MMaM - Sidequest #1 - Sips, Solstice and Shakespeare

Just like a long D&D campaign, sometimes members of the party have to break away to solo quest. Since life has been a bit hectic for the moms, we've decided to launch sidequest episodes to fill the gap between our full conversation. 

For the first sidequest, Liz wanted to delve into Summer Solstice celebrations and myths. But with a love of theatre, she kept coming back to the Bard himself, William Shakespeare. So tune in for a brief conversation about the inspiration for some of the characters for Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream". 

Hosts: AJ, Kelly, Liz. 

Edited by: Liz 

Come find us on our social media page! Insta: @mmampodofficial

Check out our website at https://mmampod.com/

If you have a question, comment, concern or recommendation, you can email us at momsmythsmimosas@gmail.com

Transcript

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This podcast is about moms, motherhood, and nerdy moms, who just need a break for like an hour. And since we're nerdy moms, we like talking about mythology, legends, pop culture, as well as sharing our own stories about motherhood. What is discussed in our podcast is not expert opinion. We aren't political scientists, we're not even parenting experts, and definitely not even experts on what we're talking about. We're just in the thick of it, and we enjoy these things. And this is a great way for us to connect, and we wanted to share our stories with you. Please do not take our stories as expert opinion, because again, we're not experts. So please join us, stay, crack open a beverage, and enjoy the conversation. Welcome to Mom's Myths and Mimosas in our very first side quest episode. I'm Liz, and today it's just me. Now before you think the other moms have wandered off into a fairy realm, let me explain. When we launched this podcast, we wanted to go big or go home, we wanted to release content regularly, but as it turns out, parenting has a way of throwing unexpected encounters into the campaign. Schedules get chaotic, kids get sick, it it happens. Life happens. But rather than leaving you waiting for new episodes whenever we can't get together, we decided to create a little something different, and we're calling it side quests. Think of it like a Dungeons and Dragons campaign. Normally we're a party of three, but sometimes a few members are busy battling real-life dragons. When that happens, one of us will head off on a solo adventure to bring back a story for the group. That's what these side quest episodes are gonna be. They're shorter, one-host journeys into myths, legends, folklore, and all the wonderfully weird stories we love talking about. And today's side quest has been timed intentionally. So, depending on when you're listening to this, it'll either be after, um, I'm recording it just before, but we're gonna be marking Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year and a celebration that has inspired countless traditions, legends, and supernatural beliefs across Europe and beyond. There's so many fascinating myths connected to it that I found myself going, which do I choose? I wanted to do the fern flower, I wanted to do just the celebrations. So instead of focusing on one specific legend, I decided to combine two of my favorite things, mythology and theater. Tonight we're exploring the mythological and folkloric influences behind one of Shakespeare's most famous plays, A Midsummer Night's Dream. So grab your drink of choice. Tonight I've got a very glamorous Coca-Cola, and join me for this little side quest. Now, if you've taken a high school English or drama class, chances are you've encountered a Midsummer Night's Dream. It's one of Shakespeare's most beloved comedies, a very different experience from tragedies like Romeo and Juliet or Hamlet. Here in Ontario, it appears on many high school reading lists. I believe when I was in high school, eons ago. I believe it was for grade 10. Unfortunately, I never had the pleasure of studying it in class, but that's a side quest for another day. To understand a Midsummer night's dream, we first need to understand Midsummer itself. Across Europe, there are plenty of celebrations taking place around the summer solstice, the longest day and shortest night of the year. For centuries, people believed that midsummer was a liminal time, a moment when the veil between worlds became thinner. It was a night associated with magic, transformation, romance, and the supernatural. Stories claim that fairies roamed more freely, spirits wandered the countryside, magical plants bloomed with unusual powers. Hidden treasures could be discovered. Young people performed rituals hoping to get glimpses of future spouses while communities celebrated fertility, abundance, and the power of the sun. All of those themes find their way into Shakespeare's play. While Shakespeare didn't invent these ideas, he borrowed from centuries of folklore that his audience would have immediately recognized. So today we're going to take a look at some of the major influences. We'll start with the human rulers, Theseus and Hippolyta. Theseus comes directly from Greek mythology. He's one of Greece's great heroes and is most famous for slaying the Minotaur in the labyrinth. His bride Hippolyta is equally fascinating. She was the queen of the Amazons, a legendary tribe of warrior women. Depending on which version of the myth you were reading, Hippolyta was abducted by Theseus and given to him as a prize of war, or willingly fell in love with him and chose to leave her people behind. Greek mythology isn't exactly known to sticking to one version of the story. We'll get into many of those later on. Shakespeare places these mythological figures at the center of his play, creating a connection between the human world and the chaotic magical one that exists in the forest. And speaking of the magical world, let's talk about fairies. One of the central conflicts of the play involves Oberon, the king of the fairies in Titania, the fairy queen. One of the central conflicts of the play involves Oberon, the king of the fairies in Titania and the Fairy Queen. The two are locked in an argument over the custody of a young boy. Oberon wants the child to become one of his attendants, while Titania wants to raise him in honor of a deceased friend. Like any reasonable husband in a fairy tale, Oberon decides the best way to solve the disagreement is through magical manipulation. He obtains the juice of an enchanted flower and uses it to place a spell on Titania. The spell causes her to fall madly in love with the first creature she sees upon waking. And thanks to another character we'll discuss shortly, the creature ends up being Bottom, a local actor whose head has been transformed into that of a donkey. As one does. Now Oberon himself wasn't entirely Shakespeare's invention. The character appears in medieval and renaissance folklore and literature. By Shakespeare's time, audiences would have been familiar with the stories of fairy kings and queens ruling over supernatural realms. Fairies themselves appear in folklore across many cultures. Depending on the tradition, they might be nature spirits, supernatural beings, spirits of the dead, fallen angels, or something else entirely. The one thing most traditions agree on is this. They're powerful, unpredictable, and should generally not be trusted. We'll definitely do a deeper dive into fairy lore on a future episode. Another major plot line includes four young lovers, Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius, and Helena. If you've ever tried explaining the relationships in this play to someone, you know it kind of quickly turns into a flow chart. Hermia loves Lysander, Demetrius loves Hermia, Helena loves Demetrius. Then magic gets involved and everything falls apart. The enchanted flower causes characters to fall in love with whoever they see first, creating confusion, jealousy, and some genuinely hilarious misunderstandings. The flower itself draws upon long-standing European folk traditions surrounding magical plants. Throughout folklore, flowers, herbs, and other plants were often believed to possess healing powers, protective qualities, or the ability to influence love and attraction. Shakespeare takes those folk beliefs and turns the volume all the way up. Now we arrive at my personal favorite. Puck. Puck is chaos. Puck is mischief. Puck is what happens when someone is given magical powers and absolutely no supervision. Puck is essentially a little sh Honestly, if you're a parent, you've probably met a toddler with strong Puck energy. Puck wasn't invented by Shakespeare. The character comes from English folklore, where he appears as a mischievous spirit or hobgoblin. Sometimes he helps people, sometimes he causes problems. Usually it's both. He's kind of a trickster figure, fond of practical jokes and minor disasters. In the play, he transforms Bottom's head into that of a donkey. He's responsible for accidentally enchanting the wrong lover, which creates the romantic chaos that drives much of the plot. And he's the one constantly bouncing between helping and making things dramatically worse. In other words, he's the engine of the story. Yet, despite all the trouble he causes, Puck gets the final word. The play ends with him stepping forward and addressing the audience directly. So good night unto you all. Give me your hands, if we be friends, and Robin shall restore amends. It's Shakespeare's way of asking the audience to view everything that has happened as a dream, a magical, strange, and hopefully entertaining one. And really that's the heart of a Midsummer Night's Dream. It's a story that blends Greek mythology, English folklore, fairy traditions, magical plants, and ancient Midsummer beliefs into a comedy about love, transformation, and a world where the supernatural might just be around the corner. And that's just a glimpse into some of the mythological and folkloric influences woven throughout a Midsummer Night's Dream. We do have full episodes of Mom Smith's Cinema Mamosas coming soon, so make sure you're subscribed wherever you get your podcasts. You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram to keep up with new episodes and behind the scenes updates. For now though, this is the end of our very first side quest. I'm Liz. Thanks for joining me on this adventure. We'll chat next time.