The document provides a recap quiz on Act I Scene i of A Midsummer Night's Dream, testing comprehension on the setting, plot points, and characters introduced. It then analyzes how Northrop Frye's concept of the "old world" is established in the first scene through the restrictive rules imposed on Hermia by her father Egeus. Finally, it prompts analysis of how Scene ii contrasts with Scene i and the literary techniques of bathos and burlesque.

1. A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Act I Sc ii

2. • A recap quiz on Act I Sc i…I know how much
you love them!

3. 1. Where is the play set?
a) In and around London
b) In and around Athens
c) In and around Verona
d) In and around Venice

4. 2. What is Theseus planning as the
play opens?
a) His wedding to Titania
b) His wedding to Hermia
c) His wedding to Helena
d) His wedding to Hippolyta

5. 3. Why has Egeus come to see
Theseus?
a) His daughter won’t marry the man he wants
her to marry
b) His daughter refuses to attend Theseus’s
wedding
c) His daughter refuses to act as Hippolyta’s
lady in waiting
d) His daughter wants to perform in the
entertainments planned to celebrate the
wedding

6. 4. What famous phrase from the scene
emphasises the play’s theme of
romantic complication?
a) “Lord, what fools these mortals be!”
b) “The course of true love never did run
smooth.”
c) “I have had a most rare vision.”
d) “Ay, love! What has happened to me?”

7. 5. What does Lysander propose to
Hermia?
a) That they have a double wedding with Helen
and Demetrius
b) That they ask the fairies for help
overthrowing Theseus
c) That they run away to the home of
Lysander’s aunt
d) That they join the band of fairies who live in
the woods

8. In what ways is Northrop Frye’s
concept of the ‘old world’ established
in Act I Sc i?
• The old world - a world belonging to older
people, often parental or other authority figures.
It is usually repressive or constraining in some
way, and usually urban. Laws or the established
way of doing things result in a lack of freedom.
This world is resisted by the young people. Often,
this world is only seen on stage for a short while,
but its structures will be clear.

9. Act I Sc ii
• How does Act I Sc ii contrast with the previous
scene?
• Why does Shakespeare choose to contrast the
scenes in this way?
• Extension: How does this link to the concepts
of bathos and Burlesque?

10. What is bathos?
Bathos is an abrupt transition in style from the
exalted to the commonplace, producing a
ludicrous effect. While often unintended, bathos
may be used deliberately to produce a
humorous effect. If bathos is overt, it may be
described as Burlesque.

11. Burlesque
A kind of dramatic comedy that mocks a more
sombre literary work perhaps by treating a
serious subject in an undignified way or by
applying a grand style to a frivolous or silly
subject.