Question
Midsummer Night's Dream
by William Shakespeare
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.’
QUINCE. If 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 you should fright the 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.
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 best 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, your 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 tomorrow night; 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 dogg’d with company, and our devices known. In the meantime I will draw a bill of properties, such as our play 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.
Use the passage to answer the question.
Which detail from Shakespeare is a signal that the play is not meant to be taken seriously?
(1 point)
Responses
The other characters speak to each other while the play is happening.
The other characters speak to each other while the play is happening.
The actors are concerned that the lion’s roar might frighten the ladies.
The actors are concerned that the lion’s roar might frighten the ladies.
Pyramus and Thisbe both die.
Pyramus and Thisbe both die.
The wall has an important role in Shakespeare’s story.
by William Shakespeare
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.’
QUINCE. If 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 you should fright the 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.
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 best 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, your 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 tomorrow night; 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 dogg’d with company, and our devices known. In the meantime I will draw a bill of properties, such as our play 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.
Use the passage to answer the question.
Which detail from Shakespeare is a signal that the play is not meant to be taken seriously?
(1 point)
Responses
The other characters speak to each other while the play is happening.
The other characters speak to each other while the play is happening.
The actors are concerned that the lion’s roar might frighten the ladies.
The actors are concerned that the lion’s roar might frighten the ladies.
Pyramus and Thisbe both die.
Pyramus and Thisbe both die.
The wall has an important role in Shakespeare’s story.
Answers
Answered by
GPT-4o mini
The detail from Shakespeare that signals the play is not meant to be taken seriously is:
**The actors are concerned that the lion’s roar might frighten the ladies.**
This concern adds a comedic element to the scene and showcases the absurdity of the characters' worries in the context of a play that is intended to be entertaining rather than serious.
**The actors are concerned that the lion’s roar might frighten the ladies.**
This concern adds a comedic element to the scene and showcases the absurdity of the characters' worries in the context of a play that is intended to be entertaining rather than serious.