Philostrate is?

William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Read the extract below and answer the following questions

Go, Philostrate,
Sir up the Athenian youth to merriments;
Awake the pert and nimble spirit of mirth;
Turn melancholy forth to funerals:
The pale companion is not our pomp

Hippolyta, I wooed thee with my sword,
And won thy love doing thee injuries;
But I will wed thee in another key,
With pomp with triumph, and with reveling ( Act 1, Scene One, Lines 12-20)

 

A. Clown of Hippolyta
B. Duke’s entertainer
C. Fairy king’s cuckold
D. Rival of Puck

Correct Answer:

Option B – Duke’s entertainer

Explanation

Philostrate is Duke Theseus’s party planner. His official title is “Master of the Revels,” which happened to be a court-appointed position in Shakespeare’s day. Basically, the Master of the Revels organized courtly entertainments and also determined which plays could be performed at court and on public stages.