Egeus’s choice for her. Egeus’s wish to control his daughter is quite severe—he asks Theseus to impose the death penalty on her if she refuses to marry Demetrius. Theseus, however, reduces the penalty for noncompliance from death to life as a nun.
Hermia
Egeus’s daughter. Hermia is a beautiful young woman of Athens, and both Demetrius and Lysander are in love with her. Hermia defies her father’s wish that she marry Demetrius because she is in love with Lysander. She is unusually strong-willed and independent—refusing to comply even when Theseus orders her to obey her father—and resolved to elope with Lysander. Hermia is also the childhood friend of Helena.
Lysander
A young nobleman of Athens in love with Hermia. Although Hermia’s father refuses to let her marry Lysander, Lysander believes that love must conquer all obstacles, so he persuades Hermia to run away from her home and family with him, into the forest.
Demetrius
A young nobleman of Athens. In the past, Demetrius acted as if he loved Helena, but after Helena fell in love with him, he changed his mind and pursued Hermia. Emboldened by Egeus’s approval of him, Demetrius is undeterred by the fact that Hermia does not want him.
Helena
A young woman of Athens in love with Demetrius. Helena has been rejected and abandoned by Demetrius, who had claimed to love her before he met her best friend, Hermia. Consequently, Helena tends to speak in a self-pitying tone. Moreover, she puts herself in dangerous and humiliating situations, running through the forest at night after Demetrius even though Demetrius wants nothing to do with her.
＊disrupt:
to prevent something , especially a system, process or event, from continuing as usual or as expected.
【Synonym】disintegrate、diemember、break、fracture、fragment
Robin Goodfellow
A “puck” or mischievous fairy who delights in playing pranks on mortals; he is sometimes referred to simply as Puck. Robin is Oberon’s jester, and his antics are responsible for many of the complications that propel the play. At Oberon’s bidding, Robin sprinkles “love juice” in the eyes of various characters to change who they love, but he makes mistakes in his application that create conflicts Oberon never intended. Though Robin claims to make these mistakes honestly, he enjoys the conflict and mayhem that his mistakes cause.
Oberon
The king of the fairies. Oberon begins the play at odds with his wife, Titania, because she refuses to relinquish control of a young Indian prince whom she has kidnapped, but whom Oberon wants for a knight. Oberon’s desire for revenge on Titania leads him to send Robin to obtain the love-potion flower that creates so much of the play’s confusion and farce.
＊relinquish:
(1)to give up something such as responsibility or claim
(2)to unwillingly stop holding or keeping something
【Synonym】cede、cough up、surrender、render、yield、turn in
Titania
The beautiful queen of the fairies. Titania resists the attempts of her husband, Oberon, to make a knight of the young Indian prince whom she has taken. Until Oberon gives up his demand, Titania has sworn to avoid his company and his bed. She is less upset by the fact that she and Oberon are apart than by the fact that Oberon has been disrupting her and her followers' magic fairy dances.
＊disrupting : to break apart
Nick Bottom
The overconfident weaver chosen to play Pyramus in a play that a group of craftsmen have decided to put on for Theseus’s wedding celebration. Bottom is full of advice and self-confidence but frequently makes silly mistakes and misuses language. His simultaneous nonchalance about the beautiful Titania’s sudden love for him and unawareness of the fact that Puck has transformed his head into that of an ass mark the pinnacle of his foolish arrogance.
Peter Quince
A carpenter and the nominal leader of the craftsmen’s attempt to put on a play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Quince is often shoved aside by the abundantly confident Bottom. During the craftsmen’s play, Quince plays the Prologue.
Francis Flute
The bellows-mender chosen to play Thisbe in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Forced to play a young girl in love, the bearded craftsman determines to speak his lines in a high, squeaky voice.
＊squeaky: to utter or make a short shrill cry or noise
Robin Starveling
The tailor chosen to play Thisbe’s mother in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Robin Starveling ends up playing the part of Moonshine.
Tom Snout
The tinker chosen to play Pyramus’s father in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Tom Snout ends up playing the part of Wall, dividing the two lovers.
Snug
The joiner chosen to play the lion in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Snug worries that his roaring will frighten the ladies in the audience.
Philostrate
Theseus’s Master of the Revels, responsible for organizing the entertainment for the duke’s marriage celebration.
Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Mote, and Mustardseed
The fairies whom Titania orders to wait on Bottom after she falls in love with him.
Two beautiful songs
(1)If by Bread
Danny Boy
Oh, Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side.
The summer's gone, and all the roses falling,
It's you, it's you must go and I must bide.
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow,
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow,
It's I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow,—
Oh Danny boy, Oh Danny Boy, I love you so!
But if you come, when all the flowers are dying,
And I am dead, as dead I well may be,
Ye'll come and find the place where I am lying,
And kneel and say an "Avé" there for me.
And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me,
And all my grave will warmer, sweeter be,
For you will bend and tell me that you love me,
and I will sleep in peace until you come to me
＊glen: a deep valley
Danny Boy
"Danny Boy" is a ballad set to an ancient Irish melody. The words were written by English songwriter Frederic Weatherly and usually set to the Irish tune of the "Londonderry Air".It is most closely associated with Irish communities.misery loves company.
History
Initially written to a tune other than "Londonderry Air", the words to "Danny Boy" were penned by English lawyer and lyricist Frederic Weatherly in Bath, Somerset in 1910.
After his Irish-born sister-in-law Margaret (known as Jess) in the United States sent him a copy of "Londonderry Air" in 1913 (an alternative version has her singing the air to him in 1912 with different lyrics), Weatherly modified the lyrics of "Danny Boy" to fit the rhyme and meter of "Londonderry Air".
Weatherly gave the song to the vocalist Elsie Griffin, who made it one of the most popular songs in the new century; and, in 1915, Ernestine Schumann-Heink produced the first recording of "Danny Boy".
Jane Ross of Limavady is credited with collecting the melody of "Londonderry Air" in the mid-19th century from a musician she encountered.
There are various theories as to the true meaning of "Danny Boy".Some have interpreted the song to be a message from a parent to a son going off to a war or uprising (as suggested by the reference to "pipes calling glen to glen") or leaving as part of the Irish diaspora.
Meaning
The song is about a mother seeing her boy Danny (Danny Boy) off to war, or perhaps emigrating to someplace like America (that's why the pipes are calling). The mother goes on to say she'll be waiting for him when he gets back, unless she is dead (as well she might be), in which case to come visit her grave. It was a very popular song in the earlier 20th century, to the point of being a cliché. Just the sort of thing that drunk people like to sing when in the throes of nostalgic melancholy.
※hit home:to really make sense
By William Shakespeare
 |
The duke of Athens. Theseus is a hero from Greek mythology—he refers to the fact that he’s Hercules' cousin at one point—so his presence signals to the reader that the play takes place in a mythical Greek past. At the beginning of the play, Theseus has recently returned from conquering the Amazons, a race of warrior women, and is about to marry the conquered Amazon queen, Hippolyta. Because of this impending wedding, the mood of the play is one of holiday festivity, characterized by a heightened sense of erotic expectation and anticipation. Theseus himself projects confidence, authority, and benevolent power.
＊impending:
describes an event ,usually something unpleasant or unwanted ,that is going to hppen soon
【Synonym】approaching、imminent、looming(negative)
＊benevolent : kind and helpful
【Synonym】benign、caring、compassionate、generous、humane、philanthropic
Hippolyta
 |
＊deferential: polite and showing respect(Adj.)
＊deference: respect and politeness(Noun.)
--> respect and esteem due a superior or an elder; also
affected or ingratiating regard for another's wishes
【Synonym】compliance、acquiescence ac·qui·es·cence \-ˈe-sən(t)s\、obedience
Egeus
 |
 |
Egeus’s daughter. Hermia is a beautiful young woman of Athens, and both Demetrius and Lysander are in love with her. Hermia defies her father’s wish that she marry Demetrius because she is in love with Lysander. She is unusually strong-willed and independent—refusing to comply even when Theseus orders her to obey her father—and resolved to elope with Lysander. Hermia is also the childhood friend of Helena.
 |
A young nobleman of Athens in love with Hermia. Although Hermia’s father refuses to let her marry Lysander, Lysander believes that love must conquer all obstacles, so he persuades Hermia to run away from her home and family with him, into the forest.
 |
| Demetrius and Helena |
A young nobleman of Athens. In the past, Demetrius acted as if he loved Helena, but after Helena fell in love with him, he changed his mind and pursued Hermia. Emboldened by Egeus’s approval of him, Demetrius is undeterred by the fact that Hermia does not want him.
 |
A young woman of Athens in love with Demetrius. Helena has been rejected and abandoned by Demetrius, who had claimed to love her before he met her best friend, Hermia. Consequently, Helena tends to speak in a self-pitying tone. Moreover, she puts herself in dangerous and humiliating situations, running through the forest at night after Demetrius even though Demetrius wants nothing to do with her.
＊disrupt:
to prevent something , especially a system, process or event, from continuing as usual or as expected.
【Synonym】disintegrate、diemember、break、fracture、fragment
 |
A “puck” or mischievous fairy who delights in playing pranks on mortals; he is sometimes referred to simply as Puck. Robin is Oberon’s jester, and his antics are responsible for many of the complications that propel the play. At Oberon’s bidding, Robin sprinkles “love juice” in the eyes of various characters to change who they love, but he makes mistakes in his application that create conflicts Oberon never intended. Though Robin claims to make these mistakes honestly, he enjoys the conflict and mayhem that his mistakes cause.
 |
The king of the fairies. Oberon begins the play at odds with his wife, Titania, because she refuses to relinquish control of a young Indian prince whom she has kidnapped, but whom Oberon wants for a knight. Oberon’s desire for revenge on Titania leads him to send Robin to obtain the love-potion flower that creates so much of the play’s confusion and farce.
＊relinquish:
(1)to give up something such as responsibility or claim
(2)to unwillingly stop holding or keeping something
【Synonym】cede、cough up、surrender、render、yield、turn in
 |
The beautiful queen of the fairies. Titania resists the attempts of her husband, Oberon, to make a knight of the young Indian prince whom she has taken. Until Oberon gives up his demand, Titania has sworn to avoid his company and his bed. She is less upset by the fact that she and Oberon are apart than by the fact that Oberon has been disrupting her and her followers' magic fairy dances.
＊disrupting : to break apart
 |
Nick Bottom
The overconfident weaver chosen to play Pyramus in a play that a group of craftsmen have decided to put on for Theseus’s wedding celebration. Bottom is full of advice and self-confidence but frequently makes silly mistakes and misuses language. His simultaneous nonchalance about the beautiful Titania’s sudden love for him and unawareness of the fact that Puck has transformed his head into that of an ass mark the pinnacle of his foolish arrogance.
 |
| weaver |
Peter Quince
A carpenter and the nominal leader of the craftsmen’s attempt to put on a play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Quince is often shoved aside by the abundantly confident Bottom. During the craftsmen’s play, Quince plays the Prologue.
Francis Flute
The bellows-mender chosen to play Thisbe in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Forced to play a young girl in love, the bearded craftsman determines to speak his lines in a high, squeaky voice.
＊squeaky: to utter or make a short shrill cry or noise
Robin Starveling
The tailor chosen to play Thisbe’s mother in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Robin Starveling ends up playing the part of Moonshine.
Tom Snout
The tinker chosen to play Pyramus’s father in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Tom Snout ends up playing the part of Wall, dividing the two lovers.
Snug
The joiner chosen to play the lion in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Snug worries that his roaring will frighten the ladies in the audience.
Philostrate
Theseus’s Master of the Revels, responsible for organizing the entertainment for the duke’s marriage celebration.
Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Mote, and Mustardseed
The fairies whom Titania orders to wait on Bottom after she falls in love with him.
Two beautiful songs
(1)If by Bread
 |
| Band-Bread |
(1)If a picture paints a thousand words
Then why can't I paint you?
The words will never show
that you I've come to know
If a face could launch a thousand ships---->(Helen in Troy War)
Then where am I to go?
There's no one home but you
You're all that's left me too
And when my love for life is running dry
You come and pour yourself on me
(2)I'd be with you
Tomorrow and today
Beside you all the way
If the world should stop revolving
Spinning slowly down to die
I'd spend the end with you
And when the world was through
Then one by one the stars would all go out
And you and I would simply fly away
Danny Boy
Oh, Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side.
The summer's gone, and all the roses falling,
It's you, it's you must go and I must bide.
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow,
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow,
It's I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow,—
Oh Danny boy, Oh Danny Boy, I love you so!
But if you come, when all the flowers are dying,
Ye'll come and find the place where I am lying,
And kneel and say an "Avé" there for me.
And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me,
And all my grave will warmer, sweeter be,
For you will bend and tell me that you love me,
and I will sleep in peace until you come to me
＊glen: a deep valley
Danny Boy
"Danny Boy" is a ballad set to an ancient Irish melody. The words were written by English songwriter Frederic Weatherly and usually set to the Irish tune of the "Londonderry Air".It is most closely associated with Irish communities.misery loves company.
History
Initially written to a tune other than "Londonderry Air", the words to "Danny Boy" were penned by English lawyer and lyricist Frederic Weatherly in Bath, Somerset in 1910.
After his Irish-born sister-in-law Margaret (known as Jess) in the United States sent him a copy of "Londonderry Air" in 1913 (an alternative version has her singing the air to him in 1912 with different lyrics), Weatherly modified the lyrics of "Danny Boy" to fit the rhyme and meter of "Londonderry Air".
Weatherly gave the song to the vocalist Elsie Griffin, who made it one of the most popular songs in the new century; and, in 1915, Ernestine Schumann-Heink produced the first recording of "Danny Boy".
Jane Ross of Limavady is credited with collecting the melody of "Londonderry Air" in the mid-19th century from a musician she encountered.
There are various theories as to the true meaning of "Danny Boy".Some have interpreted the song to be a message from a parent to a son going off to a war or uprising (as suggested by the reference to "pipes calling glen to glen") or leaving as part of the Irish diaspora.
Meaning
The song is about a mother seeing her boy Danny (Danny Boy) off to war, or perhaps emigrating to someplace like America (that's why the pipes are calling). The mother goes on to say she'll be waiting for him when he gets back, unless she is dead (as well she might be), in which case to come visit her grave. It was a very popular song in the earlier 20th century, to the point of being a cliché. Just the sort of thing that drunk people like to sing when in the throes of nostalgic melancholy.
※hit home:to really make sense
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