In this course, Dr. Russell will guide you through the play and help you discover the profound beauty of Shakespeare. Presenting six sets of lovers, A Midsummer Night’s Dream reveals the silliness of all lovers. However, the spiritual power and wisdom of Oberon makes all go well, even as his provident guidance is tangled by his servant Puck (or Luck)!

Instructor Access (Optional grading support) is available for this course. Please note: this is ONLY recommended if you wish to write the optional paper. All quizzes are internally graded in this course. Optional papers will be completed via this page (click here) for an Instructor Access fee of $75.

How to get the most out of A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Dr. Henry Russell:

• First, read the course materials below before the first class meeting.

• Then have a notebook ready and available for class notes each session.

• Read assignments before class meetings

• Watch that week’s recording again, if you need to revisit information.

• Do the assignments, quizzes, and any extra work assigned for that week.

• Once the course is completed to the parent's and professor’s satisfaction, there is a Certificate of Completion at the end to be filled in for your records.

Total classes: 6

Duration: 55 minutes

Prerequisite: Ability to read the books, underline and take notes and ask questions.

Suggested grade level: 9th to 12th grades.

Suggested credit:1/2 semester credit. Combine with Romeo and Juliet for 1 full credit

Instructor: Dr. Henry Russell

Course description: This course on A Midsummer Night’s Dream will examine how Shakespeare used the “spirit world” in drama as a stage substitute for the great actions of God himself. This was necessary to avoid English law against overtly religious drama, but it also created delightful characters.  The play is structured around six (!) different sets of romantic lovers, descending from the spiritual Oberon and Titania, down through the humans: Theseus and Hippolyta; Lysander and Hermia; Demetrius and Helena; to the union of a spirit, Titania, and a human-animal, Bottom; and finally to the fantastical Pyramus and Thisbe. This ladder of lovers and fools shows many ways that love can be distorted by sight that looks mainly to physical beauty or by our petulant wills that override reason. Yet in the end, each lover is healed or aided by Oberon’s spiritual guidance, even if that guidance is mediated by the erratic acts of Puck. Duke Theseus creates a New Law of love fitting for the Feast of St. John the Baptist (Midsummer) who announces the New law of Christ.

Course outline:

Week I: Act I

Week II Act II

Week III: Act III

Week IV: Act IV

Week V: Act V

Week VI: General Topics from MSND

Course materials: Any edition with Act, Scene divisions, and line numbers is fine.

Homework:  Expect to spend about one and one-half hours per week outside of class on reading and notetaking. There will be weekly automated-graded quizzes available for immediate feedback, as well as two exams, one in the middle and one at the end of the course. Please come to class with thoughts and questions about what you have read. 

Technical Help: If you have any technical trouble or questions about course content, please email us at homeschoolconnections@gmail.com.

©2021 Homeschool Connections and Dr. Henry Russell..  All rights reserved. This course is designed by Dr. Henry Russell.

• This material is only to be used for its intended purpose by active subscribers of Homeschool Connections. Any other use without explicit permission is in violation of the seventh commandment (yes, the 7th commandment) and in violation of US and International copyright laws.

• You may print or download to local hard disk extracts for your personal homeschool and non-commercial use only. This is not to be used for homeschool co-ops without express written permission from Homeschool Connections.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream