A Midsummer's Night Dream

by William Shakespeare

64 pages, Paperback

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

[Rina Suzuki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Midsummer Night's Dream
By William Shakespeare
PENGUIN READERS
Level-3
140minutes
7words
Couples, misunderstanding, mischief, laughter, love, animal, fantasy

Questions
1. In this play, two men fall in love with lovely princess, Hermia. Then Hermia tries to escape with one of two men whom she really loves. Why do you think she escapes from her country?
I guess she really loves the man and her father will give her punish if she doesn't follow her father's order. Her father, the king of the country ordered her to marry the other man. But probably she doesn't want to marry the man. So she tries to escape her father and the man.

2. In this play, the king's messenger used special medicine which has a special power to change person's mind. Can you imagine how this medicine is like?
Actually I don't imagine what is this medicine like, but I guess this medicine is made by great ingredients because this medicine changes person's mind dramatically many times in the play. That scene was interesting!

Midsummer Night's Dream is the play which was a lot of fun to read. I think this play is kind of imaginary and funny story. Moreover, this story is far as real life because some people use a kind of juice which has a special power to change person's mind. At first, I couldn't believe the magical juice to change person's mind, but I really had fun to read this play.

[Aki Aki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm reading stories of Shakespeare recently. This story include love, comedy and fantasy. I like it very much.

[Madison Tumas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parts of this would be a great introduction to traditional plays and writing styles for middle school students.