ittle them as heroines, and
is it, therefore, a blot upon the beauty of the play?

ACT IV

HARMONIZING EFFECTS OF OBERON'S SPELL

Trace throughout this act the smoothing-out process.

Why does Oberon himself release Titania while Puck is made to minister
to the other victims of the charm? Is Oberon's explanation of the
Fairy Queen's sudden change of heart about the changeling quite
satisfactory, or does it simply appear so by a sort of artistic
sleight-of-hand characteristic of Shakespeare in small touches at the
close of a plot?

Show how poetically suitable as a stage effect the entry of Theseus
and his huntsmen is,--shedding the first rays of morning on the
night-enchanted lovers.

Why is Bottom made to waken last? Perhaps because he helps to denote
the prose of broad daylight. Show what relation scene ii. has to the
completion of the smoothing-out process.

POINTS. 1. 'I was with Hercules and Cadmus once,' IV. i. 126. What
relation had Hippolyta to these Greek heroes? 2. Account of May-day
rites. 3. Traditions of St. Valentine. 4. Rites of Midsummer Eve.

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Why is the choice of Hermia's father for her no longer supported by
the Duke? Does this imply a criticism on the inconsistency of allowing
men their choice, and their brides none, with which Shakespeare was in
sympathy, or is this only apparent to some modern minds?

ACT V

THE THREEFOLD MASK

If the central action of the play be considered as virtually concluded
with the fourth Act, what office is performed by the fifth Act?

Notice that in it the three groups of characters constituting the
play--the court group with the lovers; the 'rude mechanicals' and
their 'tedious brief scene,' and the fairy train--are in this Act all
brought upon the stage, the whole spectacle being set in the palace at
Athens, in celebration of the wedding festivities of the ducal pair,
which, as before noticed, is used as a sort of decorative frame for
the play as a whole.

Examine the working-out of this unified presentation of all the
personages. How are we to account for the silence of the women who
were made to do so much towards the institution of the action? Show
the poetic reasons for the entrance of Puck and the fairies last of
all, and when the stage is empty.

POINTS. 1. Explanation of all mythical allusions. 2. Account of
theories as to meaning of 'The thrice three muses,' etc., V. i. 59. 3.
What is a 'Bergomask dance'? 4. The da