TRANSHUMANISM

Here is a link to my video about Transhumanism.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIRrcMq65Ps

Play Reading Summary Form (Guide)

Play Reading Summary Form (Guide)

Title: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Author: William Shakespeare

Date: Between 1590 and 1596

Period/Style/Genre: Comedy

Number of Characters: 17 (Theseus, Hippolyta, Philostrate, Lysander, Demetrius, Hermia, Helena, Quince, Lords and Attendants, Pyramus, Thisbe, Wall, Moonshine, Lion, Oberon, Titania and Puck)


Setting: Athens, the palace of Theseus


Character Name Age Gender Other

Theseus 25 M Duke of Athens
Hippolyta 23 F Queen of Amazons
Philostrate 40 M Master of the Revels
Lysander 18 M In love with Hermia
Demetrius 19 M In love with Helena
Hermia 17 F In love with Lysander
Helena 18 F In love with Demetrius
Quince 33 M Carpenter Oberon 45 M King of fairies
Titania 38 F Queen of fairies
Puck 24 M Possible protagonist

Summary

Act V, scene i

 The scene starts at the palace of Theseus, where he is telling the story of the magical misventures of last night to Hippolyta (which of course, the Athenian youths told him). Although Theseus is speaking about the story, he doesn't believe it; concerning that is an interesting story but for the imagination only. However, there is a suspicion of the story's truthfulness by his wife, mainly because all the story of the people that fell in love are the same.

 The youths return to the castle, being recieved nicely by the duke of Athens, stating that before going to sleep the guests should make a perfomance. Then he calls Philostrate to read him a list of plays to choose, but find all of the plays unacceptable. Philostrate then tries to warn the duke and tells him of the Pyramus and Thisbe story, which the craftsmen have prepared; saying that it is terrible, so he suggests strongly not to see it. Theseus, not listening to the suggestions, states that no matter how poor the perfomances are; there is merit in the dutiful attitude of the craftsmen, so he will see it.

  The audience sits down and wait, and Quince enters stage to present a prologue to the play while he hesitates. Making strange pauses, the combination of sentences that he makes have no sense at all, leaving the audience questioning themselves. The other actors enter after this, playing the roles of Wall and Moonshine. They act out a awkward version of the story, during which the nobles joke among themselves about the strange speeches and bad acting. Bottom, in particular, makes many messy statements while playing his role. Pyramus and Thisbe meet at, and speak across, the actor playing Wall, who holds up his fingers to indicate a chink. Snug enters with the role of a lion, but then talk to the ladies and thell them that he actually wasn't a lion. He roars, scaring Thisbe away, and then rends her mantle. Because of finding the the bloody mantle, Pyramus commits suicide. Thisbe commits it too when finding Pyramus dead. Right after the play ended, time in which Bottom pretends to kill himself, Bottom asks to the audience if they would like an a bergamask dance or epilogue; Theseus replies that they will see the dance . Bottom and Flute makes the dance,and after that the full casting goes to sleep.

Special Notes

This chapter actually has an epilogue that isn't mentioned on many versions of the book, in which the fairies enter the palace and sing a magical song that makes each lover true to each other, and also a spell in which anyone of the audience that felt offended by the play will remember it just as a dream. 

Personal Notes and Reactions

The play has many aspects that can be highlighted in my opinion, first of all, the connection that is engaged with the Greek mythology is very good, how Shakespeare uses historical characters to build his own play, using some themes or elements in order to create different aspects of the play, for example, love, as he uses the same relations of Greek mythology, and these relations have a key role in the play, as some people say that Shakespeare uses the dark side of love in the play, along with his difficulties. In other hand, there are some things that are important in the play, like the feminism and the ambiguous sexuality of some characters. Finally, the relationships between fantasy and reality and between environment and experience is very important in the play and it is very well developed.