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53-453: The biggest ham among them, Nick Bottom , becomes the unlikely object of interest for the fairy queen Titania after she is charmed by a love potion and he is turned into a monster with the head of an ass by Puck. The characters' names are Peter Quince, Snug, Nick Bottom, Francis Flute, Tom Snout, and Robin Starveling. Peter Quince's name is derived from "quines" or " quoins ", which are

106-510: A Wallace Stevens poem, " Peter Quince at the Clavier ", which is written in the first person as if spoken by Quince. Snug is a minor character in the play. He is a joiner from Athens who is assigned by Peter Quince to play the part of the lion in Pyramus and Thisbe . When he is first assigned the part, he is afraid it may take him a while to finally remember his lines (even though the lion's role

159-421: A craftsmanly background, both work quickly and both take secondary roles in their own plays. Robert Leach makes the same point. In performing the play, Quince recites the prologue but struggles to fit his lines into the meter and make the rhymes. The noble audience makes jocular comments, while the rest of the mechanicals struggle (all except Bottom, who rather confidently improvises). Traditionally, Peter Quince

212-414: A donkey by the elusive Puck . Bottom and Puck are the only two characters who converse with and progress the three central stories in the whole play. Puck is first introduced in the fairies' story and creates the drama of the lovers' story by messing up who loves whom, and places the donkey head on Bottom's in his story. Similarly, Bottom is performing in a play in his story intending it to be presented in

265-434: A donkey's. When Bottom returns, unaware of his own transformation, his fellow actors run away from him with Quince screaming, "We are haunted!" Bottom believes they are playing a prank on him, proclaiming, "This is to make an ass of me, to fright me if they could." So he stays in the forest by himself and sings loudly to show them he isn't afraid. The Fairy Queen Titania is awakened by Bottom's song. She has been enchanted by

318-522: A lion and means the audience no harm. Snug is often played as a stupid man, a manner describing almost all of the Mechanicals. Snug is the only Mechanical to whom the playwright did not assign a first name. In Jean-Louis and Jules Supervielle's French adaptation, Le Songe d'une nuit d'été (1959), Snug is renamed to Gatebois , where Georges Neveux's 1945 adaptation used the English names. On

371-470: A love potion, which will cause her to fall in love with the first living thing that she sees when she wakes (no matter who, or what it is), made from the juice of a rare flower, once hit by Cupid's arrow, that her husband, Oberon , King of the Fairies, spread on her eyes in an act of jealous rage. During his enchantment over her, he utters "Wake when some vile thing is near." The first thing she sees when she wakes

424-495: A type of bellows used by blacksmiths and smelters to increase the air flow going into the forge, with the property that air is blown out on both strokes of the handle (in contrast to simpler and more common bellows that blow air when the stroke is in one direction and refill the bellows in the other direction). These bellows blow a more constant, and thus stronger, blast than simple bellows. Such bellows existed in China at least since

477-410: A weight on it. The bottom and the middle leaves contain valves, the top one does not. Only the top lung is connected to the spout. When the bottom leaf is moved up, air is pumped from the bottom lung into the top lung. At the same time air is leaving the bellows from the top lung through the spout, but at a slower rate. This inflates the top lung. Next the bottom leaf is moved down to pull fresh air into

530-450: Is airtight and lubricated . As the piston is pulled, air enters from the far side and the air in the near chamber is compressed and forced into a side chamber, where it flows through the nozzle. Then as it is pushed air enters from the near side and the air in the far chamber flows through the same nozzle. These have three leaves. The middle leaf is fixed in place. The bottom leaf is moved up and down. The top leaf can move freely and has

583-414: Is a bellows -mender. He is forced to play the female role of Thisbe in " Pyramus and Thisbe ", a play-within-the-play which is performed for Theseus ' marriage celebration. In the play, Flute (Thisbe) speaks through the wall (played by Tom Snout ) to Pyramus ( Nick Bottom ). Flute is a young, excited actor who is disappointed when he finds he is meant to play a woman (Thisbe) in their interlude before

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636-654: Is also the main character of the Tony-winning 2015 musical Something Rotten! , in which he competes as a playwright against William Shakespeare, his name being a reference to the character in Shakespeare's play. Bellows A bellows or pair of bellows is a device constructed to furnish a strong blast of air . The simplest type consists of a flexible bag comprising a pair of rigid boards with handles joined by flexible leather sides enclosing an approximately airtight cavity which can be expanded and contracted by operating

689-448: Is especially likely because, in both texts, the sceptical audience of the "foolish" material is composed of Greeks, as the spectators of Bottom et al. are Theseus, the duke of Athens, and his court. The origin of Bottom's farewell to Peter Quince in Act I, scene 2 has become the topic of some disagreement among Shakespeare scholars. Parting with Quince, Bottom instructs his fellow actor to be at

742-409: Is not even able to utter what has happened and says "For if I tell you, I am no true Athenian". Theseus ends up choosing Pyramus and Thisbe as the performance for his amusement, now also the wedding day of the young Athenian lovers. The play is poorly written and poorly acted, though obviously performed with a great deal of passion. Bottom performs the famous Pyramus death scene in the play within

795-582: Is played by Brian Glover . In BBC One 's ShakespeaRe-Told , he is played by comedian Johnny Vegas . Croatian actor Ozren Grabarić portrayed Bottom in a noted and award-winning performance at the Gavella Drama Theatre 's cult production of the comedy, directed by Macedonian theatre practitioner Aleksandar Popovski. At the Czech Theatre of Fidlovačce , Bottom was performed in an alternation between Ctirad Götz and Jakub Slach. Bottom has been

848-403: Is portrayed as a bookish character, caught up in the minute details of his play, but as a theatrical organizer. However, in the 1999 film version of A Midsummer Night's Dream , he is portrayed by Roger Rees as a strong character extremely capable of being a director. It is he who leads the search party looking for Nick Bottom in the middle of the play. The character is named in the title of

901-493: Is the transformed Bottom, and she immediately falls in love with him. She even commands her fairy minions to serve and wait upon him. Titania kisses Bottom and when he sleeps, they put their arms around each other. Bottom is happy that he is being treated like royalty and Titania loves him so much she puts flowers in his hair. Oberon is amused that Titania has fallen in love with a ridiculous mortal. Later, Oberon finally releases Titania from her enchantment. After being confronted with

954-461: The Levant , archaeologists have found primitive pot bellows, consisting of a ceramic pot to which a loose leather hide had been attached at the top. Such pot bellows were constructed with a wide rim, so that the hide covering would transmit a maximum amount of air when pumped. The covering was fastened to the pot with a cord under an out-turned rim, or in a groove just below the rim exterior. An opening near

1007-415: The 5th century BC, when it was invented, and had reached Europe by the 16th century. In 240 BC, The ancient Greek inventor Ctesibius of Alexandria independently invented a double-action piston bellow used to lift water from one level to another. A piston is enclosed in a rectangular box with a handle coming out one side. The piston edges are covered with feathers, fur, or soft paper to ensure that it

1060-548: The Chinese to the bamboo-based piston bellows of Southeast Asians. The acquired piston bellows technology completely replaced the Chinese ox hide bellows that by the Song dynasty , the ox hide bellows were completely extinct. The Han dynasty Chinese mechanical engineer Du Shi (d. 38) is credited with being the first to use hydraulic power on a double-action piston pumps, through a waterwheel , to operate bellows in metallurgy. His invention

1113-556: The Duchess . Critics have commented on the profound religious implications of Bottom's speech on his awakening without the ass's head in act 4 of A Midsummer Night's Dream: "[. . .] The eye of man hath not heard, the ear of man hath not seen, man's hand is not able to taste, his tongue to conceive, nor his heart to report, what my dream was. I will get Peter Quince to write a ballad of this dream: it shall be called 'Bottom's Dream', because it hath no bottom; and I will sing it in

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1166-480: The Elizabethan stage, the role of Snug and the other Mechanicals was intended to be doubled with Titania's four fairy escorts: Moth, Mustardseed, Cobweb, and Peaseblossom. Nick Bottom provides comic relief throughout the play. A weaver by trade, he is famously known for getting his head transformed into that of a donkey by the elusive Puck . Bottom and Puck are the only two characters who converse with and progress

1219-414: The English names. On the Elizabethan stage, the role of Flute and the other Mechanicals was intended to be doubled with Titania's four fairy escorts: Moth (also spelled Mote), Mustardseed, Cobweb, and Peaseblossom. Tom Snout is a tinker , and one of the Mechanicals of Athens. In the play-within-a-play , Tom Snout plays the wall which separates Pyramus' and Thisbe's gardens. In Pyramus and Thisbe ,

1272-530: The Jewes require a signe, and the Grecians seke after wisdome. But we preache Christ crucified : unto the Jewes, even a stombling blocke, & unto the Grecians, foolishnes: But unto them which are called, bothe of the Jewes & Grecias we preache Christ, the power of GOD, and the wisdome of God. For the foolishnes of God is wiser the men [. . .]." (1 Corinthians 1.21–25) This passage's description of

1325-461: The Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deepe things of God." Steven Doloff also suggests that Bottom's humorous and foolish performance at the end of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" mimics a passage from the previous chapter of Corinthians: "For seing the worlde by wisdome knewe not God in the wisdome of God, it pleased God by the foolishnes of preaching to save them that believe: Seing also that

1378-483: The base served to insert a pipe of perishable material whose purpose was to direct the air blast to either the furnace or crucible, and which was usually done through the mediation of a tuyère . Tuyères used in conjunction with pot bellows had the function of protecting the ends of perishable tubes leading from the pot into the fire. Places in Saharan Africa still make use of primitive pot bellows. The term "bellows"

1431-569: The bellows. The bellows are used to deliver additional air to the fuel, raising the rate of combustion and therefore the heat output. Various kinds of bellows are used in metallurgy : Chinese bellows were originally made of ox hide with two pots as described in Mozi 's book on military technology in the Warring States period (4th century BC). By the Han dynasty , contact with Southeast Asian cultures exposed

1484-404: The bellows. While this happens the weight on the top leaf pushes it down, so air keeps leaving through the spout. This design does not increase the amount of air flow going into the forge, but provides a more constant air flow compared to a simple bellows. It also provides more even air flow than two simple bellows pumped alternately or one double-acting piston bellows. In archaeological ruins of

1537-401: The context implied by 'regiment' is important, as it implies that the breaking (or cutting) of bowstrings should be seen in terms of military rather than civilian archery. Steeven's other example is from Anthony Brewer's The Covntrie Girle: A Comedie: 'Fidler, strike. / I strike you else; – and cut your begging bowstrings'. Godshalk writes that "the first 'strike' means 'to play upon' the fiddle;

1590-442: The duke and the duchess. Flute's name, like that of the other mechanicals, is metonymical and derives from his craft: "Flute" references a church organ , an instrument prominently featuring the bellows a bellows-mender might be called upon to repair. In Jean-Louis and Jules Supervielle's French adaptation, Le Songe d'une nuit d'été (1959), Flute is renamed to Tubulure , where Georges Neveux's 1945 adaptation used

1643-548: The equipment useless. With this understanding, Bottom's phrase can be interpreted as a military expression for "hold your position, or give up and retreat." In the context of the play, Bottom is being comically pretentious, saying: "Be present at the rehearsal, or quit the troupe." Actors who have played the role on film include Paul Rogers , James Cagney and Kevin Kline . In the BBC Television Shakespeare version, he

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1696-423: The handles, and fitted with a valve allowing air to fill the cavity when expanded, and with a tube through which the air is forced out in a stream when the cavity is compressed. It has many applications, in particular blowing on a fire to supply it with air. The term "bellows" is used by extension for a flexible bag whose volume can be changed by compression or expansion, but not used to deliver air. For example,

1749-570: The latter end of a play, before the Duke. Peradventure, to make it the more gracious, I shall sing it at her death." (4.1.209–216) This speech seems to be a comically jumbled evocation of a passage from the New Testament 's 1 Corinthians 2.9–10: "The things which eye hathe not sene, nether eare hath heard, nether came into man's heart, are, which God hathe prepared for them that love him. But God hathe reveiled them unto us by his Spirit: for

1802-405: The light-tight (but not airtight) bag allowing the distance between the lens and film of a folding photographic camera to be varied is called a bellows . "Bellows" is only used in plural. The Old English name for "bellows" was blǽstbęl(i)g , blást-bęl(i)g 'blast-bag', 'blowing-bag'; the prefix was dropped and by the eleventh century the simple bęlg , bylg , bylig ('bag')

1855-473: The lovers leave. His first thought is that he has fallen asleep in the woods during rehearsal and has missed his cue. He quickly realizes he has had "a most rare vision". He is amazed by the events of this dream, and soon begins to wonder if it was in fact a dream at all. He quickly decides that he will "get Peter Quince to write a ballad of this dream", and that "it shall be called 'Bottom's Dream,' because it hath no Bottom". Upon being reunited with his friends, he

1908-408: The lovers' story, as well as interacting with Titania in the fairies' story. While they are in the woods rehearsing a play for the Duke, the fairy Puck , a mischievous sprite and minion of Oberon , king of the fairies, happens upon their rehearsal. He decides to have some fun with them, carrying out part of Oberon's orders in the process, and when Bottom exits the stage, he transforms his head into

1961-475: The military origin of Bottom's line: "When the Genoese felt the arrows piercing through their heads, arms, and breasts, many of them cast down their crossbows, and cut their strings, and resumed discomfited." Archers would cut their bowstrings, thus destroying their weapons, in the midst of a retreat so that the enemy could not use their own instruments against them. It is the equivalent of striking artillery, rendering

2014-454: The more humorous in the play, as he uses a lantern in a failed attempt to portray Moonshine and is wittily derided by his audience. His real job is as a tailor. Nick Bottom Nick Bottom is a character in Shakespeare 's A Midsummer Night's Dream who provides comic relief throughout the play. A weaver by trade, he is famously known for getting his head transformed into that of

2067-431: The next rehearsal, saying: "Hold or cut bowstrings." The debate is centred on whether this phrase arose from military or civilian life. George Capell is the first to have offered an explanation of the origin of this phrase. He states that it is a proverbial saying and "was born in the days of archery". When an archery contest was planned, 'assurance of meeting was given in the words of that phrase'. If an archer did not keep

2120-412: The other mechanicals (except Bottom and Quince ) are usually much more frightened than Tom Snout. Snout's name, like that of the other mechanicals, is metonymical and derives from his craft: "Snout" means a nozzle or a spout, a feature of the kettles a tinker often mends. Robin Starveling plays the part of Moonshine in their performance of Pyramus and Thisbe . His part is often considered one of

2173-459: The play, one of the most comedic moments in the play. In performance, Bottom, like Horatio in Hamlet is the only major part that can't be doubled, i.e. that can't be played by an actor who also plays another character, since he is present in scenes involving nearly every character. Bottom's discussion of his dream is considered by Ann Thompson to have emulated two passages from Chaucer's The Book of

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2226-419: The promised meeting, then the other archers might cut his bowstring, that is, 'demolish him for an archer'. From this 'particular usage, the phrase had an easy transition among the vulgar to that general application which Bottom makes of it.' However, W.L. Godshalk refutes this theory, stating that no subsequent scholars have been able to confirm Capell's ideas. Godshalk also states that it is unlikely that this

2279-448: The reality that her romantic interlude with the transformed Bottom was not just a dream, she is disgusted with the very image of him and also seems very suspicious of how "these things came to pass." After Oberon instructs Puck to return Bottom's head to his human state, which Puck reluctantly does, the fairies leave him sleeping in the woods, nearby the four Athenian lovers, Demetrius , Helena , Hermia , and Lysander . He wakes up after

2332-476: The sceptical reception Christ was given by his Greek audience appears to be alluded to in Bottom's performance. Just as Christ's preaching is regarded as "foolishness", Bottom's audience perceives his acting (as well as the entirety of the play he is a part of) as completely without value, except for the humor they can find in the actors' hopelessly flawed rendering of their subject matter. Doloff writes that this allusion

2385-459: The second 'strike' may again suggest a military context for the cutting of bowstrings, though any reference to military archery is comic since the 'bow' in this case is the fiddler's bow." Godshalk argues that, just as these examples indicate a military context, this must also be done with Bottom's "hold or cut bow-strings." He further cites Jean Froissart's account of the Battle of Crecy, which supports

2438-464: The strengthening blocks that form the outer corners of stone or brickwork in a building. Quince's amateurish playwriting is usually taken to be a parody of the popular mystery plays of the pre- Elizabethan era , plays that were also produced by craftspeople. His metrical preferences are references to vernacular ballads. Despite Quince's obvious shortcomings as a writer, Stanley Wells argues that he partly resembles Shakespeare himself. Both are from

2491-419: The subject of several paintings. German composer Felix Mendelssohn musically referenced Bottom in his overture inspired by A Midsummer Night's Dream, with the strings mimicking an ass's bray on two occasions in the piece. Later German composer Hans Werner Henze has used Bottom twice as an inspiration: in the second sonata which comprises his Royal Winter Music and in his Eighth Symphony . Nick Bottom

2544-413: The three central stories in the whole play. Puck is first introduced in the fairies' story and creates the drama of the lovers' story by messing up who loves whom, and places the donkey head on Bottom's in his story. Similarly, Bottom is performing in a play in his story intending it to be presented in the lovers' story, as well as interacting with Titania in the fairies' story. Francis Flute's occupation

2597-451: The two lovers whisper to each other through Snout's fingers (representing a chink in the wall). Snout has eight lines under the name of Tom Snout, and two lines as The Wall . He is the Wall for Act V-Scene 1. Tom Snout was originally set to play Pyramus's father, but the need for a wall was greater, so he discharged The Wall . Snout is often portrayed as a reluctant actor and very frightened, but

2650-481: Was a common civilian phrase, as there are no other examples of this exact form of the phrase in the work of any author besides Shakespeare. Godshalk further cites the work of George Steevens, who was able to find two vaguely parallel examples in seventeenth-century drama. In George Chapman's The Ball, Scutilla asks Lady Lucina, 'have you devices / To jeer the rest?' Lucina answers, 'All the regiment of 'em, or I'll break my bow-strings' (II.ii.127-9). Godshalk argues that

2703-402: Was nothing but roaring originally). Bottom offers to play the part of the lion (as he offers to play all other parts), but he is rejected by Quince, who worries (as do the other characters) that his loud and ferocious roar in the play will frighten the ladies of power in the audience and get Quince and all his actors hanged. In the end, the lion's part is revised to explain that he is in fact not

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2756-422: Was used to operate piston bellows of blast furnaces in order to forge cast iron . The ancient Greeks , ancient Romans , and other civilizations used bellows in bloomery furnaces producing wrought iron . Bellows are also used to send pressurized air in a controlled manner in a fired heater. In modern industry, reciprocating bellows are usually replaced with motorized blowers. Double-acting piston bellows are

2809-467: Was used. The word is cognate with " belly ". There are similar words in Old Norse , Swedish, and Danish and Dutch (blaasbalg), but the derivation is not certain. 'Bellows' appears not to be cognate with the apparently similar Latin follis . Several processes, such as metallurgical iron smelting and welding , require so much heat that they could only be developed after the invention, in antiquity , of

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