A Midsummer Night's Dream

Act I

Reading Check

1. Hippolyta (1.1)

2. Hermia (1.1)

3. Demetrius (1.1)

4. Lysander (1.1)

5. The Most Lamentable Comedy and Most Cruel Death of Pyramus and Thisbe (1.2)

Short Answer

1. Egeus is angry because his daughter, Hermia, refuses to marry the man Egeus has chosen for her, Demetrius. Instead, Hermia insists that she is in love with Lysander. (1.1)

2. Theseus tells Hermia she must decide what to do by the time his own wedding takes place in a few days. If she refuses to marry Demetrius, she will become a nun. (1.1)

3. Hermia and Lysander plan on running away to Lysander’s aunt’s home, which is outside of Athenian jurisdiction. (1.1)

4. Helena, desperate for Demetrius’s love, decides to tell him about Hermia and Lysander’s plan to escape Athens through the woods. (1.1)

5. Bottom is characterized as ridiculous through his insistence that he is a wonderful actor who should be allowed to play every part. His claims are belied through the hyperbolic and ridiculous demonstrations of his skills. (

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