Context: The roles of Theseus and Hippolyta are usually doubled with the roles of Oberon and Titania. Gregory Doran, however, found these two interesting in their own right and wanted them to travel their own emotional journeys.
Did you know? Shakespeare may have borrowed details from Chaucer's Knight's Tale. Chaucer in turn borrowed from Boccaccio's Teseida. Chaucer's two young rivals are named Palamon and Arcite. They fight in the forest over Emily, who is Hippolyta's sister. Theseus has power of life and death over them but the women plead for mercy. Theseus is seen as a virtuous ruler who is very aware of being under the influence of love himself.
