( For more information on Midsummer and May Day, please refer to the section, The Natural World → Midsummer & May Day.

Alternatively, another source considers Theseus’s, “No doubt they rose up early to observe / The rite of May,” as indicating that Act IV, Scene 1 takes place on May 1 (4.1.137-138). John’s Day thus, Dream may be dated to taking place during June 23 and June 24. One source asserts that, with the play following the structure of the Midsummer festival, with the pagan celebrations happening on the night before the Christian recentering of order in St. Some sources have also attempted to date Dream within the calendar year. In such a case, the middle three day blend together into what is perceived as an endless night, the experience surreal to the disoriented humans who inhabit the realm of the fairies, nighttime. First, Lysander receives the juice of the “love-in-idleness” flowers second, Demetrius receives the juice of the “love-in-idleness” flower and third, Lysander receives the magic antidote to restore his love. On this page we will attempt to chronical the timeline of the clues and events in and relating to. This inconsistency may be chalked up to one of Shakespeare’s many with time it may also be rendered invisible with the performance of theatre, creating a sense of “fairy time” with the magic of the woods that engulfs the middle of the story.Īlternatively, one may pay attention instead to the sleeping patterns of the lovers, where the use of love spells tracks the time of passing nights and shows that five days have been accounted for. Theseus finds the lovers in the forest in the morning of the third day of action, and the wedding proceeds just after that, summing up the total action of Dream to three days. Therefore, the second day of action begins with Act II, Scene 1, proceeding with the events of the woods, through the lover’s confusion in Act III, Scene 2. Presumably, the mechanicals also decide to meet “tomorrow night” on the first day (1.2.87). On the first day of the play’s action, Theseus makes his aforementioned declaration, and Lysander mentions that he and Hermia will “steal forth thy father’s house tomorrow night” (1.1.166). Are you sure you want to remove from your connections Cancel Confirm. Four happy days bring in / Another moon”- the timeline of the play appears to span three days (1.1.1-3). THESEUS is a joint activity of Sciences Po Paris, the Jean Monnet Chair of the University of Cologne, the Trans European Policy Studies Association. theseus Joined Aug 2020 Active a year ago.

Despite the promise of the opening lines of the play-Theseus’s “Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour / Draws on apace.

Theseus timelane