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Pyramus and Thisbe Characters

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Pyramus and Thisbe Characters

Read the self-contained scene notes, then investigate how Shakespeare makes the Mechanicals’ performance comic. Use evidence from the notes in your answers. This worksheet focuses on the characters and performance in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Scene notes: a tragic tale, a comic performance

In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a group of working men called the Mechanicals perform the story of Pyramus and Thisbe for the Duke and his guests. Peter Quince organises the play. Nick Bottom, a weaver who eagerly wants important roles, plays Pyramus. Francis Flute, a bellows-mender, plays Thisbe. Bottom tends to overact and draw attention to himself; Flute has to play a woman despite being reluctant. The performers interrupt the story to explain how they will stage it. One actor plays a wall, using fingers to make a crack for the lovers to whisper through, and another plays a lion while reassuring the audience that he is not a real lion. Pyramus sees Thisbe’s dropped cloak, assumes she has been killed by the lion, and makes a grand, mournful speech. Thisbe later finds Pyramus dead and also dies. The story is tragic, but the clumsy explanations, theatrical effects and exaggerated acting make the performance funny. The contrast lets the audience enjoy both the sad plot and the Mechanicals’ awkward show.

Character clues and comic choices

Use details from the scene notes to answer each question.

1.Who organises the Mechanicals’ performance, and who plays Pyramus? Name both characters and explain their roles.

2.Why is Flute’s casting as Thisbe an amusing choice for the Mechanicals’ audience? Use the scene notes.

3.Which stage device lets Pyramus and Thisbe whisper to one another?

A painted moon
An actor playing a wall, with a crack made by his fingers
A real stone doorway
A curtain pulled between them

4.The lion actor reassures the audience that he is not a real lion. What does this reveal about how the Mechanicals think their performance will be received?

5.Match each character or performer with the correct role or action.

Peter Quince
Nick Bottom
Francis Flute
The lion performer

Plays Pyramus and tends to overact
Reassures the audience that he is not a real lion
Organises the play
Plays Thisbe despite being reluctant

6.Pyramus mistakes Thisbe’s dropped cloak for proof that she has been killed. What is the tragic event, and what makes its performance potentially comic?

7.Which choice best explains the contrast that creates humour in this play within a play?

A cheerful setting is paired with a story about a journey.
A serious tragic plot is performed by inexperienced actors using clumsy explanations and exaggerated acting.
The nobles perform while the Mechanicals watch silently.
The lovers tell jokes instead of speaking about their feelings.

8.Choose Bottom or Flute. Explain how one detail about the character or performer helps make the scene funny. Support your idea with a specific detail from the notes.

9.Why might Shakespeare place a performance of a tragic lovers’ story inside a comedy? Give one effect this has on the audience and support your answer with a detail from the notes.

10.Plan a comic performance choice for Bottom as Pyramus or Flute as Thisbe. State the character, describe one voice or movement choice, and explain how it would affect the audience.