The following is a passage from the text ”Historical Context of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” It discusses some of the social and historical issues that are brought up in the play. After you read passage, answer the questions that follows.

The play brought to life the themes of love and relationships and mocked the conventional aspects of the two intertwined. For example, In Act 1 Scene 1, we are introduced to Hermia, whose Hermia is in love with.We see social constructs such as classism come into play when Hermia’s father dose not think Lysander is up to Hermia standards. He also views her as his property and treats her as such. Later in the play, we see Hermia and Helen take matters into there own hands,much like the woman of the Merry Wives of Windsor, and rebel, if you will, against the social constructs of marriage, sexism and classism.


How dose the interaction between Theseus and Bottom during Act 5 go against the classism of Shakespeare’s time?



Theseus gives Bottom and his friends the honor of performing and respects them even though they are of a low class.


Theseus takes pity on Bottom and his friends and chooses another play so they will not be embarrassed.


Theseus mocks Bottom and his friends for being low class actors attempting to perform before high class nobility.

Theseus elevates Bottom and his friends to high class noble advisors after their wonderful performance even though they are not from noble families.


Theseus agrees to allow Bottom and Hermia to marry, against Egeus's wishes, even though Bottom is below Hermia socially.