[1 of 5] A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 1, Scenes 1–2 (1595) William Shakespeare
Author: William Shakespeare
Shakespeare, William. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream Act I, Scenes 1 and 2.” Open Source Shakespeare, 1595, www.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/plays/play_view.php?WorkID=midsummer&Act=1&Scope=act&pleasewait=1&msg=pl.
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Characters
Bottom, a weaver
Cobweb, a fairy
Demetrius, in love with Hermia
Egeus, father to Hermia
Fairy
Flute, a bellows-mender
Helena, in love with Demetrius
Hermia, daughter to Egeus, in love with Lysander
Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons, betrothed to Theseus
Lysander, in love with Hermia
Moth, a fairy
Mustardseed, a fairy
Oberon, king of the fairies
Peaseblossom, a fairy
Philostrate, master of the revels to Theseus
Puck, or Robin Goodfellow
Quince, a carpenter
Snout, a tinker
Snug, a joiner
Starveling, a tailor
Theseus, Duke of Athens
Titania, queen of the fairies
Act I, Scene 1
Athens. The palace of THESEUS.
[Enter THESEUS, HIPPOLYTA, PHILOSTRATE, and Attendants]
-
Theseus.
Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour
Draws on apace; four happy days bring in
Another moon: but, O, methinks, how slow
This old moon wanes! she lingers my desires,5
Like to a step-dame or a dowager
Long withering out a young man revenue. - Copy one of the sparks and lead lines above.
- Click Create in the top menu.
- Paste the spark and lead line in the text box. Give the document a Title, and click Enable AI features.
- Start composing your creative response to the poem.
- Click Upload.
- For more help completing your response, select Ask AI, select Kickstarter, tell that Writing Partner what you are working on and click Continue with AI at least two more times.
- Is there a metaphor? Yes, “withering” is often used metaphorically to mean someone is becoming weaker or losing strength.
- Are there contrasts or examples? Not yet, but “long” gives us a sense of duration.
- Root or prefixes? “Wither” is the root, meaning to fade or dry up. “Withering out” extends or completes the process.
- Does the author use a metaphor? “Revenue” is not usually a physical thing that can “wither,” so it’s being used metaphorically to talk about the things a young man has—maybe his opportunities or potential.
- Contrasting language? Not in this chunk, but the contrast might come in the larger sentence.
- Root word? “Revenue” comes from a root meaning “to return” or “to come back,” but here it’s income.
- Looking before and after: “withering out” is happening to “a young man revenue.” So, something is slowly draining or wasting away what a young man has or could earn.
You’re wondering if it’s possible to write about something in nature, make comparisons to different kinds of people, and show how you’re feeling about it—just like what you see in the lines from Shakespeare’s Theseus. That’s such a thoughtful way to read and respond to poetry! If you try out one of the creative sparks below, you’ll discover new ways to work with these ideas. After doing your own writing, come back to the lines and read them like a writer—see what you notice and what you want to try next.
Here are three sparks to help you get started:
Imagine something in nature moving slowly or changing with time. Compare it to different types of people you know and let your feelings about it show through. What small detail in nature could reveal a big feeling?
You might use this line: Just as ______, so ______…
[seasons]
[people waiting]
[changes over time]
[hopes and dreams]
[slow beginnings]
Describe how waiting for something makes you feel, using a part of the natural world as a symbol or image. Connect the slow passing of time to an emotion or experience you are having now. Let your writing show how the outside world and your inside feelings match up or don’t.
You might use this line: The ______ moves like ______…
[moon or sun]
[people craving something]
[feelings of longing]
[old memories]
[things that seem stuck]
Think about comparing a person you know (or imagine) to something in nature that’s slow, steady, or seems to last a long time. Try to show how this comparison makes you feel—do you like it, or is it hard? Express what you notice in yourself as you make this connection.
You might use this line: It lingers like ______…
[an old tree]
[a quiet afternoon]
[a gentle river]
[a memory that stays]
[a feeling that won’t go]
You can write anything you like in response—a story, a poem, a letter, a song, or even a drawing! The lead lines are there to help you start. Take one, fill in the blanks, and see where your imagination takes you.
Here’s what you can do next to turn your ideas into writing:
Would you like to see how I came up with these sparks and lead lines from the poem? I can explain the moves and meanings behind my ideas, if you want to know more!
Absolutely! Let’s use our Reading Apprenticeship strategies together to break down this phrase: “Like to a step-dame or a dowager.” We’ll focus especially on the challenging vocabulary: “step-dame” and “dowager.”
Let’s start with the first chunk:
Chunk 1:
Like to a step-dame or a dowager
Let’s use a Think Aloud routine: When we see the phrase “step-dame,” it sounds a lot like “stepmother.” We can break it down: “dame” is an old word for “lady” or “woman,” and when we add “step-” in front, it usually means someone who is related by marriage, not by birth. So, a “step-dame” must mean a stepmother—a woman who is married to our father but isn’t our biological mother.
Would you like to see more?
Chunk 2:
Let’s focus now on the word: “dowager.”
Let’s continue our Think Aloud: The word “dowager” isn’t one we use every day! If we look at the root, “dow-” reminds us of “dowry,” which is money or property a woman brings to a marriage. A “dowager” is typically a widow who has a title or property from her late husband. In literature, “dowager” often means an older woman of high social standing, but sometimes with a sense of being old-fashioned or even severe.
Let’s ask ourselves: Does the author use any clues? The phrase “like to a step-dame or a dowager” seems to compare someone to these two types of women. There’s no “but” or “however,” so the comparison is direct, and it doesn’t sound very positive, especially since “stepmother” in stories is often a negative figure, and “dowager” can mean someone strict or out of touch.
Would you like to see more?
Absolutely! Let’s work together as a team to unpack this line: “Long withering out a young man revenue.” I’m going to use a Think Aloud and break it into manageable chunks, focusing on the most difficult vocabulary. We’ll use reading strategies to help us make sense of the language.
Let’s start with the first chunk and model some thinking. We’ll go one step at a time. Ready? Here’s the first chunk:
Chunk 1: “Long withering out”
Let’s stop here and think aloud about what “long withering out” could mean. The word “withering” reminds us of something shriveling or drying up, like a plant that doesn’t get water. The author uses “long” in front, so maybe it’s not quick—it’s something that happens slowly, over time. The phrase probably means a slow process of being drained, weakened, or diminished.
Let’s check for context clues:
That’s my thinking so far. Would you like to see the next chunk?
Chunk 2: “a young man revenue”
Now let’s think aloud about this part: “a young man revenue.” The word “revenue” usually means income or money that someone earns, like a salary, profit, or allowance. Here, it’s being used to describe something that belongs to the young man—his wealth or resources.
Let’s use our reading strategies:
So, I’m thinking this line means that something is slowly draining away a young man’s wealth, opportunities, or future income.
Would you like to see more? I can model putting it all together in the next chunk!
Chunk 3: Putting It All Together (Think Aloud)
Let’s do a Think Aloud to combine what we’ve figured out. “Long withering out a young man revenue” seems to describe a slow process that causes a young man’s income, resources, or potential to be wasted away. The author uses the word “withering” as a metaphor, comparing the loss of money or opportunity to a plant slowly dying. There’s no contrasting language in this short phrase, but the context makes us imagine that time or some force is draining a young man’s future or fortune.
So, when we read this line, we can picture a young person’s hopes or means gradually fading away—not in an instant, but stretched out over a long time.
Now, I’d love to hear your thoughts! How do you interpret this phrase? What helped you figure out the meaning? Would you like to see a list of the vocabulary words and their meanings from this passage?
-
Hippolyta.
Four days will quickly steep themselves in night;
Four nights will quickly dream away the time;
And then the moon, like to a silver bow10
New-bent in heaven, shall behold the night
Of our solemnities.
-
Theseus.
Go, Philostrate,
Stir up the Athenian youth to merriments;
Awake the pert and nimble spirit of mirth;15
Turn melancholy forth to funerals;
The pale companion is not for our pomp.
[Exit PHILOSTRATE]
Hippolyta, I woo'd thee with my sword,
And won thy love, doing thee injuries;20
But I will wed thee in another key,
With pomp, with triumph and with revelling.
[Enter EGEUS, HERMIA, LYSANDER, and DEMETRIUS]
- Egeus. Happy be Theseus, our renowned duke!
- Theseus. Thanks, good Egeus: what's the news with thee?25
-
Egeus.
Full of vexation come I, with complaint
Against my child, my daughter Hermia.
Stand forth, Demetrius. My noble lord,
This man hath my consent to marry her.
Stand forth, Lysander: and my gracious duke,30
This man hath bewitch'd the bosom of my child;
Thou, thou, Lysander, thou hast given her rhymes,
And interchanged love-tokens with my child:
Thou hast by moonlight at her window sung,
With feigning voice verses of feigning love,35
And stolen the impression of her fantasy
With bracelets of thy hair, rings, gawds, conceits,
Knacks, trifles, nosegays, sweetmeats, messengers
Of strong prevailment in unharden'd youth:
With cunning hast thou filch'd my daughter's heart,40
Turn'd her obedience, which is due to me,
To stubborn harshness: and, my gracious duke,
Be it so she; will not here before your grace
Consent to marry with Demetrius,
I beg the ancient privilege of Athens,45
As she is mine, I may dispose of her:
Which shall be either to this gentleman
Or to her death, according to our law
Immediately provided in that case.
-
Theseus.
What say you, Hermia? be advised fair maid:50
To you your father should be as a god;
One that composed your beauties, yea, and one
To whom you are but as a form in wax
By him imprinted and within his power
To leave the figure or disfigure it.55
Demetrius is a worthy gentleman.
- Hermia. So is Lysander.
-
Theseus.
In himself he is;
But in this kind, wanting your father's voice,
The other must be held the worthier.60
- Hermia. I would my father look'd but with my eyes.
- Theseus. Rather your eyes must with his judgment look.
-
Hermia.
I do entreat your grace to pardon me.
I know not by what power I am made bold,
Nor how it may concern my modesty,65
In such a presence here to plead my thoughts;
But I beseech your grace that I may know
The worst that may befall me in this case,
If I refuse to wed Demetrius.
-
Theseus.
Either to die the death or to abjure70
For ever the society of men.
Therefore, fair Hermia, question your desires;
Know of your youth, examine well your blood,
Whether, if you yield not to your father's choice,
You can endure the livery of a nun,75
For aye to be in shady cloister mew'd,
To live a barren sister all your life,
Chanting faint hymns to the cold fruitless moon.
Thrice-blessed they that master so their blood,
To undergo such maiden pilgrimage;80
But earthlier happy is the rose distill'd,
Than that which withering on the virgin thorn
Grows, lives and dies in single blessedness.
-
Hermia.
So will I grow, so live, so die, my lord,
Ere I will my virgin patent up85
Unto his lordship, whose unwished yoke
My soul consents not to give sovereignty.
-
Theseus.
Take time to pause; and, by the nest new moon—
The sealing-day betwixt my love and me,
For everlasting bond of fellowship—90
Upon that day either prepare to die
For disobedience to your father's will,
Or else to wed Demetrius, as he would;
Or on Diana's altar to protest
For aye austerity and single life.95
-
Demetrius.
Relent, sweet Hermia: and, Lysander, yield
Thy crazed title to my certain right.
-
Lysander.
You have her father's love, Demetrius;
Let me have Hermia's: do you marry him.
-
Egeus.
Scornful Lysander! true, he hath my love,100
And what is mine my love shall render him.
And she is mine, and all my right of her
I do estate unto Demetrius.
-
Lysander.
I am, my lord, as well derived as he,
As well possess'd; my love is more than his;105
My fortunes every way as fairly rank'd,
If not with vantage, as Demetrius';
And, which is more than all these boasts can be,
I am beloved of beauteous Hermia:
Why should not I then prosecute my right?110
Demetrius, I'll avouch it to his head,
Made love to Nedar's daughter, Helena,
And won her soul; and she, sweet lady, dotes,
Devoutly dotes, dotes in idolatry,
Upon this spotted and inconstant man.115
-
Theseus.
I must confess that I have heard so much,
And with Demetrius thought to have spoke thereof;
But, being over-full of self-affairs,
My mind did lose it. But, Demetrius, come;
And come, Egeus; you shall go with me,120
I have some private schooling for you both.
For you, fair Hermia, look you arm yourself
To fit your fancies to your father's will;
Or else the law of Athens yields you up—
Which by no means we may extenuate—125
To death, or to a vow of single life.
Come, my Hippolyta: what cheer, my love?
Demetrius and Egeus, go along:
I must employ you in some business
Against our nuptial and confer with you130
Of something nearly that concerns yourselves.
- Egeus. With duty and desire we follow you.
[Exeunt all but LYSANDER and HERMIA]
-
Lysander.
How now, my love! why is your cheek so pale?
How chance the roses there do fade so fast?135
-
Hermia.
Belike for want of rain, which I could well
Beteem them from the tempest of my eyes.
-
Lysander.
Ay me! for aught that I could ever read,
Could ever hear by tale or history,
The course of true love never did run smooth;140
But, either it was different in blood,—
- Hermia. O cross! too high to be enthrall'd to low.
- Lysander. Or else misgraffed in respect of years,—
- Hermia. O spite! too old to be engaged to young.
- Lysander. Or else it stood upon the choice of friends,—145
- Hermia. O hell! to choose love by another's eyes.
-
Lysander.
Or, if there were a sympathy in choice,
War, death, or sickness did lay siege to it,
Making it momentany as a sound,
Swift as a shadow, short as any dream;150
Brief as the lightning in the collied night,
That, in a spleen, unfolds both heaven and earth,
And ere a man hath power to say 'Behold!'
The jaws of darkness do devour it up:
So quick bright things come to confusion.155
-
Hermia.
If then true lovers have been ever cross'd,
It stands as an edict in destiny:
Then let us teach our trial patience,
Because it is a customary cross,
As due to love as thoughts and dreams and sighs,160
Wishes and tears, poor fancy's followers.
-
Lysander.
A good persuasion: therefore, hear me, Hermia.
I have a widow aunt, a dowager
Of great revenue, and she hath no child:
From Athens is her house remote seven leagues;165
And she respects me as her only son.
There, gentle Hermia, may I marry thee;
And to that place the sharp Athenian law
Cannot pursue us. If thou lovest me then,
Steal forth thy father's house to-morrow night;170
And in the wood, a league without the town,
Where I did meet thee once with Helena,
To do observance to a morn of May,
There will I stay for thee.
-
Hermia.
My good Lysander!175
I swear to thee, by Cupid's strongest bow,
By his best arrow with the golden head,
By the simplicity of Venus' doves,
By that which knitteth souls and prospers loves,
And by that fire which burn'd the Carthage queen,180
When the false Troyan under sail was seen,
By all the vows that ever men have broke,
In number more than ever women spoke,
In that same place thou hast appointed me,
To-morrow truly will I meet with thee.185
- Lysander. Keep promise, love. Look, here comes Helena.
- Hermia. God speed fair Helena! whither away?
-
Helena.
Call you me fair? that fair again unsay.
Demetrius loves your fair: O happy fair!190
Your eyes are lode-stars; and your tongue's sweet air
More tuneable than lark to shepherd's ear,
When wheat is green, when hawthorn buds appear.
Sickness is catching: O, were favour so,
Yours would I catch, fair Hermia, ere I go;195
My ear should catch your voice, my eye your eye,
My tongue should catch your tongue's sweet melody.
Were the world mine, Demetrius being bated,
The rest I'd give to be to you translated.
O, teach me how you look, and with what art200
You sway the motion of Demetrius' heart.
- Hermia. I frown upon him, yet he loves me still.
- Helena. O that your frowns would teach my smiles such skill!
- Hermia. I give him curses, yet he gives me love.
- Helena. O that my prayers could such affection move!205
- Hermia. The more I hate, the more he follows me.
- Helena. The more I love, the more he hateth me.
- Hermia. His folly, Helena, is no fault of mine.
- Helena. None, but your beauty: would that fault were mine!
-
Hermia.
Take comfort: he no more shall see my face;210
Lysander and myself will fly this place.
Before the time I did Lysander see,
Seem'd Athens as a paradise to me:
O, then, what graces in my love do dwell,
That he hath turn'd a heaven unto a hell!215
-
Lysander.
Helen, to you our minds we will unfold:
To-morrow night, when Phoebe doth behold
Her silver visage in the watery glass,
Decking with liquid pearl the bladed grass,
A time that lovers' flights doth still conceal,220
Through Athens' gates have we devised to steal.
-
Hermia.
And in the wood, where often you and I
Upon faint primrose-beds were wont to lie,
Emptying our bosoms of their counsel sweet,
There my Lysander and myself shall meet;225
And thence from Athens turn away our eyes,
To seek new friends and stranger companies.
Farewell, sweet playfellow: pray thou for us;
And good luck grant thee thy Demetrius!
Keep word, Lysander: we must starve our sight230
From lovers' food till morrow deep midnight.
-
Lysander.
I will, my Hermia.
[Exit HERMIA]
Helena, adieu:
As you on him, Demetrius dote on you!235
-
Helena.
How happy some o'er other some can be!
Through Athens I am thought as fair as she.
But what of that? Demetrius thinks not so;
He will not know what all but he do know:240
And as he errs, doting on Hermia's eyes,
So I, admiring of his qualities:
Things base and vile, folding no quantity,
Love can transpose to form and dignity:
Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind;245
And therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind:
Nor hath Love's mind of any judgement taste;
Wings and no eyes figure unheedy haste:
And therefore is Love said to be a child,
Because in choice he is so oft beguiled.250
As waggish boys in game themselves forswear,
So the boy Love is perjured every where:
For ere Demetrius look'd on Hermia's eyne,
He hail'd down oaths that he was only mine;
And when this hail some heat from Hermia felt,255
So he dissolved, and showers of oaths did melt.
I will go tell him of fair Hermia's flight:
Then to the wood will he to-morrow night
Pursue her; and for this intelligence
If I have thanks, it is a dear expense:260
But herein mean I to enrich my pain,
To have his sight thither and back again.
Act I, Scene 2
Athens. QUINCE’S house.
[Enter QUINCE, SNUG, BOTTOM, FLUTE, SNOUT, and STARVELING]
- Quince. Is all our company here?265
-
Bottom.
You were best to call them generally, man by man,
according to the scrip.
-
Quince.
Here is the scroll of every man's name, which is
thought fit, through all Athens, to play in our
interlude before the duke and the duchess, on his270
wedding-day at night.
-
Bottom.
First, good Peter Quince, say what the play treats
on, then read the names of the actors, and so grow
to a point.
-
Quince.
Marry, our play is, The most lamentable comedy, and275
most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisby.
-
Bottom.
A very good piece of work, I assure you, and a
merry. Now, good Peter Quince, call forth your
actors by the scroll. Masters, spread yourselves.
- Quince. Answer as I call you. Nick Bottom, the weaver.280
- Bottom. Ready. Name what part I am for, and proceed.
- Quince. You, Nick Bottom, are set down for Pyramus.
- Bottom. What is Pyramus? a lover, or a tyrant?
- Quince. A lover, that kills himself most gallant for love.
-
Bottom.
That will ask some tears in the true performing of285
it: if I do it, let the audience look to their
eyes; I will move storms, I will condole in some
measure. To the rest: yet my chief humour is for a
tyrant: I could play Ercles rarely, or a part to
tear a cat in, to make all split.290
The raging rocks
And shivering shocks
Shall break the locks
Of prison gates;
And Phibbus' car295
Shall shine from far
And make and mar
The foolish Fates.
This was lofty! Now name the rest of the players.
This is Ercles' vein, a tyrant's vein; a lover is300
more condoling.
- Quince. Francis Flute, the bellows-mender.
- Flute. Here, Peter Quince.
- Quince. Flute, you must take Thisby on you.
- Flute. What is Thisby? a wandering knight?305
- Quince. It is the lady that Pyramus must love.
- Flute. Nay, faith, let me not play a woman; I have a beard coming.
-
Quince.
That's all one: you shall play it in a mask, and
you may speak as small as you will.
-
Bottom.
An I may hide my face, let me play Thisby too, I'll310
speak in a monstrous little voice. 'Thisne,
Thisne;' 'Ah, Pyramus, lover dear! thy Thisby dear,
and lady dear!'
- Quince. No, no; you must play Pyramus: and, Flute, you Thisby.
- Bottom. Well, proceed.315
- Quince. Robin Starveling, the tailor.
- Starveling. Here, Peter Quince.
-
Quince.
Robin Starveling, you must play Thisby's mother.
Tom Snout, the tinker.
- Snout. Here, Peter Quince.320
-
Quince.
You, Pyramus' father: myself, Thisby's father:
Snug, the joiner; you, the lion's part: and, I
hope, here is a play fitted.
-
Snug.
Have you the lion's part written? pray you, if it
be, give it me, for I am slow of study.325
- Quince. You may do it extempore, for it is nothing but roaring.
-
Bottom.
Let me play the lion too: I will roar, that I will
do any man's heart good to hear me; I will roar,
that I will make the duke say 'Let him roar again,
let him roar again.' 330
-
Quince.
An you should do it too terribly, you would fright
the duchess and the ladies, that they would shriek;
and that were enough to hang us all.
- All. That would hang us, every mother's son.
-
Bottom.
I grant you, friends, if that you should fright the335
ladies out of their wits, they would have no more
discretion but to hang us: but I will aggravate my
voice so that I will roar you as gently as any
sucking dove; I will roar you an 'twere any
nightingale.340
-
Quince.
You can play no part but Pyramus; for Pyramus is a
sweet-faced man; a proper man, as one shall see in a
summer's day; a most lovely gentleman-like man:
therefore you must needs play Pyramus.
-
Bottom.
Well, I will undertake it.
What beard were I best345
to play it in?
- Quince. Why, what you will.
-
Bottom.
I will discharge it in either your straw-colour
beard, your orange-tawny beard, your purple-in-grain
beard, or your French-crown-colour beard, your350
perfect yellow.
-
Quince.
Some of your French crowns have no hair at all, and
then you will play bare-faced. But, masters, here
are your parts: and I am to entreat you, request
you and desire you, to con them by to-morrow night;355
and meet me in the palace wood, a mile without the
town, by moonlight; there will we rehearse, for if
we meet in the city, we shall be dogged with
company, and our devices known. In the meantime I
will draw a bill of properties, such as our play360
wants. I pray you, fail me not.
-
Bottom.
We will meet; and there we may rehearse most
obscenely and courageously. Take pains; be perfect: adieu.
- Quince. At the duke's oak we meet.
- Bottom. Enough; hold or cut bow-strings.365
General Document Comments 0
Absolutely, I’d love to help you appreciate the use of figurative language in Act I of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Shakespeare’s language is famously rich with metaphor, simile, personification, and other imaginative devices that really bring both the characters and their world alive. Let’s focus our attention specifically on Act I as you requested.
To start our exploration: what stands out to you as particularly vivid or striking in Theseus’s opening lines? He describes the moon in a way that goes beyond simple observation. For instance, he says: “This old moon wanes! she lingers my desires, / Like to a step-dame or a dowager / Long withering out a young man revenue.” What do you notice about how he’s using language here? Can you identify what sort of literary device this might be? And why might it matter for setting the tone at the very beginning of the play?
Would you like to see more examples and continue digging into how figurative language shapes Act I?
Great observation! You’re really engaging with the text in the spirit of close reading and analysis, which is at the heart of your question about figurative language in Act I. So, let’s linger a bit on Theseus’s language: “This old moon wanes! she lingers my desires, / Like to a step-dame or a dowager / Long withering out a young man revenue.” Here, Shakespeare is layering his literary devices. He personifies the moon by giving it human-like qualities—it’s lingering and actively affecting Theseus’s feelings. But there’s also a simile when he compares the moon to “a step-dame or a dowager,” drawing on social roles that would have been familiar (and perhaps faintly comic) to his audience.
Now, why might Shakespeare open the play with this mix of personification and metaphor? What does it tell us about Theseus’s state of mind as he awaits his wedding? And how do you think this figurative opening sets up some of the major themes or moods for the rest of Act I?
Would you like to look at another passage for more examples of figurative language?
Exactly! You’re really on to something important about Theseus’s character and the tone Shakespeare sets at the outset of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The figurative language doesn’t just decorate the speech—it reveals Theseus’s impatience and desire. The moon, personified as a slow, lingering figure, becomes an obstacle to his happiness. So, in your view, does this use of figurative language help us empathize with Theseus? Or does it perhaps hint at some larger theme about time and desire in the play?
Let’s think about another striking example from Act I. When Lysander says, “The course of true love never did run smooth,” what kind of literary device is this? How does it work differently from Theseus’s metaphor about the moon? Could you quote another line or two from Lysander’s speech that builds on this idea? How do these examples help establish expectations for the audience?
Would you like to keep exploring more passages together?
on the uploaded document.
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