The Art and Artistry of "A Midsummer Night's Dream": An Illustrative Summary and Performance History

The Art and Artistry of

A Midsummer Night’s Dream An Illustrative Summary and Performance History

By Thomas Canfield, Dramaturg

Heart of America Shakespeare Festival

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Puck and the

Moth

by

Edward

Hopley

(1816-1869)

Puck and Fairies from “A Midsummer Night's

Dream” by Joseph Noel Paton (1821-1901)

Friar Puck

by Henry Fuseli

(1741-1825)

Part I:

A Sampling of

Artistic

Representations

and Illustrations

Act I

Faun and the

Fairies

by Daniel

Maclise

(c. 1834)

Illustration by

Arthur Rackham

Theseus:

“And then the moon, like

to a silver bow

New bent in heaven, shall

behold the night

Of our solemnities.”

Helena overhears the

audience with the Duke

Illustration by Arthur

Rackham

(1908)

Illustration of

Hermia and

Helena

by

W. Heath

Robinson

Hermia and

Helena

by

Washington

Allston (1818)

Edward John

Poynter

Helena and

Hermia

(1901)

Helena and

Hermia

Illustration

by Arthur

Rackham

(1908)

Illustration by

Arthur Rackham

(1908)

Bottom makes his

case:

“I will make the

duke say, ‘Let him

roar again,

let him roar again.’”

Act II

Midsummer Eve

(1908)

by

E.R. Hughes

Illustration of

Puck, from

Robin

Goodfellow, His

Mad Pranckes

and Merry Jests

(1639)

Puck

by

Sir Joshua

Reynolds

(1789)

Puck, by Henry Fuseli

(ca. 1810-20)

Puck,

as depicted in a

book illustration

by Arthur

Rackham

John Atkinson Grimshaw, Spirit of the Night (1879)

“How now spirit, whither wander you?”

Illustration by Arthur Rackham (1908)

Titania

by

Joseph Kenny

Meadows

(1790-1874)

“I do wander every where,

Swifter than the moon’s

sphere . . .”

Puck and a fairy,

by Arthur Rackham

Puck admits to his

reputation:

“I am that merry

wanderer of the night.”

Illustration by Arthur

Rackham

(1908)

Titania and the

changeling child

The Indian

Boy’s Mother

by

Joseph Noel

Paton

The Changeling

by Joseph Bouvier

(fl. 1839-88)

“She never had so

sweet a

changeling.”

Titania and the

changeling

by Arthur Rackham

(1905)

Titania and

the Indian

Boy

by

Joseph

Noel Paton

Illustration by

Arthur Rackham

(1908)

Francis Danby (1793–1861)

Scene from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1832)

Another version by Danby

“Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania.”

Illustration depicting the meeting of Oberon and

Titania by Arthur Rackham

Titania and Oberon

quarreling

by Arthur Rackham

(1908)

Joseph Noel Paton, The Quarrel of Oberon and Titania

(1849-50)

Artist’s

representation

of the

confrontation

between Titania

and Oberon

“ Fairies, away!

We shall chide

downright, if I

longer stay.”

Illustration by

Arthur Rackham,

(1908)

Douglas

Harvey

(fl. 1853-72)

Oberon and

the Mermaid

Joseph Noel

Paton

Oberon and

the Mermaid

(1883)

Oberon and

Puck Listening

to the

Mermaid’s

Song

by

David Scott

(1806-49)

Illustration

by

Arthur Rackham

(1908)

“And maidens call it, love-in-idleness.”


Oberon and

Puck

“Fetch me that

flow’r; the herb I

showed thee

once . . .”

John Simmons

Titania

(1866)

John George Naish, Midsummer Fairies (1856)

Titania Lying on

a Leaf

by John

Simmons

(1823-76)

Frederick Howard Michael, Titania (1897)

Titania welcoming her fairy brethren.

Painting by Pre-Raphaelite artist Henry Meynell Rheam

(1859-1920)

Illustration by

Arthur Rackham

(1908)

Illustration by

Arthur Rackham of

the fairies singing

Gustave Doré

A Midsummer

Night’s Dream

с.1870

Illustration by

Arthur Rackham

(1908)

Titania slumbers

(at bottom),

while the fairies play

music.

Illustration for Tales

from Shakespeare by

Charles and Mary

Lamb

(1905 edition)

Titania by Emma Whitney (c.1881-84)

The Fairies: A Scene from Shakespeare

by Gustave Doré (1832-83)

Titania

by

John

George

Naish

(1824-

1905)

Richard Dadd, Titania Sleeping (1841)

Titania

nods off

with the

changeling

child

sleeping in

her lap.

Titania and the Changeling by John Anster Fitzgerald

Titania

by

Joseph John

Jenkins

(1811-85)

John

Simmons

(1823-

1876)

Titania

Sleeping

in the

Moonlight

Protected

by Her

Fairies

“One aloof, stand

sentinel.”

Illustration by

Arthur Rackham,

(1908)

Frank Cadogan Cowper, Titania Sleeps (1928)

Arthur

Rackham

Titania Asleep

(1908)

John Simmons, There Sleeps Titania (1872)

Robert Huskisson (1820-1861)

Midsummer Night’s Faeries

A

Midsummer

Night’s

Dream

by

Sir Joseph

Noel Paton

(1821-1901)

Oberon

and

Titania

Oberon applying

Cupid’s flower to

the eyes of the

sleeping Titania

Oberon and

Titania

by

Valentine

Walker

Bromley

(1848-1877)

Oberon

and

Titania

by

Gabriel-

Joseph-

Marie-

Augustin

Ferrier

(1847-

1914)

Lysander and Hermia in the forest

John

Simmons

Hermia and

Lysander

(1870)

Robert Smirke

Lysander Declaring

his Passion to Helena

(ca. 1820-25)

Illustration by

Arthur Rackham

1908

Hermia

awakens from

her nightmare.

John Simmons

Hermia and

the Fairies

(1861)

Act III

“O monstrous.

O strange.”

“We are haunted; pray masters, fly masters, help.”


“O Bottom,

thou art

chang'd!

What do I see

on

thee?”

“Bless thee

Bottom, bless

thee! Thou art

translated.”

Illustration by

Arthur

Rackham

(1908)

“I will sing, that

they shall hear I

am not afraid.”

Illustration by

Arthur Rackham

(1908)

Bottom sings,

while the

fairies

observe in

the

background

Bottom wakes

Titania

by Arthur

Rackham

“What angel

wakes me from

my flowery

bed?”

Illustration by

Arthur Rackham,

(1908)

Titania and the

Clown

by

Frances

Brundage

John Byam

Liston Shaw

(1872-1919)

Titania and

the Clown

Titania and

Bottom

by

Arthur Rackham

Illustration by

Arthur Rackham

(1908)

Titania,

as portrayed

by

John Simmons

(1823-76)

“Lord, what

fooles these

mortals be!”

Illustration by

Arthur Rackham

(1908)

HELENA:

“She was a vixen

when she went to

school.”

Illustration by

Arthur Rackham,

1908

“Up and down, up

and down, . . .

Goblin, lead them

up and down.”

Illustration by

Arthur Rackham

(1908)

Another

representation

of the same

scene


Puck

corrects the

mistakes of

the night

with Dian’s

bud

Act IV

Puck and the

fairies dancing.

From an

1873

illustrated

edition of

Shakespeare’s

works

Puck

by Sir Joshua

Reynolds

(1789)

Bottom and

his fairy

attendants

As depicted in Children’s

Stories from Shakespeare

As depicted in The Land of

Happy Hours

Bottom and Titania

Joseph Noel Paton, Titania (1850)

Arthur

Rackham

Scene from

A Midsummer

Night’s Dream

Titania and Bottom by John Anster Fitzgerald

Another version by Fitzgerald

Henry

Fuseli,

Titania and

Bottom,

(c. 1790)

Le Reveil

De Titania

by Henry

Fuseli

Edwin Landseer, Titania and Bottom (1848-51)

“Sleep thou,

and I will wind

thee in my

arms . . .”

Illustration by

Arthur

Rackham

(1908)

Titania

Caressing the

Drowsy Bottom

by

John Cawse

(1779-1862)

19th Century

Book

Illustration

Henry Fuseli, Titania Awakening

(ca. 1785-1790)

Joseph Noel Paton, The Reconciliation of

Titania and Oberon (1847)

Oberon

and

Titania

reconciled

Oberon and

Titania,

by

Thomas

Stothard

(1755-1834)

Notice the

lovers and

Bottom

sleeping in

the

foreground

David Scott

Puck Fleeing from the Dawn (1837)

The

hunting

party

surprises

the

sleeping

lovers in

the forest.

The

Disenchantment

of Bottom

by Daniel

Maclise

(1832)

Act V

William Blake, Oberon and Titania on a Lily

Book

illustration

of Bottom

performing

the role of

Pyramus

Illustration for

the tale of

Pyramus and

Thisby from a

1538 edition of

Ovid’s

Metamorphosis

Thisby, or the

Listener

by John William

Waterhouse

(1909)

Pyramus and

Thisby (1530)

by

German artist

Hans Baldung

(Grien)

Painting

depicting

Pyramus and

Thisby

by

Lucas

Cranach the

Elder

(1472-1553)

Painting by

German

artist

Niklaus

Manuel

Deutsch

(1520)

of Pyramus

and Thisby

Pyramus and

Thisbe by

Italian painter

Gregorio

Pagani

(1558-1605)

17th

century

depiction

of the

story of

Pyramus

and

Thisby

Illustration by

W. Heath

Robinson

Reunited,

Oberon and

Titania preside

over fairy

revels

William Blake,

Oberon, Titania and Puck with Fairies Dancing (c. 1786)

Part II:

Some Famous

(and Not-So

Famous) Actors

and Productions

16th century English woodcut of Robin Goodfellow

Samuel Pepys

(1633-1703)

Henry Purcell

(d. 1711)

David Garrick

(1717-79)

Jane (Jenny)

Barsanti

(fl. 1778, died 1795)

as Helena,

(Act III, scene i)

Portrayed by John

Roberts in Bell’s

Edition of

Shakespeare’s

works

(1776)

Another

depiction

of

Barsanti

as Helena

Portrait of

Thomas

Alphonso

Hayley

(1780-1800)

as Puck

(c.1790)

by

English artist

George Romney

Portrait of Emma (Lady Hamilton) as Titania

with Puck and Changeling (1793)

by George Romney

English

actress

Elizabeth

Farren

(1759?-1829)

in the role of

Hermia

The caption

states, “MISS

FARREN in the

character of

HERMIA

(Starting from

Sleep).”

Elizabeth

Farren

A Midsummer

Night's Dream

17 January 1816

Theatre Royal,

Covent Garden

John Duruset as

Oberon

(published 1819)

Portrait of

Charlotte

Cushman

(1816-76)

W. E.

(William

Evans)

Burton

(1802-1860)

as Bottom,

in Act

IV, scene ii

.

Eliza Vincent

(1815-56)

in the role of

Oberon

-1840-

Madame Vestris

(1797-1856)

as Oberon (right)

“Breeches”

roles

Julia Harland

as Oberon and

a Miss

Conquest as

Puck

1851

Lizzie Weston as Oberon

Samuel Phelps

(1804-78)

Left: Fanny Cooper

(1819-72)

as Helena

Charles Kean

(1811-68)

Charles Kean as

Mamillius and Ellen

Terry in her stage

debut (at the age of

eight) as Leontes in

in The Winter's Tale

(1856) at the Princess

Theatre.

That same year, she

also went on to play

Puck in Kean’s

production of A

Midsummer Night’s

Dream.

Dame (Alice)

Ellen Terry

(1847-1928)

.

Playbill for a

performance of

A Midsummer

Night’s Dream

on

9 March 1858

Bottom, as

portrayed in

Kean’s

production

Carlotta Leclercq

(1838-93)

Leclercq as

Titania

Kean’s production

Ada Rehan

(1857-1916)

in the role of

Helena

Postcard image of Daly’s production.

James

Lewis

(1837-96)

as Bottom

Lillian Swain

F.R. Benson

Playbill advertising Benson’s

production at the Globe, 1890

Playbill for a

performance of A

Midsummer Night's

Dream on

16 December 1901

featuring Benson’s

company.

Theatre Royal,

Birmingham

Benson as Lysander

(1908)

Lady Constance

Benson as Titania

in front of the wall

at the

Shakespeare

Theatre in

Stratford

Annie Russell (1864-1936) as Puck

Harley Granville-Barker

(1877-1946)

The palace of Theseus in Granville-Barker’s

production

Donald Calthrop as Puck (left)

Advertising

card for

Wallack’s

Theatre in New

York, featuring

Lillah McCarthy,

the wife of

Granville-

Barker, in the

role of Helena.

Wilkinson’s

costumes for

Helena, and

Oberon in the

production

(left)

Christine Silver

(1883-1960) as

Titania (left)

Ernest Cossart

(1876-1951)

as Bottom

(left)

Vivien Leigh as

Titania at the

Old Vic

(1937-38)

Directed by

Tyrone Guthrie

-1949-

Oberon and

Titania in a

Bristol Old

Vic

production

-1949-

Royal Shakespeare Company production

Oberon (William

Squire, upper

left) and Puck

(Philip Guard,

upper right)

examine the

sleeping Bottom

(John Slater) and

Titania (Kathleen

Michael)

David

O’Brien as

Puck

Puck (David

O'Brien, left)

returns with the

magic flower for

Oberon (Powys

Thomas, right) to

enchant

Titania’s eyes.

Act 2, Scene 1

Bottom

attended by

Titania and

her fairies

Anthony

Quayle

(1913-1989)

as Bottom

Peter Hall’s 1959 outdoor staging at Stratford

Charles Laughton as Bottom

Scottish actress

Mary Ure

(1933-1975)

as Titania (right)

Bottom,

altered

-1962-

(Peter

Hall)

Bottom

(Paul

Hardwick)

grapples

with a

fairy.

The lovers quarreling

Set design sketch by Sally Jacobs for Peter

Brook’s 1970 production

Bottom and company in Brook’s production

Puck (John Kane, left) and Oberon (Alan

Howard, right)

Sara

Kestleman as

Titania

Puck on a

trapeze,

airborne.

Hermia

(Mary Rutherford)

lost in the woods

David Waller,

as Bottom

“transported,”

dances.

Helena, Demetrius, Lysander and Hermia

bicker amongst themselves.

Puck

(Leonard

Preston, left)

and Oberon

(Patrick Stewart)

Oberon (Gerard Murphy)

and Titania (Janet McTeer)

Richard

McCabe as

Puck

Oberon (John Carlisle, left) and Puck (Richard McCabe, right)

Bottom

pleads

for more

parts

.

Titania

(Clare Higgins)

and Bottom

(David

Troughton)

accompanied

by fairy

attendants

Marc Chagall’s

painting of A

Midsummer

Night’s Dream

(Songe d'une

nuit d'été)

(1939)

The End

Documents

The Art and Artistry of "A Midsummer Night's Dream": An Illustrative Summary and Performance History