In other words, the play's title and plot recall English traditions in a way that suggests a combination of Halloween (Puck and the fairies) and a big rave (with love-juice instead of Ecstasy). ... Shakespeare's clearest allusion to the royal member of his first audience, however, comes in Act II, Scene 1, when Oberon describes to Puck the fateful flower, "love-in-idleness,"" that will produce the magic juice. ... Unfortunately, the love-juice Puck mistakenly applies to her boyfriend's eyes (thinking that he is Demetrius) makes him fall in love with her best friend Helena ins...

• Word Count: 10864
• Approx Pages: 43
• Grade Level: High School

He says that the flower's juice, if rubbed on a sleeper's eyelids, will cause the sleeper to fall in love with the first living thing he or she sees upon waking. Oberon announces that he will use this juice on Titania, hoping that she will fall in love with some ridiculous creature; he will then refuse to lift the juice's effect until she yields the Indian prince to him. ... Puck appears, carrying the flower whose juice will serve as the love potion. ... Before hurrying away to anoint Titania's eyelids with the flower's juice, Oberon orders Puck to look for an Athen...

• Word Count: 4960
• Approx Pages: 20
• Grade Level: High School

Introduction In this comparative study I will examine the representation of the magical creatures in two adaptations of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream: the eponymous video registration of Benjamin Britten's opera performed at the Glyndebourne Festival in 1981, conducted by Bernard Haitink, produced by Peter Hall and designed by John Bury, and Michael Hoffman's film adaptation of Shakespeare's play of 1999. I have chosen these two productions because they belong to two different cultural domains. Hoffman's film is a Hollywood product, intended for a broad...

• Word Count: 9832
• Approx Pages: 39
• Grade Level: High School