Why does philostrate try to keep theseus

Quince introduces all of the players and the part they're meant to play. He also explains why each player is there: the wall through which they talk, the moonshine by which they see, etc.

Quince summarizes the play's action: Pyramus and Thisbe are two lovers who are kept apart, but they conference secretly through a hole in a wall and agree that by moonlight that they'll meet at Ninus's tomb. Thisbe arrives first, but is frightened off by a lion. In running away, she leaves behind her cape, and the lion bloodies it by tearing at it.

Pyramus then shows up, a bit late, to find Thisbe's bloody cape. Pyramus is sure his lover is dead, so he draws his sword and kills himself. Thisbe then comes out of hiding in a mulberry bush and, finding her lover slain, pulls his sword out and kills herself too.

Now that he has finished the prologue, Quince will let the players take over. Snout introduces himself as a Wall, who will help the lovers talk to each other through a little gap. To be help the audience, he points out all the parts of his costume that indicate he's a wall. In the audience, Theseus mentions he couldn't ask for a wall to speak better. Demetrius agrees this is the wittiest wall he's ever heard talk, especially because it's the only one.

Bottom comes in as Pyramus, and though he doesn't mess up his lines, he doesn't need to since they're already so absurd. Example: "The night is very black, and is the time when it isn't day. Seeing no Thisbe beyond the gap, Pyramus curses the Wall. Theseus comments that perhaps the wall should curse back.

Bottom breaks character and says to the Duke that really Thisbe has just missed her cue, but she'll be there soon. Sure enough, Thisbe comes up, lamenting that the wall separates her and Pyramus.

Pyramus recites his lines, which are all messed up. For example, the names Cephalus and Procris become Shafalus and Procrus, and Ninus's tomb is mistaken as Ninny's tomb. When Pyramus asks Thisbe to kiss him through the hole in the Wall, Thisbe replies, "I kiss the wall's hole, not your lips at all. Come to think of it, it's a lot like Chaucer's joke in " The Miller's Tale ," where Absolon thinks he's going to give Alisoun a juicy smack on the lips but accidentally kisses her bare bottom instead.

The lovers have agreed to meet at "Ninny's" tomb. The Wall then speaks up and excuses himself—his part is over. Hippolyta dismisses it all as the silliest stuff she's ever heard, but Theseus chides her that even the best in theater is only a shadow of reality.

The worst don't need to be any worse than that, if we only lend them a little imagination. If we imagine the players as they imagine themselves, they might come out as excellent men after all. Lion and Moonshine enter, and Lion explains that he doesn't mean to scare the ladies, who would be afraid of even a mouse. If the women are scared, they need only remember that he's actually Snug the joiner, not a real lion. Theseus commends him for being so thoughtful about the ladies, and the rest of the crowd heckles Lion.

Moonshine speaks up, saying that the lantern he carries is meant to be the moon, and that he is the man in the moon. Theseus notes that this is the worst blunder yet; if this is the man in the moon, then he should be in the lantern. As the nobles all say sarcastic things, Lysander bids the moon to continue his speech. Moonshine repeats that he is the man in the moon, the thorn bush he has with him is his thorn bush, and the dog his dog.

Why does Philostrate try to keep Theseus from seeing the play? What does he think is wrong with it? He does not like it.

He says it is not well-written and the acting is bad. To quiet and appease the audience2. To make the play easier for the audience to follow How does Shakespeare use the comments from the audience to enhance the humor of the play that they are watching? They poke fun at the actors and the things that they say.

When Theseus suggests that the wall should curse, Bottom replies that it shouldn't. Bottom is unable to recognize the joke in Theseus' statement because he believes the audience is completely transported by the play.

Despite his criticism of the play, Theseus argues that the best actors are mere shadows, as are the worst, if the audience's imagination guides them. Again, he feels the audience should recognize the actors' intentions, rather than focus entirely on their production.

The play ends by juxtaposing three epilogues with very different moods. From the comedy of Pyramus and Thisbe, the scene shifts to Puck's first, fairly ominous epilogue. As he sweeps away the stage, Puck invokes the dangerous creatures of the night: roaring lions, howling wolves, and graveyard spirits. Day is juxtaposed with night, marriage with death.

But the play doesn't end here. Oberon reinvokes the light, asking the "drowsy fire" to glimmer throughout the house.

While Puck's fairies were night creatures, "[f]ollowing darkness like a dream," Oberon's are light as birds, dancing and singing as they "tripplingly" follow him. Like the ever-changing moon, the play's moods and emotions keep shifting, emphasizing life's multidimensionality. Puck and Oberon invoke different versions of the nighttime world, and both exist, both are relevant. While Puck provides a memento mori, reminding the audience that death is howling just around the corner, Oberon brings joy and blessing into our lives for as long as they last.

In his blessing for the newlyweds, Oberon offers them long-lasting love and exorcises any blots of nature that could desecrate their children. With peace and safety, he consecrates the palace itself. Oberon's final speech seems an apt place to end the play, especially if it was, indeed, performed for a wedding celebration, but Shakespeare does not stop here. Significantly the final words of the play do not belong to the ruler of the fairy realm, but to the master of misrule, the consummate actor and comedian, Puck.

In some sense, Puck, with his ability to translate himself into any character, with his skill in creating performances that seem all too real to their human audiences, could be seen as a mascot of the theater. Therefore, his final words are an apology for the play itself. Like the lovers in the play, the audience of the Dream has also been treated to a vision.

If this performance has not met the audience's expectations, the actors will practice more and improve their work. Thracian 49 belonging to an ancient region in the E Balkan Peninsula. Limander, Helen , blunders for the lovers Hero and Leander; Leander swims the Hellespont from Abydos every night to be with her; when he drowns in a storm, Hero throws herself into the sea. Shafalus and Procrus blunders for "Cephalus" and "Procris," famous lovers.

Furies the three terrible female spirits with snaky hair Alecto, Tisiphone, and Megaera who punish the doers of unavenged crimes. Sisters Three the Fates, the three goddesses who control human destiny and life.

Bergomask dance a rustic dance, named for Bergamo a province ridiculed for its rusticity. Previous Scene 2.