ENGL 339 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Egeus, Blank Verse
Document Summary
Act 1 scene 1 acts as the exposition to introduce the reader to all the characters: lovers quarrel, hippolyta"s dislike of theseus. The tradesmen who are acting the play will receive pension: they will never have to work again, some do it for art but other so it for pension for life, introduced in act 2 scene 1. By the conclusion we have new harmony. Oberon and titania are ghting they are causing nature to be off: set the tone for the play, their coming together lays out the plot for the wedding. Foils: a minor character who has enough in common with the major character to compare. With enough signi cant difference to highlight each other. Shakespeare had a strong background in classical literature. Shakespeare learned how to use stock character: egeus is the overbearing and foolish man. Platus and terence were the ones to write stock character.
