Question

HELP! URGENT. I HAVE UNTIL TOMORROW

Write a compare-and-contrast essay comparing Ovid's myth, “Pyramus and Thisbe” and the play “Pyramus and Thisbe” enacted in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act V Scene 1? Examine and discuss the similarities and differences between the two versions. Your goal is to explain how Shakespeare transformed the original source.

Answer 1

So the version of the play in "Midsummer's Night Dream" is kind of like a parody of the original. It follows the same basic plotline. To summarize:
Pyramus and Thisbe are lovers but are forbidden from seeing each other so they have to talk through a hole in the wall. They plan to meet at Ninus' tomb, but when Thisbe gets there first, she encounters a lion and runs away, leaving her veil. Pyramus arrives later and sees the veil with the lion, and assumes Thisbe has been eaten. He kills himself on his sword. When Thisbe returns later, she finds that Pyramus has died, and she too stabs herself with his sword.
In Shakespeare's parody version, there are many elements that make the play silly, even though the subject matter is supposed to be serious. For one thing, the Wall, the Lion, and the Moon are actual characters with speaking roles. When Pyramus decides to kill himself, he goes on talking even after he is 'dead' in a rather melodramatic way. There are also little details like Ninus being called a petname, "Ninny" and the characters Helen and Lysandre being referenced by the actors. Add in the audience's snarky commentary throughout the performance and it's very difficult to take seriously.

Answer 2

i am still beyond confused

Answer 3

Ok, have you read both Midsummer Night's Dream and Ovid's Pyramus and Thisbe?

Answer 4

no i havent had the time. which is why i feel stupid to be asking lol

Answer 5

Gotcha. So if you know the plot of Romeo and Juliet, Pyramus and Thisbe is pretty similar to that.

Answer 6

Two lovers are forbidden to meet; they find a way to meet in secret; through some misunderstanding, both think the other has died and both end up taking their own lives.

Answer 7

So, all that stuff still happens in the "Midsummer's Night Dream" version, but lots of elements in the play make the tone very different.

Answer 8

Originally, the story was a tragedy, and it was meant to make the audience feel sympathy and maybe pity for the two main characters. And while bad things still do happen to Pyramus and Thisbe in the "Midsummer" version, it's presented in a very lighthearted, clumsy, silly way that's difficult to take seriously.

Answer 9

So, there's a lot of changes between the original version and the Midsummer version that you could talk about. Normally, the Wall, the Moon, and the Lion in the play would not talk, but in the Midsummer version they do. Another detail might be the way the actors themselves behave. There are some examples of the actors in the Midsummer version stumbling over their lines and repeating themselves. Some of the lines are drawn out and over-the-top, like when Pyramus stabs himself he keeps his monologue going for several lines after he's dead "Thus I die, die die/ Now I am dead/ My soul is in the sky/ Tongue lose thy light/ Moon take thy flight/ Now die, die, die, die, die." In one of the saddest moments of the story, the character goes on and on and on, which really drains the scene of any emotional impact it might have had.

Answer 10

Another key change in the Midsummer version is that the main characters are being played by the characters Flute and Bottom, who have already been established to be foolish earlier in the play. This kind of sets the tone for the rest of the performance.

Answer 11

And then there's the fairy Puck, who is the narrator in the performance. Puck has a reputation for being a trickster. He also makes references to the events and characters in Midsummer Nights Dream while narrating Pyramus and Thisbe. In the closing lines of the play, Puck apologizes for what may have been a shoddy performance, which could refer to the play Midsummer's Night Dream or the play-within-the-play, Pyramus and Thisbe.

Answer 12

Overall, I'd say these factors and probably some others make the performance difficult to take seriously. Even though the plot is the same, the tone is pretty much the opposite. I think that's what I'd emphasize if I were to write comparing the original and Shakespeare's version.

Answer 13

i get everything you're saying but im struggling on putting it into these paragraphs. and plus i need textual evidence

Answer 14

So here's the text of the scene in Midsummer's Night Dream that the performance takes place in.
https://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/plays/play_view.php?WorkID=midsummer&Act=5&Scene=1&Scope=scene

Answer 15

I'll see if I can find the Pyramus and Thisbe play as well, but I think you should be ok even if you only use textual evidence from Midsummer.

Answer 16

http://prntscr.com/j4mh4h

Answer 17

Ah, I see. Here's a transcript of the original play, translated from Latin https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Translation:Metamorphoses/Pyramus_and_Thisbe
It's a little dense, so here's a version written in plain English that you can get the plot details from https://www.uexpress.com/tell-me-a-story/2000/10/29/pyramus-and-thisbe-a-greek-myth

Answer 18

But before we worry about finding any evidence, I think you'll want to establish a thesis, or an argument for your essay. Overall, how would you compare the two versions of the play?

Answer 19

It's fine if you want to take some time to review the sources. I'd recommend it, in fact.

Answer 20

i read both the midnight summers dream and the original. but i didnt understand the wording in a midnight summers dream at all

Answer 21

Ok, so I'll try to do a rough summary of the scene, and I'll go along with the line numbers on the right so you can reference the text.

Answer 22

The scene begins with Helen, Hermia, Lysander and Demetrius coming back out of the woods after their adventure there (which was the focus of most of the play up until now).
Up to about line 1875 they are just being welcomed back and being told that there is going to be some entertainment that night.

Answer 23

From there until about line 1945, Theseus is being told that the actors in the next play, "Pyramus and Thisbe" are very bad and that it isn't worth his time to watch. Theseus decides to stay and watch anyway, and around line 1950 the actor Quince comes onstage to introduce the play.

Answer 24

Quince starts off by preemptively apologizing for the poor quality of the play, saying that the actors don't mean any offense. Theseus and the other audience members comment on this lack of confidence, then from line 1970 to about 2005, Quince gives a basic summary of the plot of the play.

Answer 25

The actor named Snout comes onstage and introduces himself as the Wall through which Pyramus and Thisbe speak to each other. Theseus and Demetrius comment on how strange it is that the wall is a talking character. Then, a little before line 2015, Bottom come onstage, playing the role of Pyramus.

Answer 26

In so many words, Bottom describes how the hole in the wall allows him to see and speak to his love, Thisbe, and expresses his gratitude for this. Around line 2030, the actor Flute comes in, playing the role of Thisbe.

Answer 27

Notice in line 2035 Bottom messes up his line. He says, "I spy [Thisbe's] voice" and "I can hear my Thisby's face," which doesn't make sense.

Answer 28

Until a little before line 2050, Bottom and Flute go back and forth expressing their love for each other, comparing themselves to famous lovers in history and myth. They plan to meet at "Ninny's tomb" (Ninus was a king invented for the play) and both exit. Snout, playing the wall, also exits.

Answer 29

Until line 2060, the audience makes more remarks about how silly this version of the play is.

Answer 30

In the next bit, an actor named Snout comes on, playing the role of the Lion. He gives little monologue about how frightening he is, and the audience up to about line 2075 comments on how the Lion is actually not intimidating at all.

Answer 31

In line 2080, the actor Stravelling comes on, playing the part of the Moon. He struggles with his lines and has to repeat himself because Theseus and other members of the audience keep interrupting. The moon's lines turn out to be fluff anyway, and the play continues when he finally manages to get his point across.

Answer 32

From line 2100 to 2010 is action interspersed with commentary from the audience. Thisbe comes in, having arrived at Ninny's tomb. Pyramus hasn't arrived yet, and she runs into the lion who scares her away with a feeble roar, which the audience sarcastically comments on.

Answer 33

By line 2015, Pyramus has come into the scene. Up until line 2030 he monologues about wanting to see Thisbe, then finding the bloodied shawl that Thisbe left behind when she fled. From line 2035 to line 2050, Pyramus (played by Bottom) mourns for Thisbe, since he assumes she has died, and kills himself in a long, drawn-out monologue.

Answer 34

While Pyramus dies, the Moon exits the stage. There's a few lines of the audience poking fun at the scene, despite the fact that it's supposed to be a dark scene. As the play draws to a close, Hyppolyta from the audience says she hopes it will not last much longer.

Answer 35

Lines 2170 to 2190 involve Thisbe (played by Flute) discovering Pyramus' dead body. Much like Pyramus' monologue before, she spends several lines mourning her loss before killing herself in the same melodramatic fashion. The audience snarkily comments that now that the two main characters are dead, the Moon and the Lion will have to bury them. Clearly, they are not affected by the scene emotionally.

Answer 36

Bottom invites the audience to stay for the epilogue, but Theseus declines, saying in so many words that this farce of a play has taken enough of their time and it's time to go to bed.

Answer 37

That's where the play of Pyramus and Thisbe ends. The rest of the scene focuses on three fairy characters, Puck, Oberon, and Titania, reflecting on the events of the evening. The scene ends with Puck, addressing the audience directly, saying, more or less, that's the end of the story, don't be upset if you didn't like it.

Answer 38

Puck is talking about the story of A Midsummer's Night Dream, for clarification. He's breaking the fourth wall in this case.

Answer 39

Well, I hope this helped a bit. I'm going to head off to sleep. Good luck with your writing!

Answer 40

thank you for everything you did and thank you thank you