NOTE/IMPORTANT:
These are just samples of how the answers to this section of Drama can be answered. This can be used as a reference and students are encouraged to make their own answeres.
Activities based on " The Rising of the Moon"
i. Charactersketch
A. The man (in disguise)Ans.The man in disguise/escaped rebel in "The Rising of the Moon" introduces himself to Sergeant as Jimmy Walsh - a poor singer who makes a living by selling Ballads.
In reality, he is a freedom fighter fighting to free his country from the clutches of British rule. Through the stories about him , it is revealed that he is very brave ( There isn't a man in Ireland...) , smart ( And maybe you're watchin...." , dangerous and intelligent as he very easily fools the Sergeant. In the end he surprises the audience by not using his combat skills to deal with the Sergeant.
B. Sergeant
Ans. The Sergeant in "The Rising of the Moon" is a major and complex character. He dominates the story and is a loyal and dutiful British officer who is an ordinary man looking forward to his promotion but surprises the audience with his bravery and patriotism when he decides to let the man in disguise escape at the cost of a great sacrifice on his part. He is a true patriot who is torn between his duty and loyalty towards foreign rule and his love for the nation and in the end he chooses his nation proving how bold he was.
ii. Explain the dialogue "Well. I will go. It's the poor...."
Ans. The man in the one act play " The Rising of the Moon" is quite intelligent, persuasive and determined. This dialogue is uttered by the man when the sergeant fails his repeated attempts to go towards the stairs. He does not give up and uses various tactics to influence and convince the sergeant. As he tries to sneak past the Sergeant, the Sergeant stops him and in order to gain the sympathy of the Sergeant, he states how hard it is to be poor and how society treats poor and how the Sergeant stopped him only because he is a poor ballad singer. But to his utter dismay, the Sergeant remains unfazed and strictly asks the man to leave.
iii. The Sergeant refers himself as a fool...give reasons.
Ans. After letting the man in disguise escape who the Sergeant could have easily caught and then got promoted , the Sergeant calls himself a fool knowing he could have got a huge reward for arresting the man in disguise/escaped prisoner. But this dialogue has more depth to it as the Sergeant involves the readers and asks them if they really think he was a fool which the readers definitely know that he wasn't. The readers applaud the brave move of the Sergeant as he chooses to help his nation over his duty towards a foreign rule.
iv. Justify that the title " The Rising of the Moon" has a symbolic meaning.
Ans. Lady Gregory's "The Rising of the Moon" takes it's title from a popular Irish rebel song of the same name. The song was a call to the Irish people to rise up against oppression. Hence the song compares the rising of the people to the rising of the moon. It denotes how light ( freedom for Irish People) will shine upon and darkness ( Oppression will end ) will go away. By giving this name to her play , Lady Gregory hopes for the freedom of Ireland from British rule.
C. Activities based on " A Midsummer Night's Dream"
i. " A Midsummer Night's Dream" - a comedy of errors.
Ans. Comedy of errors refers to a series of ridiculous events that are result of either mistaken identities or the mistakes made by foolish people and William Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's dream is a perfect example of it. In act 3 , scene 2 , when Puck mistakenly pours the love potion on Lysander taking him as Demetrius, it is a comedy of error as it creates trouble for all four humans in the woods that are - Lysander , Demetrius , Hermia and Helena. The second comedy of errors is the Queen of Fairies Titania falling in love with an ass , Bottom because Puck transforms Bottom's head into that of an ass and it's really funny to see Titania fall for an ass-headed human as she was under the influence of love potion which is applied on her eyes by Oberon - the King of fairies to teach her a lesson. All this confusion where Titania falls in love with an ass , the workmen being scared after witnessing Bottom with a donkey head , Helena's assumption that both Demetrius and Lysander are trying to mock her and Hermia's accusation that Helena stole Lysander are a result of the comedy of errors that are caused due to Oberon and Puck's mischief.
ii. Explain the following in brief.
A. The role of the magic potion -
The magic potion is extracted by Puck ( on instructions of Oberon) from some flower. This potion creates confusion between the lovers and paves way to some hilarious situations in Act III , scene II. Oberon uses this potion on the eyelids of his wife to make her fall in love with the first person she sees so that she forgets the boy and Oberon can take him away. The same magic potion is smeared on the eyes of Lysander by Puck who thinks he is Demetrius. This leads to Lysander falling in love with Helena because she is the first person he sees once he wakes up. This leads to all four lovers terribly fighting with each other
B. The role of the Indian Boy - The Indian boy is the reason of conflict between Oberon and Titania. He is the son of queen Titania's best friend who died while giving birth to the boy. Titania promises her that she would take care of the boy and she showers all her motherly love on the boy. This irks Oberon who feels jealous due to such outpouring of love on the boy by his queen and also he wants the boy to be his attendant but Titania refuses to give him the boy. This leads to aajor fight between Oberon and Titania and using his power , Oberon somehow snatches the Indian Boy from Titania.
iii. Explain the dialogue " I scorn you not. It seems....."
Ans. This dialogue in " A Midsummer Night's Dream" is uttered by Hermia to Helena. Hearing Helena accusing Hermia for betraying her and not even keeping in mind their childhood friendship , Hermia is shocked that Helena thinks she's been betrayed. Hermia rebukes Helena and infact tells that Helena must be the one doing the teasing and betraying and mistreating her and not the other way round.
iv. Draw a charactersketch of Oberon as an enemy of his wife.......
Ans. Oberon is the king of fairies who is an authoritative figure. When he sees his wife's love towards the Indian boy whom she is raising, he becomes jealous and wants Titania ' his queen , to give the boy to him so that he can make the boy his attendant. Titania refuses to give the boy to Oberon and it leaves Oberon angry and a fight erupts between Oberon and Titania that leads to Oberon devising a devilish plan of pouring a love potion on the eyelids of his wife so that she falls in love with the first person she sees and forgets the Indian boy and Oberon then can take him away. To satisfy his ego to have whatever he wishes to , he misuses his power and when his wife falls in love with an ass headed person , instead of rectifying his mistake , he feels amused and this shows Oberon's bad side that he won't even spare his wife if she disobeys him. Though Oberon is unkind towards his wife for his own selfish motives , he also has a kind and loving side. When he witnesses Demetrius mistreating Helena in the forest , he decides to make Demetrius fall in love with Helena. He wants Helena to be loved equally as she does to Demetrius. Also , when Oberon realises that Puck has made an error and has poured the potion on the eyes wrong man , he decides to make everything right for the lovers and with help of Puck ensures that the lovers end up being together with each other. This proves that though Oberon became an enemy of his wife due to his jealousy , he was all for love.
