A Midsummer Night’s Dream - Folger Shakespeare Library
Jul 31, 2015 · Contents. Synopsis: In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, residents of Athens mix with fairies from a local forest, with comic results. In the city, Theseus, Duke of Athens, is to marry Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons. Bottom the weaver and his friends rehearse in the woods a play they hope to stage for the wedding celebrations.
Macbeth - Act 1, scene 2 | Folger Shakespeare Library
Jul 31, 2015 · Act 1, scene 2. Duncan, king of Scotland, hears an account of the success in battle of his noblemen Macbeth and Banquo. Duncan orders the execution of the rebel thane of Cawdor and sends messengers to announce to Macbeth that he has been given Cawdor’s title. Alarum within. Enter King ⌜Duncan,⌝ Malcolm,
Romeo and Juliet - Entire Play | Folger Shakespeare Library
Jul 31, 2015 · Toggle Contents Act and scene list. Characters in the Play ; Entire Play The prologue of Romeo and Juliet calls the title characters “star-crossed lovers”—and the stars do seem to conspire against these young lovers.Romeo is a Montague, and Juliet a Capulet. Their families are enmeshed in a feud, but the moment they meet—when Romeo and his friends attend a party at Juliet’s house in ...
Macbeth - Entire Play | Folger Shakespeare Library
Jul 31, 2015 · Malcolm and Macduff lead an army against Macbeth, as Lady Macbeth goes mad and commits suicide. Macbeth confronts Malcolm’s army, trusting in the Weïrd Sisters’ comforting promises. He learns that the promises are tricks, but continues to fight. Macduff kills Macbeth and Malcolm becomes Scotland’s king. p. 7.
Othello - Entire Play | Folger Shakespeare Library
Jul 31, 2015 · Synopsis: In Venice, at the start of Othello, the soldier Iago announces his hatred for his commander, Othello, a Moor. Othello has promoted Cassio, not Iago, to be his lieutenant. Iago crudely informs Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, that Othello and Desdemona have eloped. Before the Venetian Senate, Brabantio accuses Othello of bewitching ...
Hamlet - Act 3, scene 1 | Folger Shakespeare Library
Jun 2, 2020 · Act 3, scene 1. ⌜ Scene 1 ⌝. Synopsis: After Rosencrantz and Guildenstern report their failure to find the cause of Hamlet’s madness, Polonius places Ophelia where he and Claudius may secretly observe a meeting between her and Hamlet. Hamlet is at first courteous to Ophelia, but suddenly he turns on her: he denies having loved her, asks ...
Julius Caesar - Entire Play | Folger Shakespeare Library
Jul 31, 2015 · Synopsis: Caesar’s assassination is just the halfway point of Julius Caesar. The first part of the play leads to his death; the second portrays the consequences. As the action begins, Rome prepares for Caesar’s triumphal entrance. Brutus, Caesar’s friend and ally, fears that Caesar will become king, destroying the republic.
The Merchant of Venice - Entire Play | Folger Shakespeare Library
Jul 31, 2015 · Toggle Contents Act and scene list. Characters in the Play ; Entire Play Antonio, the merchant in The Merchant of Venice, secures a loan from Shylock for his friend Bassanio, who seeks to court Portia. Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, recalls past insults from Antonio and, instead of asking interest on the loan, asks instead—in what he calls a “merry sport”—that if the loan is not repaid ...
A Modern Perspective: Much Ado About Nothing
Thematic links between the two institutions of marriage and misogyny are emphasized because, in the double plot of Much Ado About Nothing, the actions to make and to break nuptials employ the same kinds of theatrical means. Shakespeare assigns the function of destroyer with evident symmetry to Don Pedro’s brother, Don John the Bastard, whose ...
A Midsummer Night’s Dream - Act 2, scene 1
Jul 31, 2015 · Act 2, scene 1. ⌜ Scene 1 ⌝. Synopsis: Oberon and Titania, king and queen of the fairies, quarrel over possession of a young Indian boy. Oberon orders Robin Goodfellow, a hobgoblin or “puck,” to obtain a special flower that makes people fall in love with the next creature they see. Oberon wants to make Titania fall in love with a beast ...