English

Eve

5 October, 19:31

Read the passage excerpt from Act V, Scene 1, in A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare Shakespeare's version of Ovid's Pyramus and Thisbe myth Pyramus O grim-look'd night! O night with hue so black! O night, which ever art when day is not! O night, O night! alack, alack, alack, I fear my Thisby's promise is forgot! And thou, O wall, O sweet, O lovely wall, That stand'st between her father's ground and mine! Thou wall, O wall, O sweet and lovely wall, Show me thy chink, to blink through with mine eyne! Refer to Explorations in Literature for a complete version of this scene and the myth. Which aspect of Ovid's "Pyramus and Thisbe" has Shakespeare transformed in A Midsummer Night's Dream?

Shakespeare, unlike Ovid, gives a reason why the wall is important. Shakespeare makes fun of characters whom Ovid treats seriously. Shakespeare has added a romantic angle to the plot.

Shakespeare criticizes ancient Rome, while Ovid cannot.