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Theseus and Hippolyta want to marry quickly
Theseus: Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour
Draws on apace: four happy days bring in
Another moon; but O! methinks how slow
This old moon wanes; she lingers my desires,
Like to a step-dame, or a dowager
Long withering out a young man's revenue. Hippolyta: Four days will quickly steep themselves
in night;
Four nights will quickly dream away the time;
And then the moon, like to a silver bow
New-bent in heaven, shall behold the night (I.i.1-10)
Of our solemnities. -
Period: to
Act One, Scene One; Athens. Palace of Theseus
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Hermia refuses to follow her father Egeus's instructions for her to marry Demetrius, because she loves Lysander
Hermia: I do entreat your Grace to pardon me.
I know not by what power I am made bold,
Nor how it may concern my modesty
In such a presence here to plead my thoughts;
But I beseech your Grace, that I may know
The worst that may befall me in this case,
If I refuse to wed Demetrius. (I.i.60-66) -
Hermia and her lover Lysander decide to elope by escaping through the forest at night, intending to escape from Athens, and marry in the house of Lysander's aunt.
Lysander: hear me,
Hermia.
I have a widow aunt, a dowager
Of great revenue, and she hath no child:
From Athens is her house remote seven leagues;
And she respects me as her only son.
There, gentle Hermia, may I marry thee,
And to that place the sharp Athenian law
Cannot pursue us. (I.i.158-165) -
Helena is in love with Demetrius
Helena: Were the world mine, Demetrius being bated,
The rest I'd give to be to you translated.
O! teach me how you look, and with what art
You sway the motion of Demetrius' heart. (I.i.193-96) -
Hermia confesses her plan to elope to Helena
Hermia: And in the wood, where often you and I
Upon faint primrose-beds were wont to lie,
Emptying our bosoms of their counsel sweet,
There my Lysander and myself shall meet;
And thence from Athens turn away our eyes,
To seek new friends and stranger companies. (I.i.219-224) -
Helena decides to tell Demtrius of Helena's plan in order to win him back
For ere Demetrius look'd on Hermia's eyne,
He hail'd down oaths that he was only mine;
And when this hail some heat from Hermia felt,
So he dissolv'd, and showers of oaths did melt
I will go tell him of fair Hermia's flight:
Then to the wood will he to-morrow night
Pursue her; and for this intelligence
If I have thanks, it is a dear expense:
But herein mean I to enrich my pain,
To have his sight thither and back again. (I.i.247-56) -
What happens next?
Assessment: Following the example that I have set for you here, complete this timeline for the rest of Act One. For every event that you include, you must provde the lines that describe that event to the audience. As much as possible, use illustrations for your timeline, or links to audio or video.
