Theseus-
No doubt they rose up early to observe
The rite of May; and, hearing our intent,
Came here in grace of our solemnity.
Theseus-
Good morning, friends. Saint Valentine’s Day is past.
So, literally, May Day, spring. In this reading of the text, and for the humans. For the fairies, it kinda changes....
Titania-
The summer still doth tend upon my state;
Titania also talks about
the changes to the weather recently, now due to what historians believe is the little ice age, with far colder temperatures than normal. She specifically says it is not winter right now,but the seasons are strange. The summers in the middle 1590s were cold and crops died.
Oberon, Titania's fairy husband, talks about
sneaking into the bower of flowers and honeysuckle, where his queen Titania loves to rest. Most Elizabethans did not differentiate between spring and summer. For them, there were three seasons-the growing, the harvest, and the cold. And when the cold comes in the summer, the world is confused. Shakespeare clearly is confused; in some scenes the moon is new and other's it is full.
Sometimes it is before midnight--other times,the characters say it is the dark before the dawn. Most historians would say that this is a work of an immature writer--fun and enjoyable and silly, but full of inconsistencies.
So, for this reading (and per Shakespeare's title) the play takes place on the night before the Summer Solstice. However--the dream is the play, and the play was believed to have been written between 1595-6, likely for a noble's marriage or for the feast of Saint John--which coincides with the pagan Midsummer Solstice.
Post Edited (Myself 09) : 8/12/2015 10:15:38 AM (GMT-6)