A Midsummer Night's Dream (The Pelican Shakespeare) by William Shakespeare

by William Shakespeare

A retelling of one of Shakespeare's most popular comedies in storybook form, this collection aims to make the best of Shakespearean theatre accessible to a younger audience. It presents a lively tale about love and what happens when the fairy world and the mortal world collide.

Genres: Classics, Shakespeare, Plays, Fiction, Literature, School, English Literature

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "the Bard"). His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.
Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner ("sharer") of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men after the ascension of King James VI and I of Scotland to the English throne. At age 49 (around 1613), he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs, and even certain fringe theories as to whether the works attributed to him were written by others.
Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories and are regarded as some of the best works produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until 1608, among them Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, all considered to be among the finest works in the English language. In the last phase of his life, he wrote tragicomedies (also known as romances) and collaborated with other playwrights.
Many of Shakespeare's plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. However, in 1623, John Heminge and Henry Condell, two fellow actors and friends of Shakespeare's, published a more definitive text known as the First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of Shakespeare's dramatic works that includes 36 of his plays. Its Preface was a prescient poem by Ben Jonson, a former rival of Shakespeare, that hailed Shakespeare with the now famous epithet: "not of an age, but for all time".

Reviews

[Pia Marina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arden Editionen hitten einfach

[Molly Booth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am absolutely obsessed with this edition of MIDSUMMER. I'm an English MA student and a drama teacher, and this is without a doubt one of my favorite editions of any Shakespeare play. I started reading Sukanta Chaudhuri's introduction and couldn't stop -- Chaudhuri's writing is passionate and accessible, and I loved every insight and detail he included. I especially loved the deep and global performance history in this edition, which described MIDSUMMER's history all around the world. Absolutely fascinating and more inclusive than I've seen in many performance histories. I also really appreciated the acknowledgment of the queerness in this play, especially between Hermia and Helena. Honestly, this scholarship is so inspiring I feel like I have to do something with this play now. Teach it? Direct it? Write about it? IMHO, that's what the best scholarship does. Do yourself a favor and dive into this beautiful edition. I'll be recommending it to everyone and using it in my classroom.

[hannah bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay here’s the deal, this one (all Shakespeare but especially this one) just isn’t meant to be read, it’s meant to be seen. I’d actually give it a 3.5 and I did enjoy it, but you just don’t get everything from words on a page. Overall I love the character dynamics of the Lovers and the potential concepts to be used for a show like this are unending. Plus, the Wall in the play at the end is priceless comedy. It’s a great one and I love that it’s all a fever dream, not realism, but it doesn’t compare to Much Ado for me personally. I’m dying to see it performed or participate in a production but I doubt I’ll read it again for fun. Glad to have read it once though!!

[Sedina]

a rather silly play, to be honest. justice for Helena, poor girl; for being as tall as she is, she really gets the short end of the stick.

[Abigail · Rating 5 out of 5]

how now, mad spirit? what night-rule now about this haunted grove?

[Mavra · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's funny, and I wanna be in it

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so thankful the Read-aloud Revival and Amy Sloan first recommended these productions. I'll definitely be listening to more in the future!

[Ash · Rating 4 out of 5]

Has intro, play script, glossary, notes and the some additional information on the life and times of William Shakespeare.
I’ve always liked the play, its themes stand up nearly 500 years later. I’m always intrigued about how these plays used to be performed.
This edition has a few typos and misprints, and the intro, and life and times of William Shakespeare read very simplistically, these are what detracted a star. Otherwise, nice small copy of the script to go over whenever.

[ellie turk · Rating 4 out of 5]

a classic! there’s a reason high school theaters will never stop performing this play. alas, i already wrote an essay on this, so i don’t have any deep thoughts to share here. it’s a great read for people who are scared of shakespeare.

[CK · Rating 3 out of 5]

I stand by my previous 3 star rating…definitely better performed than read.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

“And yet,to say the truth, reason and love keep little company together nowadays.“

[Isabelle Reyes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book frustratingly good. I had tried numerous times to finish this story, but I had always failed. Once I did finish it, I had that moment where I just sat there in awe for a bit. I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. One thing I found off was when Demetrius returned Helena's love. He was still under the influence of the potion, was he not? This made me think about whether he truly loved Helena from his heart or from a potion. I think that this story will stay in my mind for a long time and I think it's a good break from feeling sad about Shakespeare's other works.

[maddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read select scenes of this in the middle school and had no idea what was going on. Rereading now, it's such a fun play. The Barnes & Noble edition is helpful & I'd recommend. All the left pages have notes, while the right has the play itself.

[Guy Raber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wanted to re-read this recently, it's long been one of my favorite Shakespeare works. What I love about this work is that it operates on a few levels -- the aesthetics of the show are fun and interesting, i.e. the idea of faeries and lovers floating about, watching us, but also the play within the play conceit works really well. There's a meta-ness to this play, even the fact that Pyramus and Thisbe is a parallel to R&J, but I think beyond that there's a skewering of humans doing silly things like having day workers put on a production, chasing after silly, fickle love, and the like. More broadly, though, there's this deeper question about what love really is and whether its transient nature is inherent, or a factor of chance, or magical forces outside our control. But all this is explored in the form of pure candy, which makes it fun, even if something lingers after the faeries are all gone.

[KM · Rating 4 out of 5]

The play itself gets 5 stars from me. Lighthearted and tongue-in-cheek, it's not in any way a good example of healthy romance (except in the case of poor Lysander and Hermia), but it's not meant to be. Messy fairies in ancient Greece come up with messy solutions to both their own problems and the problems of the local angsty teens. And the duke just rolls with it while his Amazonian bride not-so-secretly rolls her eyes at everyone. I'm absolutely here for it.

This edition gets 3 stars because while it does serve the purpose of breaking down Shakespeare's early modern english for 21st century casual readers, there were so many typos it looked like a cheap rush job. Bonus points that it includes 3 full versions of the play: A side by side of the original and modern text, the original by itself, and the modern text by itself.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are interested in the wonderful world of Shakespeare, but like me, struggle with understanding the nature of his language, then this is the perfect introduction for you. Winzek’s adaptation of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is the perfect length to convey the complexity of Shakespeare’s story without leaving out key plot points, while also keeping it short enough to maintain a modern reader’s attention. In staging this adaptation of the script, key moments of the classic renaissance feel are fully conveyed through each line, while the annotations and shortening of needless repetition are used to simultaneously allow for a modern audience’s enjoyment. I love this script as it has opened my mind to other Shakespearean works, and am eager to read some of Winzek’s original scripts as well!

[audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The intro was solid and I like learning about all the interpretations cause this is some of the wackiest Shakespeare. I love love love the language of Midsummer. Like I can’t say I am particularly attached to any of the characters or the plot, I’m really just here for the fairies and shit. The atmosphere is just SOOO GOOOOOOOD thanks Shax.

[Falon Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The kids and I read this for school and we all really enjoyed it. We laughed a lot and had a lot of fun with this play. It’s full of chaos and magic and it was a great first introduction to my kids for Shakespeare.

[Karla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saved this story for spring cleaning. I wanted to read more Shakespeare so this was great. I did the audiobook and the cast was phenomenal and I was laughing a few times. I love that the humor used here is still understood today.

[Allie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first Shakespeare play that I read out of school and it was actually so good!! I'm not gonna lie, but I thought it was going to be one I force myself to read, but it wasn't I actually really enjoyed it!! It had a lot of funny parts and a good story though I still feel bad for Helena.

[Lola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very fun for a Shakespeare play but the concept of the fairy society feels too grand to be explored properly in the tiny play in which it exists

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bonus book
#the52bookclub2024

[Dennya Canales · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was honestly a funny but confusing book to read because of the Shakespearean talk but the glossary was a nice assist and the summary as well.

[Sophie]

This is the second Shakespeare play I've read and the third I've watched, so I do not have that many to compare it to.

I do have to say it didn't grip me as much as Romeo and Juliet.

[Maxi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still: my favourite and the best Shakespeare.

[Ivy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Messy and hilarious, but it lost momentum once the night was over and carried on too long after.

[chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

my first shakespeare, and thus probably one of my favorites. love you hermia

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very good production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare. A full cast dramatically reads all the lines. There is music and singing as well. To my surprise, a member from one of my favorite bands from the 80s, Kate St. John of The Dream Academy plays oboe and saxophone on this version! I found out after I first listened to it.

I then had to listen to it yet again with the words. I wanted to pay closer attention to the music and to make sure the dialogue matched what was written.

EBN 2025 - A classic you have never read.

[Tyson Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book midsummers night dream.
It a book about a love, confusion, and comedy all mixed together. Theres a lot of stuff that happend like people go and run into the woods so they can be together and be in love.Love potions were used so different people would love each other. In the end everything works out ok.

My favorite part of the book is when one of the characters gets his head turned into a donkey's head and then everyone runs off scared.

I would recommend this book to anyone that loves a love/comedy book it was really good 5/5 stars

[Ryan]

It feels wrong to give Shakespeare a rating 1-5 stars, but I will say this wasn't one of my favorites for Shakespeare! I do have the opinion that Shakespeare is meant to be seen, so I can either be a part of this play or see it and change my mind! I would love to play Puck or WALL which made me laugh. I liked the comedy of this play, and Act 3 Scene 2 was so exciting even on the page. Overall, I'm glad to have finally read this!