A Midsummer Night's Dream

by William Shakespeare

Gorgeous, strange and magical, A Midsummer Night's Dream is perhaps the best loved of Shakespeare's plays. A young woman flees Athens with her lover, only to be pursued by her would-be husband and her best friend. Unwittingly, all four find themselves in an enchanted forest where fairies and sprites soon take an interest in human affairs, dispensing love potions and casting mischievous spells. In this dazzling comedy, confusion ends in harmony, as love is transformed, misplaced, and - ultimately - restored.

This Macmillan Collector's Library edition is illustrated throughout by renowned artist Sir John Gilbert (1817-1897), and includes an introduction by author Ned Halley.

Designed to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.

Genres: Classics, Plays, Shakespeare, Fiction, Fantasy, Drama, School

172 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1595

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

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

That Helena is a bitch.
I know the big draw for this play is all the fairy goings-on, but upon re-reading/re-listening to it for the umpteenth time, I was more interested in the insane inner workings of Helena's mind.



Ok. Get this.
Hermia and Lysander are in love. But Hermia's dad wants her to marry Demetrius, and you know how dads can be about that sort of thing. For example, my husband really liked this boy that my oldest daughter dated several years ago. For the purposes of this review, we'll call him Kevin. In his eyes, Kevin was the best boyfriend his little girl could choose. My daughter didn't feel the same. As you may already know, daughters rarely like the guy their fathers want them to like.
And now, because he's petty as hell, he refers to every poor boy that she brings home as Not-Kevin.
Sometimes to their face.



Now. Demetrius is determined to marry Hermia even though she obviously loathes him.
Because some men find rejection sexy.
And Helena is obsessed with Demetrius and follows him around like a puppy. Even though he obviously doesn't want her.
Because some women find rejection sexy, too.



You're probably wondering why Hermia and Lysander don't just give her father a bit of time to cool off with all this Demetrius stuff, right?
Well, because if Hermia doesn't agree to marry Demetrius quick-like, her dad is going to send her to a convent (of Diana b/c this is set in Greece) or have her killed, which is his right under the law...but probably just the convent.
Harsh, right?
This guy makes my husband look tactful, and as you may realize from the above-mentioned story, that's not an easy thing to do.
So, Hermia and Lysander make plans to meet in the woods, run off to the big city, get hitched, and live happily ever after.



Remember how I said Helena is a bitch?
Well, this is where Helena proves she is a level 10 clinger that will do anything for a scrap of attention.
She rats her best friend Hermia's escape plan out to Demetrius!
In the hopes that he...? What? Finds Hermia in time to stop her from marrying someone else? If Hermia is out of the picture, Demetrius will have to look elsewhere for matrimonial prospects!
Helena is just shooting herself in the cooch by telling him that her rival for his love is sneaking off to get married.
A real stalker would know this. <--just saying



She. is. terrible.
And if Demetrius weren't such a douchebag, I probably would have felt a little sorry for him getting saddled with such an obvious crazypants for the rest of his life.



Ok. Enter the fairies.
They have their own problems. The biggest of which is that Oberon is apparently jealous of how much time Titania spends doting on the son of her (now dead) human friend.
God, men are so weird!



So what happens?
Lots of bickering, lots of crying, lots of fairy dust getting thrown around on the wrong people, lots of mistaken love, and of course a dude with an asshead.
Sounds freakishly similar to my early twenties.



I'm sure you know the story. I think most everyone has seen or heard this story in one form or another in their life. And if you haven't read the original play and want to, it's pretty easy to get into. I've read it a few times, but this time around I listened to the full-cast audio version.
It's excellent. And I'd suggest that as an option to anyone who is interested. After all, this was supposed to be acted out, so it works well when you have voice actors doing their thing to bring Shakespeare's story to life.
Highly Recommended.

[jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

how to flirt, shakespeare style, a midsummer nights dream edition:

- elope with your love in a fairy wood

- follow your friends into the fairy wood with your ex-fiancé, who you still pine over even though he loves another woman

- become entranced by magic flower juice and chase after the wrong girl until you fall over with exhaustion

- call your girl an acorn

- realise your ex-fiancé is truly the one you love, even though you ditched her once you got to the woods

- have a double wedding with your lover, your friend, and the f-boi who used to love you

i guess its true what they say - the course of true love never did run smooth.

↠ 3.5 stars

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-reading the play this time, I couldn't stop thinking about The Magic Flute.

Like Mozart's opera, Shakespeare's play may have a silly plot composed of fanciful, seemingly arbitrary elements, yet, through the power of absolute artistic mastery, the framework of what might otherwise be nothing but a second-rate masque is transformed, by the unwearied attention of genius--and in Shakespeare's case, sublime poetry--into a work of great resonance, an archetypal myth.

[Luís · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovers flee the authority of a father who is contrary to them, a lover who pursues the one he loves and does not love her, accompanied by the one who loves him and does not love him. - You follow me
There is nothing very original you will say to me. Still, there is also theatre and magic in the forest. Worlds intermingle in joyful confusion. Artisans from Athens come to rehearse a play for the king's wedding. Fairy and facetious beings, bewitching, a magical flower that lavishes all the energy of love for the first creature seen upon awakening, even if it had the head of an ass.
There's no need for a villain in The Dream to hold the viewer in suspense. Problems fly away by magic; you have to let yourself be bewitched. This piece feels like weightlessness, celebrating theatrical play, the beneficial lightness, and the beautiful fantasy of the imagination that frees us from the weight of reality. And it's so good!

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

"And with her height, forsooth, she hath prevailed with him.
How low am I? I am not yet so low
But that my nails can reach unto thine eyes."
i felt that Hermia

[Henry Avila · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of Shakespeare's most popular comic plays though a figment of the imagination an illusion, a delusion in actuality that's the pity... such a delectable world to inhabit. Essentially a love story between two couples, a thin plot device in a mythical Athens which never was . Lysander loves his girlfriend Hermia (they want to marry). However her father Egeus, does not consent, prefers the groom to be more prominent admittedly a common story. Threatening Hermia with death or being forced to become a nun. With the help of the city's ruthless ruler and a fierce warrior
his friend Theseus, the Duke of Athens it's the silly law... Fathers had this right then to choose their children's mates. Egeus, wants his daughter to marry Demetrius. Why? Never quite explained. Maybe the tyrant doesn't like the color of the man's hair. Also the narrative involves Helena, Hermia's best friend, she loves Demetrius, which is not reciprocated, that's the rub .The strange part is the men and women have little differences between themselves. Shakespeare is making a point about love (All four are rather interchangeable). Nonetheless the impetuous eager lovers decide to elope, hide in the nearby woods overnight and flee to one of the boys wealthy widow aunt's home. Far from the city's authority but they miscalculate just a trifle. Hermia confided to Helena about the plan, she unwisely tells the jealous Demetrius, he follows the couple and Helena follows him. Back in Athens the Duke Theseus is busy preparing a wedding feast, Hippolytata the amazon warrior leader he defeated in battle. A little weird ? First you want to kill each other then get married, love, hate are this close... She will soon become his bride. Also six tradesman are secretly putting on a play to surprise the royals (yes a play within a play). Pyramus and Thisbe, a Romeo and Juliet type of work you can guess about the quality. Where are they going to rehearse , the eerie woods of course. Still this intoxicating forest has a secret, it's haunted by unseen spirits, including Oberon the King of the Fairies and Titania the Queen, they reign here, this dark fairyland by night. Puck, a mischievous hobgoblin does all their dirty or funny pranks depending on your point of view..Puck enjoys his job...very much so. Everybody arrives the lovers quarrel, Bottom the Malaprop weaver acquires the head of an ass, thanks to Puck, scaring his timid friends away."Lord what fools these mortals be!"Says the mischievous whirlwind Puck as a magic flower makes the lovers change partners, their affections seem quiet fickle."The course of true love never did run smooth"! Remarks Lysander . Enchanting fable, a dream, a poem, an incantation , funny too and has valuable lessons about the human condition. Delightful...a bit of whimsy...

[Calista · Rating 5 out of 5]

2nd Review:
So, it's been 10 years, I think, since I last read this. Shame on me. This is one of my all time favorite plays. I love it. Still, haven't seen it live on stage. Another Shame on me.

So, reading this, I noticed something for the first time. Oberon is a horrible husband. Seriously. Titania has a young boy she keeps around her from an human friend and Oberon wants this boy to raise up as another servant. Titania flatly refuses him. This whole thing is set in motion basically because Oberon feels he is entitled to anything he wants. He has Puck get the flower for the love spell he puts on Titania. He humiliates his wife by having her fall in love with an ass. While she's in this sorry state, he gets the boy he wants to be his servant and then he is willing to lift the spell.

Oberon is a complete jerk face. Titania deserves much better than him. He schemed and played dirty to get what he wanted. I'm so angry just thinking about it. I really don't like scheming. I get it's part of life for many people. Still. The fact that he gets away with it really irritates me. At the end, he has everything he wants and Titania seems happy as a goldfish with her 10 second memory and all's good.

Rant over. I love reading the language again. There is magic in the words. What a story. Is there anything else out there in this world like this story, not much really.

I think I enjoy reading about tricksters as an archetype. Puck, Wei Wuxian and so on.

Anyway, the one I feel most sorry for is Demetrius. He is the one who still has the love spell on him. It could be best for him, because the thing with Hermia wouldn't have worked out, but still, this wasn't his choice. That's gross. I mean good for Helena, but if that spell ever wears off, she will be in a rough spot and a loveless marriage. Love is a many splendid thing. Love lifts us up where we belong. And how horrible to marry someone that can't stand you. Anyway.

So July has started out as the month of re-reads. So be it.

1st Review
My Favorite Play!

After reading all Shakespeare plays, I wonder why schools focus so much on the tragedies and not so much on the comedies. We were never assigned a comedy to read in school, but to me, this is by far Shakes' best play, hands down. I'll take this over Hamlet, Macbeth or Romeo.

I love the Puck and he has so many great lines in the stories. This work gives me life. I have seen several movie versions of this, but I haven't seen the play in person - bucket list.

One of my favorite quotes is, "I see their knavery: this is to make an ass of me, to fright me if they could. But I will not stir from this place, do what they can. I will walk up and down here and I will sing, that they shall hear I am not afraid."

It's a quote that really empowered me in a time in my life I grew into the person that sent me to acupuncture school. They shall hear I am not afraid by singing; it really meant so much to me and who I was. I use to say that to myself all the time. Somehow in the stress of school and doing all the hoops I had to jump through for school, I lost that and now, I am afraid of the world and sit in my house alone and this was before Covid-19. I have my family, yes, and I'm thankful for them, but it's important to have friends too. When I left home, I haven't totally replaced my community and it's all my own fault. I long to take back the power of those words and and not be afraid. I use to love what made me so unique and it's hard to get to, at the moment.

The fairy fantasy is sandwiched between a love story. The best part of the story is the love story part, but I love this whole thing: the words, the subject, the love story and the fairies.

Someone made a modern movie based on this called, "Were the World Mine" and several of these quotes are set to music and I have listened to those powerful songs hundreds of times. I love it. It's a gay take on the play and it's hilarious.

I would love to read this yearly and I just haven't. It is a goal to claim. To me, this is one of the most brilliant stories told anywhere. It rings at a deep level for me. It brings me life, joy and wonder. It has to be one of the top 3 books of all time for me.

It doesn't get any better.

[İntellecta · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Ein Sommernachtstraum"is one of the top references as a classic. In the beginning, it is difficult to get there, but once you get used to the style, it is quite an entertaining, beautiful and confused story about the back and forth of the love affair. A must for interested in Shakespear and theater.

[Ahmed Ejaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Lord, what fools these mortals be!”

I became a fan of plays when I read a few of them in my English book. They were very good. I liked them. Ever since I wanted to read more of them and of course when I searched for them, Shakespeare’s name was on top.

A while ago I was afraid of reading them because of the classical English. But few days ago, I thought to try them and will use Google as a guide. And now I can’t explain how much happy I’m right now... Even though I faced difficulty to understand at first but with some help of Google, I enjoyed the play a lot. Now I’m getting a little bit used to of the writing. 😊

And for this play, it was sooo amazing! Really enjoyed it a lot. It was full of fun. I didn’t expect to like this this much!

CHARACTERS
Lysander, Hermia, Demetrius and Helena. They are the mains.

PLOT
Lysander and Hermia are in love and want to get married. But Hermia’s father wants her to marry Demetrius who is also in love with her. At the same time, Helena is in love with Demetrius who doesn’t love her back.
Lysander and Hermia plans to runaway and marry each other. They also tell Helena about their plan. Helena tells Demetrius about it while thinking to get his attention. But that never happens. And he goes on pursuit to stop them. And Helena also goes behind him. And they all are in the forest where the fairies happen to stay.
When the king of fairies sees Helena chasing Demetrius who doesn’t love her back, he tells his servant puck to make him love back using a love juice. And this where everything goes terribly wrong and hilarious...😂

RANDOM THOGHTS

>> It was the most hilarious love quadrangle I’ve ever seen. First, they both were in love with Hermia and after the mistake of puck, they both fall in love with Helena. And they all curse each other… that was so funny! Enjoyed their quarrel a lot...😂😂

>> King of fairies makes the queen to fall for a man with the head of donkey! 😂😂😂 I couldn’t believe my eyes...😂😂 That was the peak of madness! 😂
But I couldn’t get why the queen wasn’t angry after being cured? As he had stolen the child he wanted and she loved.

>> When everyone was cured, they all thought it was a bad dream. Hmmm… right. But Demetrius still loves Helena? I know he wasn’t cured but still? Wasn’t it a forced love? I thought there would be a character arc. It itched me a bit…😅 But never mind.

>> The play they played for the king in the last act was ridiculously entertaining! Nothing made sense but entertaining…😅


I’m now more pumped up to read all of his plays. And I surely will. For now, this is my favorite play.

Next one is Hamlet. Let’s see 😉.


1 February, 2020

[emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

mini-review, as I do for classics:
this was my first time reading Shakespeare on my own, and I kind of...saw that as a negative. I like discussing Shakespeare in a classroom setting, and being motivated to mark up the text and otherwise process it fully. I felt like I missed out on stuff here.
also, this play felt so short. maybe it's my edition's fault, for being 111 pages. maybe it's how abrupt the ending was (which is very). or how flat the characters were, or how there were a sh*t ton of them. long story short, it's not my fave Shakespeare.
all that being said, this was very readable and funny at some points. I think this is one of the plays you really need to see performed, rather than read it.

bottom line: I recommend watching this (I sure want to!) but I don't think I recommend reading it.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Review
4 out of 5 stars to A Midsummer Night's Dream, a comedy written in 1595 by William Shakespeare. What a fun read! I first read this in high school and then again in college as part of a course on Shakespeare. Then I watched a few movie versions. It's full of so much humor and creativity. The plot is essentially the impacts of magic, as some fairy dust causes everyone to fall in love with the first person they see -- once the dust falls on them. Imagine the hilarity that ensues in a chain reaction of who loves who. If you want to read a comedy, this would be one of the top 3. It's got lovable characters, lots of understandable metaphors and a ton of memorable and enjoyable scenes.

About Me
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by.

[Mohammed Arabey · Rating 5 out of 5]

أولا اعترف "خجلا" أن دي أول قراءة ليا لشكسبير، وبالصدفة جائت باسبوع الجودريدز له

فمن أول ابريل وانا بروايات الغابات أُجيل
وقررت ختم تجوالي بحكايات الجنيات الخرافية، برواية قوية كلاسيكية
وهل هناك اشهر من شكسبير، وحلم ليلة منتصف صيف الشهير؟

لكن اول عقبة صدمتني..أنجليزي ده يامرسي؟
ولكن جنيات جوجل ارسلتلي..موقع عظيم ساعدني
موقع نافع العلم غزير..به قسم شكسبير نو فير
لاقرا للشاعر المسرحي الجليل، بلغته الاصلية جنبا للغة هذا الجيل

لقد بهرتني المسرحية بحق كيف لم ألق لها من قبل بالا
حلم ليلة منتصف صيف ،لربما اكثر اعمال شكسبير خيالا
جمالا...خرافة...سعادة...ومرحا وضحكا جللا

اوك، انا زهقت من السجع ، عذرا صديقي القارئ دعني اصيغ المراجعة دون تضيع الامر هزلا
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
يجب ان اعترف انني اشعر انني الوحيد من يري ان تلك المسرحية كاملة، ليس فقط لأنني من هواة القصص الخرافية ولم أتوقع أن يقدم شكسبير مثله
ولكن أعجبني جدا سخريته من التراجيديات الحمقاء كأنتحار المحبين بل والسخرية من ترتيبات الزواج المسبقة بشكل ممتاز بل وتقديم العدالة الشعرية لمن يلعب بقلوب الفتيات ويتركها

ولكني ايضا ضبطت نفسي اضحك علي اكثر من موقف لم يعف عليه الزمن ويجعله مكررا...بل وانفجرت في الضحك لا أراديا بفصلها الأخير بأكثر من موقف منها هذا الحوار بين الدوق ثيسيوس و ديميتريوس اثناء مشاهدتهم المسرحية الهزلية

Theseus
I wonder if the lion be to speak.
Demetrius
No wonder, my lord. One lion may when many asses do.

يقصد هنا الممثلين الأخرين , بينما الأسد هو ممثل أخر , وبالفعل سيتكلم بلا اي لزوم
حسنا , لا أعلم أن كان لفظ حمار له نفس المعني المزدوج العامي في القرن السادس عشر ولكن هذا السطر فعلا جعلني اضحك بشدة

ودعني اصحبك معي لأكثر ما اعجبني بالقصة...ولنر قصص الحب الظريقة والمختلطة بشئ من السخرية والتقاليد العتيقة...هجاء للانتحار واللعب بقلوب البنات..تقديس الحب الذي يمنح للطبيعة الاستمرار..ويجعلنا مغفلين في بعض الأحيان

*** سبع قصص حب ***
❤❤ ضد روميو و جولييت ❤❤
~~~~~~~~~~~~

الرواية مليئة بقصص الحب المنطقية منها والغير منطقية..ولكن كلها تنال نهاية عادلة جميلة سعيدة
وفي نفس الوقت تسخر من نهايات قصص الحب المأساوية المبالغ فيها في مسرحية بداخل مسرحية
الحق يقال ظننت أن شكسبير هنا يسخر من رائعته الأشهر "روميو و جولييت" والتي أراها قمة المحن المقدم بحنكة أدبية حقيقية خالدة... ولكن هنا بمسرحية "حلم ليلة منتصف صيف" يتم تقديم بنهايتها في حفل زفاف دوق أثيا مسرحية تعتبر محاكاة ساخرة علي قصة شبيهة بروميو وجولييت

والغريب ان حسب الحسابات حول تواريخ اول عرض لمسرحيات شكسبير فأن حلم ليلة صيف تلي روميو وجولييت بعام واحد...في 1595/1596

قصص الحب هنا تم تقديمها بشكل ظريف...لا اخفي انني في المراجعة هذه المرة سأختصر شرح الاحداث -المسرحية قصيرة أصلا فالتقرأها رجاءا- وسأكتفي بانطباعاتي وتحليل ما استطعت فهمه منها -فلست متعمق للاسف بعد في ادب شكسبير
ولكن الملاحظ قبل البدء أن بالرغم من المعترف عليه ان اعمال شكسبير تعج باللوردات والملوك إلا أن المسرحية تلك مختلفة بحق..حيث ستجد أيضا ان شخصية عمال القصر لديهم دور كبير بل واكبر من دور الدوق نفسه
بل وايضا دور الجنيات والذي سنتطرق له لاحقا

❤❤❤ الأولــي ❤❤❤
دوق أثينا ثيسيوس وملكة الأمازون هيبوليتا
----------------
لا أدري لم افهم كثيرا كيف أحتل مملكتها وفي نفس الوقت هي واقعة في الحب به بهذه الدرجة ولكن علي كل حال هما علي توافق وحب من بداية المسرحية ويخططان لحفل زواجهما بشوق شديد خلال 4 ايام
لن تجد الكثير عن قصتهما..لكن شخصية ثيسيوس أعجبتني بشدة انه عادل وعاشق وخفيف الدم ايضا من تعليقاته عن المسرحية

❤❤❤ الثـانية والثـالثـة ❤❤❤
هيرميا - ليساندر - ديميتروس - هيلينا
------------------

هيرميا تحب ليساندر وليساندر يحبها ...وابيها رجل نبيل صديق الملك يحاول ان يجعلها تقتنع بأن تتزوج ديميتروس الذي يحبها واب��ها يفضله عن ليساندر

Lysander
You have her father’s love, Demetrius.
Let me have Haemia’s. Do you marry him.

اللي هو ليساندر بيقول لديميتروس "طالما ابوها بيحبك كدة متسيب البت واتجوزه هو" … هيرميا بقي بتضرب قنبلة أن ديميتروس رسم الحب علي اعز صديقاتها هيلينا وتركها بعد ماوقعت في حبه -وقعت في الحب فقط المسرحية لا يوجد بها جنس خارج اطار الزواج ودي ميزة مهمة

يحتد الصراع ولن اتكلم عن الأحداث.يكفي ان تعرف ان هذا الصراع سيستغرق مشهد كامل هو الأطول خلال الفصل الثالث في الغابة...ولكن الجنيات سيتغير كل شئ
الحب بين الاربع شخصيات كان ظريفا..وأعتقد ان النهاية العادلة حتي وإن تدخلت فيها الجنيات كانت موفقة جدا واعجبتني للغاية
شعرت بالشفقة علي هيلينا جدا ولكن عنادها وعدم تصديقها كان ظريفا وان كان مطولا

❤❤❤ الرابعة ❤❤❤
نك بوتوم ونك بوتوم
----------
هو شخص واحد..بوتوم ذلك العامل البسيط والذي يقوم بدور البطولة في المسرحية التي يعدها فريق من العمال بالقصر لتقديمها في حفل زواج الدوق
ويتدخل بوتوم في عمل المخرج طوال الوقت بتوجيهات لباقي فريق التمثيل بشكل ساخر وايضا في تفخيم وتضخيم دوره سيجعلك تشعر أن أمثال بوتوم موجودين في كل مكان في مجالات الادب والفن عاما في مصر
فبوتوم بالرغم من موهبته التمثيلية البشعة فهو المتحكم وتأثيره كان علي كل شخصيات المسرحية بل وديكوراتها البشرية

استغرق دور بوتوم وقت طويل من المسرحية كما قلت في بداية الرواية .. كتبه شكسبير بشكل جيد فعلا
ستشعر انه رجل يحب نفسه جدا بشكل خفيف الدم واعجبني جدا ايضا...انه يحب نفسه حتي عندما حدثت القصة السادسة

❤❤❤ الخامسة ❤❤❤
تايتانيا واوبيرون
--------
ملكة وملك الجنيات الخرافية بالغابة
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy"
يبدو أن شكسبير يريد أن يظهر أن هناك غرائب ما بهذا العالم


حسنا, طوال الشهر قرأت روايتين حديثيتين عن الجنيات الخرافية بالغابات...ومسرحية تجمع بين 4 من اشهر قصص الجنيات الخيالية الفلكلورية في مسرحية واحدة بداخل الغابة وبشكل سوداوي واقعي

كان يجب أن أنهي تلك الرحلة الروائية بالغابات..وعلي حسب علمي أن تلك المسرحية لشكسبير بها ايضا غابة وجنيات خرافية..وبصراحة قد فاق توقعاتي
الجنيات لهم دور مهم في الحبكة التي تجعلها كالحلم بالنسبة للابطال..شعرت ان هناك معني خفي لفكرة الفتي الهندي ابن صديقة تايتانيا والذي بسببه يحدث مشكلة بين الزوجين الملك والملكة..فقد قرأت مؤخرا في رواية "بندول فوكو" أن شكسبير لديه معان خفية كثيرة عن الغرائبيات والهند شهيرة بذلك, لذا لا اعتقد أن اصل الفتي من الهند قد جاء من فراغ

اما عن تقلبات الجو التي تم ذكرها في الأحداث ايضا بسبب ان ملكة الجنيات في مزاج سئ ايضا يثبت ان الرجل لديه نظرية ما
بعد البحث وجدت ان الجنيات لم تظهر في قصص اخري لشكسبير سوي أثنان وهما :
"The Tempest"
"The Merry Wives of Windsor"
وحتي دورهما كان بشكل اقل من هنا ..كما تم ذكر جنية معالجة في روميو وجولييت
قصة الحب هنا لا تعد قصة حب قدر ما هي خلاف زوجي بسيط تسبب في عدم المعاشرة بينهما.. وبسبب هذا الخلاف حدثت كل الاعاجيب لكل الشخصيات بسبب عطر الحب...وما زاده هو ان أوبيرون لديه من النبل أن اشفق علي مصير الأحباء لذلك حدثت عقدة الحكاية عندما جعل عفريت يدعي روبين ان يساعده في حل الخلاف بينه وبين زوجته وايضا بين الاحباء

❤❤❤ السادسة ❤❤❤
تايتانيا و بوتوم -برأس الحمار
--------------

بالرغم من انه خطأ عطر الحب إلا أن خفة دم بوتوم ومدي شعوره بنفسه لن يجعله يلحظ ولا بأنه ذو رأس حمار ولا حتي بحب ملكة الجنيات الجميلة له … بل سيحاول ان يجعل خدمها يخدموه فحسب , إلم أقل لكم انه في علاقة حب مع نفسه؟


❤❤❤ السابعة والأخيرة ❤❤❤
بيراموس وثيسبي
--------

وهي مسرحية تم تقديمها في أخر المسرحية..مسرحية بداخل مسرحية تسمي
"الدراما القصيرة المرهقة عن بيراموس وحبيبته ثيسبي، تراجيديا حزينة جدا وكوميدية"
أو بالأنجليزية
“A tedious short drama about young Pyramus and his love Thisbe, a very sad and tragic comedy.”
هذه المسرحية هي أحد اكثر ما اعجبني بتلك القصة واضحكني بشدة... وتم تقديمها في حفل الزواج بعد النهايات السعيدة
هي المسرحية التي يعدها العمال منذ بداية الرواية ويقوم ببطولتها بوتوم وبقية العمال والتي تتحول لمسخرة حقيقية ليس فقط لأداء الممثلين المقدم بأسوا طريقة ممكنة ولا كسرهم للحائط الرابع وحديثهم المباشر للجمهور...ونوع الادوار نفسها -كالحائط والقمر والاسد - وحتي تعليقات الابطال "ثيسيوس" دوق اثينا والمشاهدين معه كانت اكثر مرحا

فكرة المسرحية بداخل المسرحية اكيد فكرة جيدة، لكن الحكاية نفسها تم تقديمها بشكل كوميدي جدا مثير جدا للضحك
ولتنتهي المسرحية بالمرح...بالحب الذي هو سر انتظام الحياة والطبيعة .. وحتي العدالة

❤ ❤ ❤❤ ❤ ❤❤ ❤ ❤❤ ❤ ❤❤ ❤ ❤❤ ❤ ❤❤ ❤ ❤❤ ❤ ❤❤ ❤ ❤❤ ❤ ❤

النهاية
❤ ❤ ❤
يجب أن اعترف اني كنت مخطئا..خصوصا اني لم اقرأ شكسبير اولا لاني تعليم "حكومي" فلم يكن في المقرر علي الاقل حتي 2000 سنة التخرج من الثانوية العامة مسرحية له...وللاسف لا اعتبر نفسي قارئ جيد..لان الكثير لم أقرأه بعد برغم اهميته وشعرت انه كان سيكون مملا وثقيلا

ولا انكر ان دي اكتر مسرحية اصلا كنت متشوق اقرأها من اواخر التسعينات مع صدور فيلم مبني عليها في 1999 ولكني لم اشاهده لان الرقابة منعته وقتها

ولكن الاسم كان عالقا ببالي لفترة طويلة وكنت وقتها بعمل اغاني كوكتيلات علي شرائط كاسيت واسميها "حلم ليلة صيف ج1 ووصل حتي ج7 قبل ان يظهر راديو سوا وقتها في 2002
-فقرة الذكريات الاليمة :)-
ولكن جائت الفرصة اخيرا
ومتأخرا افضل من ابدا
ولم اتخيل اني ساستمتع بها لهذه الدرجة مطلقا

ماذا تعلمت من المسرحية؟
لا شئ...أنها ملهاة ساخرة اجتماعية ظريفة بل ونظيفة بعكس كثير من الروايات والمسرحيات الحديثة المعاصرة
اضحكتني كثيرا وامتعتني وجذبتني
أه..وأن الحب قد يصنع منا مغفلين احيانا...كما يقول العنوان الدعائي للفيلم التسعيناتي..ولكن في نفس الوقت الحب اساسي جدا لسير الحياة والطبيعة..فقط في اطاره السليم

ولتستمتع بالمسرحية لهذا الحد مثلي فطبعا بلغته الاصلية افضل.. و بالاستعانة بقاموس "انجليزي -انجليزي" ومتصل بالانترنت الموضوع ظبط كتير بس عايز شوية تركيز
لكن بصراحة الموقع الممتاز سابق الذكر
No Fear Shakespeare
وده ممكن تقرأ النص الاصلي ونص مكتوب بالانجليزي الحديث
لكن النص القديم برغم صعوبته لكنه افضل بكتير في السجع علي الاقل
لكن الموقع ده حاول بشكل ممتاز انه يخليك برضه تستمتع بالنص الجديد واضافة قليل من السجع من وقت للتاني زي ماعملت في اول الريفيو هنا بالعربي

اقرأ الاتنين..وترجم لو تحب بس فعلا متعة الحكاية بلغتها الاصلية
ستجد انك ستبتسم وربما تضحك بالرغم من ان 400 عاما مرت عليها
اتمني لك قراءة سعيدة بغابة شكسبير والذي سأقرأ له المزيد بالتأكيد


Happy Shakespeare Day...Happy Earth Day...Happy Spring . :)
23 ِApril 2016

Reading , Act a Day,
From 18 April 2016
To 22 April 2016

[Piyangie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the most hilarious comedies of Shakespeare that I have read, even funnier than A Comedy of Errors . Combining fantasy and reality and setting in Athens at the time of the wedding of the Duke of Athens, Theseus to Hippolyta, the Queen of Amazon, the play revolves around the adventures of the four young Athenian lovers, a group of performers who plan to put on a play for the wedding of the Duke and the Queen, and the meddling acts of fairies, especially those of the Fairy King's through Pluck, his most trusted "knavish" spirit.

The main theme of the play is love, and actions of jealousies and betrayals center upon that theme. The writing is beautiful; poetic and lyrical. This is the second time in my reading of Shakespeare that I came across such beautiful, poetic, and lyrical writing, the first time being in Romeo and Juliet. It is a real treat to read those poetic and lyrical verses as they tell this light hilarious story.

A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of the most creative and imaginative plays by Shakespeare. The fantasy element is brilliantly combined with reality and the play is cast by an interesting set of characters ranging from humans to fairies to human-animal forms! All these elements have contributed to making the play a very interesting read. I enjoyed it very much and had a good laugh all along. Shakespeare had done a great job with this play.

More of my reviews can be found at http://piyangiejay.com/

[Bionic Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The course of true love never did run smooth;" is a famous, often-quoted line - a truism throughout all ages and cultures. Where does it come from? It is spoken by a character called Lysander, in Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream, and articulates possibly the play's most important theme.

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a fanciful tale, full of poetry and beautiful imagery, such as,

"I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine:"

and,

"Weaving spiders, come not here;
Hence, you long-legg'd spinners, hence!
Beetles black, approach not near;
Worm nor snail, do no offence."

It is thought that A Midsummer Night's Dream was written between 1595 and 1596, probably just before Shakespeare wrote "Romeo and Juliet", although both underwent many revisions, both on-stage and off. And as with all Shakespeare's plays, it is impossible to be sure of any dates or an exact order. Unusually, the main plot seems to have been entirely his own invention, although some characters are drawn from Greek mythologies. Theseus, for instance, the Duke whom we learn at the start of the play is to marry the Amazon queen Hippolyta, is based on the Greek hero of the same name. Plus there are many references to Greek gods and goddesses in the play. The play is set in Athens, and there is a "play within a play" (a theme to which Shakespeare returned time after time) which is based on an epic poem by the Roman poet Ovid.

The play also includes many English fairy characters such as "Puck" - or "Robin Goodfellow", to give him his alternative name. "Robin Goodfellow" is a particularly English figure, who was very popular in the sixteenth-century. Fairies had been very much respected and feared for time immemorial. People were in awe of their magical powers. They were believed to often be mischievous at the very least, if not positively malignant, and names such as "Goodfellow" were meant to appease or pacify them, so as not to incur their vengeance. The moon was a source of myth and mystery, to be wondered at and its influence possibly feared. Oberon's,

"Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania"

And Puck's,

"Now it is the time of night,
That the graves, all gaping wide,
Every one lets forth his sprite,
In the church-way paths to glide:"

are indicative of the audience's superstitions and the common beliefs of the time. Many such elements in Nature were viewed as supernatural; what we now term "pagan" was the norm, and although people were fascinated by the fairies and "little people", they also feared them. Puck's comment,

"Lord, what fools these mortals be!"

could be voiced by any fairy up to mischief. The woodland at night would be both enchanting and thrilling to an Elizabethan audience - an unpredictable place of danger and possible bewitchment. The fantastical atmosphere, and the magic of the surreal fairy sphere which Shakespeare conjures up, are important and unique elements of this play.

The third component is the depiction of ordinary working trade and craftsmen in London of the time, and the theatrical conventions such as men playing the roles of women. The scenes where these foolish and absurd characters are involved provide much of the humour. They often make laughing stocks of themselves via Shakespeare, for our entertainment, and although much of this play seems strange and whimsical to a modern audience, it is classed as one of his comedies. It is completely different from any other of the plays which Shakespeare had written up to that point, although some of the themes present themselves again in "Romeo and Juliet", but given an entirely different emphasis and dramatic intent.

One such theme is the ownership of females by their father. The play opens with Egeus asking for Theseus's support, in insisting that Hermia (Egeus's daughter) should marry whom he chooses,

"As she is mine, I may dispose of her:
Which shall be either to this gentleman
Or to her death, according to our law"

(The third choice, if his daughter refuses to do her father's bidding, is for her to live a life of chastity as a nun, worshipping the goddess Diana.) This was the prevailing ethos in Elizabethan times, and there is no question that a daughter was the legal property of her father. Additionally, a common justification for choosing a future husband for his daughter could be summed up in the idea that "love is blind". Egeus is not merely insisting on his rights as a father, but wants the best for his daughter, and according to the Elizabethan view, thinks that an arranged marriage is the best way of protecting her from any irrational romantic nonsense.

Hermia herself is refusing to submit to her father's demands, as she is in love with Lysander. This theme, of a young girl's rebellion against her father, is against all conventions of the time, and is taken up with a devastating conclusion in "Romeo and Juliet." Shakespeare's own views on the power of love are unclear. Helena says,

"Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind;
And therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind:"

which could easily be the author's voice, and tends towards the opposite view. Perhaps one could speculate that this could have been the reason why he developed the idea further, to make a much more serious statement in his tragic play.

A Midsummer Night's Dream, however, is a much more frivolous and fanciful affair. Not one love affair but three are intertwined throughout the play. Demetrius, whom Hermia has been commanded to wed, is in turn loved by Helena. So Hermia loves Lysander, and Lysander loves Hermia. Helena loves Demetrius - but Demetrius also loves Hermia rather than Helena. So one young woman has two suitors, the other none, but since four are involved the audience are hoping for a traditional "happy ending". In the meantime, there are plenty of chances for misunderstandings.

As the play proceeds we are invited to laugh at this hapless group, in their lovelorn afflictions, rather than feel any true sympathy, because the whole affair is portrayed in such a light-hearted way, as opposed to the tragic story of young love, "Romeo and Juliet", which has probably not yet been completed. In that play there is tension throughout, and the sure knowledge, (as the audience had been told in the prologue) that there would be no happy outcome. Here we are free to poke fun at the young lovers' "torments", as we are fairly sure of everything ending happily.

Other characters who become involved in the confusion are "Titania", queen of the fairies, and "Oberon" king of the fairies. Shakespeare has taken the character of "Titania" from Ovid's "Metamorphoses", and his "Oberon" may have been taken from the medieval romance "Huan of Bordeaux", translated by Lord Berners in the mid-1530s.

In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Oberon is jealous of Titania's favourite, a changeling Indian child. She is keeping the child as a page, but Oberon wants to train him as a knight. All the young lovers from Athens, plus the main fairy characters, are in the woodland for various reasons at the same time. The woodland of course being also the realm of the fairies, much confusion is bound to follow. The audiences of the time will have greatly anticipated and appreciated this devilment, as "Robin Goodfellow"'s pranks and tricks will have been well known to them.

To a modern audience, the events seem farcical, and the play does require quite a leap of faith to enjoy the fairytale whimsy of the woodland scenes. Nevertheless, the scenes of passion between the beautiful, graceful Titania and the clumsy Bottom, with a grotesque ass's head, are so incongruous that its humour is timeless and crosses any boundaries with ease.

There are other "opposites" which tickle our funnybones even after so many centuries. Helena is tall, a "painted maypole", whereas Hermia is short, "though she be but little she is fierce," and both their scuffles and the enchanted lovers' declarations seem deliberately ridiculous in this context. They are overly earnest and serious - and followed immediately by joking, merry, clumsy workmen. All the fairies are ethereal, Titania being particularly beautiful; all the craftsmen earthy and clumsy, Bottom being particularly grotesque. Puck plays pranks, whereas Bottom is an easy and natural victim. Puck uses his magic with ease, whereas the craftsmen's attempts to stage their play is laborious and ridiculous by contrast. The incompetent acting troupe's enactment of the "play within a play", "Pyramus and Thisbe", is still humorous even now. Juxtaposing these extraordinary differences to exaggerate the contrast, meant that Shakespeare ensured laughs from his audience, while heightening the surreal fantastical elements.

The idea of dreams is perhaps the central pivot of the play. Events happen in a haphazard fashion, and time seems to lose its normal motion and progress. No one in the woodland scenes is ever in control of their environment - even Puck makes mistakes with his love potions. He gleefully revels in such mistakes,

"Lord, what fools these mortals be!
...
"Then will two at once woo one, -
That must needs be sport alone;
And those things do best please me
that befall preposterously."

Yet Theseus and Hippolyta are always entirely in control of their rational world. The audience is given no explanation for the fantastical woodland sphere, with its illusions and fragile grip on reality. Shakespeare is clearly manipulating our sense of understanding throughout, inducing a dream-like feeling to the action.

The love potions are magical or supernatural symbols of the power of love itself, inducing the same symptoms that true romantic lovers exhibit in their natural state, of unreasoning, fickle and erratic behaviour. No one who has been given a love potion in the play is able to resist it, much as falling in love appears to others to be inexplicable and irrational.

Towards the end of the play we have a delightful rendering of the bumbling tradesmen's attempts to stage "Pyramus and Thisbe," which Shakespeare has taken from Ovid's epic poem "Metamorphoses". He also incidentally uses the plot again for "Romeo and Juliet", which seems quite bizarre, given the way it is used as a ludicrous farce here. Theseus and Hippolyta are well aware that the enactment of this play may be farcical and clumsy. They have been warned by Philostrate that the production is by "hard-handed men", (or as Puck calls them "rude mechanicals") and that their production is,

"Merry and tragical! tedious and brief
That is, hot ice and wondrous strange snow"

and this adds to their anticipation. And Theseus will welcome the diversion of such fancies. His wise words earlier, about his world of the rational,

"Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,
Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend
More than cool reason ever comprehends"

could refer both to the action which we have seen so far, and the workmen's play we are about to see.

The audience views this absurd little play through the eyes of Theseus and Hippolyta. The young Athenian lovers are also present, having been satisfactorily paired off, as we suspected they would be. Everyone is relaxing and poking fun at the hapless players,

"This is the silliest stuff I ever heard"

protests Hippolyta, but Bottom, the bumbling buffoon, breaks out of character every now and then, to earnestly assure his audience that all is as it is meant to be - they merely need to keep watching and they'll understand...

Shakespeare has written their performance as a delicious satire of the overly melodramatic earlier actions of the young lovers, and recognising this makes it even more hilarious to the audience. The young Athenians' overpowering emotions are made to seem even more ridiculous by virtue of these clumsy actors and this provides a comic ending to the play. Since the Pyramus and Thisbe of the craftsmen's play were themselves facing parental disapproval, it encapsulates and echoes the whole play within which it is set.

The final speech by Puck highlights the thematic idea of dreams. If the audience does not care for the play, he says, or if we have been offended by it, then he suggests it should be considered as nothing but a dream. It is interesting that the fairies are all still present as the wedding are about to take place. Shakespeare's message is not entirely clear here; it is as if he is merging the fairies and their magic with Theseus and Hippolyta's rational world. Perhaps it is to convey that we will never be free of the irrationalities and unpredictabilities of romantic love; either that or that the fairy folk will always be around us to create havoc. The workmen's play was mocked by Theseus and Hippolyta, perhaps the message is that human behaviour and ceremonies of the larger play, that is the real rational world, are unknowingly mocked by the fairy folk. Who knows?

A Midsummer Night's Dream is not one of Shakespeare's greatest masterpieces. Although it remains popular and is staged quite regularly, this may be down to imaginative staging and the exceptional production values we now have. On the page it reads as an inconsequential play, all whimsy, candyfloss and fluff. It is both significant and noticeable, how Shakespeare revisited some of the themes here, in "Romeo and Juliet," but in that play he used them with such skill that he created an abiding and deeply tragic drama. In both plays we have the intoxicating and overwhelming influence of romantic love, the powerlessness of young women to rise up against their families and conventions, and the "potions" to influence a particular course of events; all those elements are here too, but combined to make a fantastical, frivolous, illusory bit of nonsense.

However there is much beautiful poetic imagery in this play, such as,

"My soul is in the sky"

"Swift as a shadow, short as any dream;"

"...by thy gracious, golden, glittering streams" and,

"O, how I love thee! how I dote on thee!" (even if this last is to an ass...)

Yes, A Midsummer Night's Dream does provide a few smiles even now. And if your taste runs to flights of fancy; if you like to read tales of fairies such as Peas-Blossom, Cobweb, Moth and Mustard-Seed, using language and imagery such as,

"Those be rubies, fairy favours,
In those freckles live their savours:"

"[I] heard a mermaid, on a dolphin's back..." or

"Yet mark'd I where the bolt of Cupid fell:
It fell upon a little western flower,
Before milk-white, now purple with love's wound,
And maidens call it love-in-idleness"

if you are attracted by gauzy fragility and a sense of illusion, then you may enjoy the fantasy and whimsy of Shakespeare's play. For as "The Bard" says,

"... as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen
Turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name."

[Elle (ellexamines on TT & Substack) · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Though she be but little, she is fierce!”

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is Shakespeare’s funniest comedy, honestly. When a couple tries to run away, they get followed by a man in love with them, and then by a woman in love with him. And a fairy fucking around makes it all go to shit. As you do!

This play is probably funniest because of its excellent set of characters, including:
✔Hermia – is 4’9” and could kick your ass. runs a feminist blog
✔Lysander – is so beautiful and so, so useless
✔Helena – was told she was too tall for a pair of heels once by a shoestore clerk and stared him directly in the face while purchasing them. your one friend who’s pining over some shitty man
✔Demetrius – the shitty man. okay, actually, he’s doing his best, he’s just like, really bad at everything

→adaptation thoughts←
Okay, first of all, may I just say: I won’t rest until someone does a version that changes the genders of Lysander and Helena and makes it a play about an arranged marriage being forced apart because they both find gay love. you're all weak for not taking this obvious opportunity

But in case you wanted a serious answer: I have not actually seen this adaptation yet, but I am a huge fan of the casting of this production:

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here are my other Shakespeare thoughts:
Hamlet - ★★★★★
Romeo & Juliet - ★★★☆☆
Midsummer - ★★★★★
Macbeth - ★★★★★
Much Ado - ★★★★★

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[Paul Haspel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Midsummer madness abounds in A Midsummer Night's Dream – one of William Shakespeare's most consistently popular comedies, and one that contemporary audiences still find to be openly, unabashedly, and understandably funny. The mischievous sprite Puck, or Robin Goodfellow – whose use of magical powers makes him an important catalyst for the play’s misadventure-laden plot – famously says at one point in the play, "Lord, what fools these mortals be!" And yes, he means every one of us, as Shakespeare makes clear throughout A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The play, as most of us probably know by now, seamlessly weaves together three plotlines:

Plotline #1: The Fairies. In the world of the fairies – supernatural spirit creatures who wander “Over hill, over dale,” unseen and unknown by humans – Oberon and Titania, the King and Queen of the Fairies, are involved in a sort of custody battle over a changeling (a human child abducted by and brought up among the fairies). Titania has the changeling, and Oberon wants the changeling – all of which explains the harshness with which Oberon greets Titania upon their first meeting in the play, saying, “Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania.”

As Titania refuses to surrender the changeling, Oberon concocts a plot to humble his proud wife. Puck will be involved in this plot, as Oberon once saw the love god Cupid unsuccessfully shoot one of his love arrows at “a fair Vestal [Virgin], thronèd by the West”. The arrow fell to the ground, while the untouched Vestal walked away “In maiden meditation, fancy-free”; where the arrow fell, a flower was spawned, and its juice has the power to make one fall madly in love with whomever he or she sees.

Oberon, who knows where Titania is sleeping during their estrangement – “I know a bank where the wild thyme blows” – sends Puck to gather this flower, with plans to make Titania fall in love with a particularly lowly mortal, someone far beneath her in social station. Puck assures Oberon that he will move quickly to get the flower – “I’ll put a girdle round about the Earth” – and Oberon grimly apostrophizes Titania once she has left him: “Thou shalt not from this grove/Till I torment thee for this injury.”

Plotline #2: The Nobility of Athens. Don’t expect this play to feel terribly Athenian – it seems to have about as much to do with Athens, Georgia, as with Athens, Greece – but it is, at least theoretically, set in Athens, where a sort of love quadrangle is in play among four noble young people of the city. Briefly, Lysander and Demetrius both love Hermia. Egeus, Hermia's father, wants her to marry Demetrius. (Why? I really couldn’t say. Maybe Egeus and Demetrius are drinking buddies.)

Hermia loves only Lysander, and wants nothing to do with Demetrius; meanwhile, another young woman, Helena, desperately loves Demetrius. An angry Egeus invokes an Athenian law setting forth that Hermia must either marry Demetrius, take a vow of lifelong chastity, or be executed; Theseus, King of Athens, reluctantly agrees that the law must be enforced. Small wonder that Lysander tells his loving Hermia that “The course of true love never did run smooth,” as the two plan to run away from Athens in hope of finding happiness somewhere else. Demetrius, informed of the plan by Helena (whose love he nonetheless sets at naught), plans to follow.

It will be understood if the modern reader or playgoer, observing these elements of the plot, finds him- or herself thinking of the J. Geils Band’s 1980 hit song “Love Stinks”: “You love her,/And she loves him,/And he loves somebody else,/You just can’t win.”

Plotline #3: The Common Folk. The above-mentioned Theseus, King of Athens, is about to marry Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons – and indeed, part of the reason for his reluctance to support Egeus in applying the harsh Athenian marriage law against Hermia may be that doing so is not likely to incline Hippolyta toward a quick acceptance of connubial bliss. Yet the plans for the royal wedding continue to go forward, and a group of ordinary working men of Athens want to put on a play in honor of the upcoming nuptials. Their plan – one no doubt influenced by Shakespeare’s reading of Ovid’s Metamorphoses – is to stage the tragic, Romeo and Juliet-style story of the separated lovers Pyramus and Thisbe. Among the artisans – or “rude mechanicals,” as they are called at one point – one Nick Bottom, a weaver, stands out as a particularly eager and enthusiastic would-be actor.

At this point, the three plotlines start to be brought together. The woodland to which the four noble lovers have repaired – Lysander and Hermia having fled there together, while Demetrius pursues them, and Helena pursues Demetrius – is also the woodland where Titania is taking refuge with her fairy attendants. While Titania’s attendants sing the fairy queen to sleep – “You spotted snakes with double tongue,/Thorny hedgehogs, be not seen;/Newts and blindworms, do no wrong,/Come not near our Fairy Queen” – Oberon steals onto the scene, and, unseen, by any of the fairies, anoints Titania’s eyelids with the love juice. So far – from Oberon’s point of view – so good.

But then fate, or chaos, takes a hand. Oberon, having seen Helena’s expressions of love for the disdainful Demetrius, and having taken pity on the distraught and despairing Helena, has told Puck to sprinkle some of the love juice on Demetrius’ eyelids, so that he will return Helena’s love; but Puck mistakenly applies the juice to the eyes of Lysander, who abandons his beloved Hermia and begins pursuing Helena.

As another part of his busy day, Puck interrupts the drama practice of the artisans, gives Nick Bottom an ass’s head, and arranges things in such a way that Titania sees Bottom immediately upon waking up, and falls uncontrollably in love with the donkey-headed man. Was Shakespeare looking back upon his earlier life and expressing his sense that he was once in love with someone who turned out to be a real ass? I suppose we’ll never know.

Oberon soon learns that Puck applied love-juice to the eyes of the wrong Athenian youth; Puck dutifully applies love-juice to Demetrius’ eyes; and before long, both Lysander and Demetrius are running after Helena, declaring their love for her, while Hermia, once loved by both men, is now scorned by both. Helena meanwhile is convinced that she is the subject of a cruel practical joke: “O spite! O hell! I see you all are bent/To set against me for your merriment.” Lysander and Demetrius declare their readiness to fight to the death for Helena’s love, while an angry Hermia chases a frightened Helena through the wood. It is in this context that Puck makes that famous declaration of “Lord, what fools these mortals be!”

Yet A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a comedy, and therefore all ends well. Oberon, having won his argument with Titania and gained custody of the changeling, relieves the enchantment she was under, and the fairy queen awakens, thinking nothing more than that she has had a very strange dream. Puck removes the love-charm from Lysander’s eyes, and his love for Hermia is restored; Demetrius remains charmed, so that his love for Helena will continue. Love quadrangle resolved! And oh, yeah – Nick Bottom loses the donkey head and gets his real head back.

Theseus and Hippolyta enter the woods on a pre-nuptial hunt – Hippolyta recalls how “I was with Hercules and Cadmus once/When in a wood of Crete they bayed the bear” – when they find the four sleeping lovers, who like Titania awaken thinking all has been a dream. Seeing that these four once-unhappy lovers are now paired-off as two happy couples, Theseus decides to disregard the law that would have let Egeus dictate his daughter Hermia’s marriage choice – “Egeus, I will overbear your will;/For in the temple, by-and-by, with us,/These couples shall eternally be knit”.

Why couldn’t Theseus have just said that in the first place? Why, so that William Shakespeare would have a full-length play to write, of course – and so that the literary critics of subsequent centuries could write books and articles about how fathers in Shakespeare plays are always trying to dictate their daughters’ marriage choices, and always fail.

The happy-ending triple-wedding goes forward as planned, giving King Theseus a chance to reflect upon the madness of love: “The lunatic, the lover, and the poet/Are of imagination all compact.” The artisans’ less-than-competent post-nuptial staging of the tragedy of Pyramus and Thisbe gives the newly married couples a good laugh, and the play ends with Puck asking the audience to place themselves in the position of those characters from A Midsummer Night’s Dream who believe that what they have experienced was but a dream state:

If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended –
That you have but slumbered here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend.
If you pardon, we will mend.

The play has been filmed successfully a number of times -- the 1935 film with James Cagney, Olivia de Havilland, and Mickey Rooney; the 1968 film with David Warner, Diana Rigg, Helen Mirren, Judi Dench, and Ian Holm; and, most recently, the 1999 film with Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Everett, Stanley Tucci, Calista Flockhart, Christian Bale, David Strathairn, Sophie Marceau, and Roger Rees. Look at that list of actors, and you'll see that this play has drawn some serious talent to it.

The poetry of A Midsummer Night’s Dream may not be Shakespeare's very best -- he throws in lots of rhyming couplets where rhyming couplets may not absolutely be needed -- but it is a comedy whose humour remains resonant for contemporary audiences, 400 years after the play’s first staging. Truly, it remains a dream worth dreaming.

[Riku Sayuj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man, being reasonable, must get drunk;

The best of life is but intoxication:

Glory, the grape, love, gold, in these are sunk

The hopes of all men and of every nation;

Without their sap, how branchless were the trunk

Of life's strange tree, so fruitful on occasion:

But to return,—Get very drunk; and when

You wake with headache, you shall see what then.

~ Lord Byron, Don Juan, Canto II, Stanza 179.


If we offend, it is with our good will.

That you should think, we come not to offend,

But with good will. To show our simple skill,

That is the true beginning of our end.

Consider then we come but in despite.

We do not come, as minding to content you,

Our true intent is. All for your delight

We are not here. That you should here repent you,

The actors are on hand; and, by their show,

You shall know all, that you are like to know.

~ (V.i.108-117)


The Lightweight Satire



A Midsummer Night’s Dream is often viewed as a lightweight play, but it is much more than that. It is one of Shakespeare’s most polished achievements, a poetic drama of exquisite grace, wit, and humanity. It has perhaps become one of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies, with a special appeal for the young. But belying its great universal appeal it might be a stinging social satire too, glossed over by most in their dreamy enjoyment of the magnificent world Shakespeare presents and also by the deliberate gross-comedy in the end that hides the play from itself.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is an Archetypal play where charm, innocence, violence and sexuality mix in giddy combinations. In this fantastic masterpiece, Shakespeare moves with wonderful dramatic dexterity through several realms, weaving together disparate storylines and styles of speech.

It offers a glorious celebration of the powers of the human imagination and poetry while also making comic capital out of its reason’s limitations and societies’ mores. It is also perhaps the play which affords maximum inventiveness on stage, both in terms of message and of atmosphere.



The Course of True Love

“The course of true love never did run smooth.”

1. In some ways Lysander’s well-known declaration becomes one of the central themes, as the comedy interlocks the misadventures of five pairs of lovers (six if one counts Pyramus and Thisby) - and uses their tribulations to explore its theme of love’s difficulties.

2. Also central to the play is the tension between desire and social mores. Characters are repeatedly required to quell their passion for the sake of law and propriety.

3. Another important conflict is between love and reason, with the heart almost always overruling the mind. The comedy of the play results from the powerful, and often blinding, effects that love has on the characters’ thoughts and actions.

4. Third antipathy is between love and social class divisions, with some combinations ruled out arbitrarily, with no appeal to reason except for birth. This when combined with upward aspirations and downward suppressed fantasies form a wonderful sub-plot to the whole drama. Represented best by Bottom’s famous dream.

Each of these themes have a character representing them that forms the supporting cast to the lovers’ misadventures, defining through their acts the relationship between desire, lust and love and social customs:

1. The unreasonable social mores is represented by Egeus, who is one character who never changes. (Also perhaps by Demetrius who appeals to the same customs to get what he wants)

2. Unloving desire by Theseus who too never changes, and also perhaps by the principal lovers (H&L) in their original state. (Helena could be said to represent ‘true’ love but Shakespeare offers us nothing to substantiate this comforting assumption. It is also important that the women's loves not altered by the potion, which is very significantly dropped into the eyes, affecting vision - i.e. it can affect only superficial love.)

3. Lack of reason, though embodied in all the lovers, are brought to life by Puck as the agent of madness and of confusion of sight, which is the entry-point for love in Shakespeare.

4. Finally, class aspirations and their asinine nature by Bottom himself

Love, Interrupted

Out of all these, every character is given a positive light (or an extra-human light, in the case of the fairies) except Egeus, who is the reason for the night-time excursion and all the comedy. In fact, Shakespeare even seems deliberately to have kept the crusty and complaining Egeus out of the 'joy and mirth’ of the last celebrations - he disappears along with the over-restrictive society he is supposed to represent - of marriages, reasoned alliances and ‘bloodless’ cold courtships.

Hence, it is social mores that compel the wildness on love which is not allowed to express itself freely. When freed of this and allowed to resolve itself in a Bacchanalian night all was well again and order was restored to the world.



This reviewer has taken the liberty of assuming that this is the central theme of the play - which is also deliciously ironic since it is supposed to have been written for a wedding. What better time to mock the institution of marriage than at a wedding gala?

So in a way the four themes - difficulties of true love, restrictions by propriety and customs, and the comical unreason that beset lovers, and class differences that put some desires fully into the category of fantasies - are all products of social mores that impose artificial restrictions on love and bring on all the things mocked in this play by Shakespeare.



In fact this is one reason why Bottom could be the real hero of the play (as is the fashion among critical receptions of the play these days) - he was the only one comfortable in transcending all these barriers, at home everywhere and in the end also content with his dreams and in the realization that he would be an ass to try to comprehend what is wrong with the world.

The Subtle Satire

The lovers’ inversions of love could be taken to be a satire on the fickle nature of love but I prefer to see it as another joke at the expense of social mores - of the institution of marriage and courtship, in which each suitor professes undying love in such magnificent lines until he has to turn to the next and do the same. This is reinforced by allusion to how women are not free to ‘pursue’ their loves as men are since social mores allow only the man to pursue and the woman has to chose from among her suitors. It is quite telling that it was Bottom who accepted love and reason seldom go together and expresses the hope that love and reason should become friends. His speech echoes Lysander’s in the previous scene. Lysander, the aristocrat instead  is just another attempting to find a way to understand the workings of love in a rational way, the failures emphasize the difficulty of this endeavor. Lysander thus ends his speech by believing/claiming his newfound love for Helena was based on reason, quite absurdly, but yet quite convinced - representing most of mankind.



By taking the lovers to the enchanted forest of dreams, far from the Athenian social customs and into  land where shadows and dreams rule, and then resolving everything there, even allowing Bottom a glimpse of aristocratic love, Shakespeare seems to say that it is the society that restricts love and makes it artificial - all that is needed is  bit of madness, a bit of stripping away of artificiality - throughout he cupid’s potion. Again the need for a bit of madness (lunacy, mark the repeated moon ref). It is almost an appeal to the Dionysian aspects of life - see alternate review on Nietzsche for detail. (Also see these two Plato-based reviews for important and balancing takes on 'rational' love - Phaedrus & The Symposium



Puck Vs Quince (or) Diana Vs Cupid (or) Art Vs Entertainment

Significantly the final words of the play belong to the master of misrule, the consummate actor and comedian, Puck. In some sense, Puck, with his ability to translate himself into any character, with his skill in creating performances that seem all too real to their human audiences, could be seen as a mascot of the theater. Therefore, his final words are an apology for the play itself. Also mark how Puck courteously addresses the audience as gentlefolk, paralleling Quince's address to his stage audience in his Prologue.

Thus, the final extrapolation on the theme could be that Shakespeare ultimately points out that though a bit of madness and wildness is needed to bring love back into the realms of the truth, it can also be achieved through great art, through sublime theater - not by bad theater though! This could be a statement that Art and thus Theatre is a substitute for the madness of love that is needed to escape the clutches of society (and live the fantasies away from the constricting artificial 'realities') and find yourself, to rediscover yourself away from ‘cold reason’.

When the actor playing Puck stands alone on the stage talking to the audience about dreams and illusions, he is necessarily reminding them that there is another kind of magic - the magic of the theatre. And the magic it conjures is the magic of self-discovery. Continuing the play’s discourse on poetry, Puck defines the poetry of theater as an illusion that transports spectators into the same enchanted region that dreams inhabit. Thus the spectators have not only watched the dream of others but have, by that focus of attention, entered the dream state themselves.

This ‘finding yourself’ seems to be the most essential part of love and as long as you are constrained by imposed restrictions, this is impossible. That is why Shakespeare has made it easy for us and created an art-form of a play that allows us to dream-in-unreason and wake up refreshed. But there is a caveat too, highlighted by the parallel prologues of Puck and Quince - A ‘Crude’ entertainment like ‘Pyramus and Thisbe’ might only allow one to while away an evening happily. It might not give the transport and release and inward-looking that is necessary to achieve the madness that true art is supposed to confer. So Shakespeare uses the play to educate us on what is needed to find ourselves and then the play-within-the-play to also show us what to avoid.

Lord, What Fools Mortals Be

“Art, like love, is a limited and special vision; but like love it has by its very limits a transforming power, creating a small area of order in the vast chaos of the world . . . . At the moment when the play most clearly declares itself to be trivial, we have the strongest appeal to our sympathy for it. . . .” ~ Alexander Leggatt

“I will get Peter Quince to write a ballet of this dream. It shall be call’d “Bottom’s Dream,” because it hath no bottom.”

In one of the most philosophically transcendent moments in the play, Bottom wakes up from his grand aristocratic/magical dream and is disoriented. Bottom decides to title his piece “Bottom’s Dream” because it has no bottom - all literature and art are bottomless, in that their meaning cannot be quantified, cannot be understood solely through the mechanisms of reason or logic. Here it parallels life and love, both beyond reason, limited only by the imagination.



Of course, this is a very simplistic representation of a wonderfully complicated play. It can be read in many different ways based on the viewpoint you chose to adopt. I have tried out a few and felt the need to comment slightly at length on this viewpoint. This is not to diminish the play, which I fully concur with Shakespeare is indeed a ‘Bottom’s Dream’ since it has no bottom in the wealth of meaning to be mined from it.

Lord, what fools these mortals be, Puck philosophizes, mockingly. And perhaps we are indeed fools - for entering into the dangerous, unpredictable world of love or of literature; yet what fun would life be without it?

[Leon · Rating 4 out of 5]

2024 will be my year of Shakespeare (I’ll probably give up after 3 plays)

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Last saw a production of this play in 2020, one of those picnic on the lawn outdoor productions, kinda punky, kinda funky, wherein the boys are bewitched to be with girls but when they are unbewitched they get together with their Truly and Fated Intendeds, boys with boys and girls with girls. The most "queered" or gender fluid production of this play I have ever seen, which totally makes sense with all the messing around with gender/sexuality in the original text. Billy Boy, again, ahead of his time.

“My Oberon, what visions have I seen!
Methought I was enamored of an ass”--Titania

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of Shakespeare’s early plays, written around 1595-96, what appears to be the tenth by the actor-turned-playwright, but considered his best at that point, and certainly one of his best loved plays ever. I read it this time because I had just reread Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, Volume 4, which includes his Eisner-award-winning fantasy tale about a production of that play with some speculation about a deal the young Will made with Dream of the Endless, to have Shakespeare write this play and The Tempest. Great comics fantasy back story.

This review was originally written during pandemic 2020 as some of my fellow country people were locking down and some were partying their little heinies off--what's really happening?! It's all fake news, this virus! Many were convinced (in spite of evidence of millions dead) that the whole thing was a hoax:

“Lord, what fools these mortals be!”

Both sides said this, I note.

I won’t give you a synopsis, since you are either familiar with it or won’t care, but there are several plots and subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. So right, it’s a romantic comedy, so it has to be about love and weddings and hookups and flirtations and rejections and delusions, not necessarily in that order. One subplot revolves around a conflict between Athenian lovers Hermia and Lysander, another about a group of six amateur actors, Peter Quince, Nick Bottom, Francis Flute, Robin Starveling, Tom Snout and Snug who have to act out their interpretation of the play "Pyramus and Thisbe" at the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta. Play within a play.

In a parallel plot line, Oberon, king of the fairies, and Titania, his queen, have come to the forest outside Athens. The trickster character Robin Goodfellow, or Puck, is much involved in the playful mayhem involving love potions and other machinations. So there’s a play within a play, one commenting on the other, though we might ask: Did anything happen here, or is it all a dream within a dream?

“Are you sure/That we are awake? It seems to me/That yet we sleep, we dream.”

Though surely no one at first read or viewing can claim they know what in the heck is going on with any certainty. But who cares, it's about fantasy and fun! Nobody dies in this particular confusion.

Themes include, duh, the vagaries of love--I love her and she ignores me but loves him, who loves another who ignores him, which is central to the comedy, of course:

“The course of true love never did run smooth.”

It becomes clear:

“The lunatic, the lover, and the poet, are of imagination all compact.”

More themes include dreaming, theater, art, invention! The idea of performing a part or one’s identity. Or trying something out in the formation of identity. There are fluid sexual identities, silly jokes, and the blurring of reality and fantasy. And the supernatural/magical. And nature is central to this romantic comedy and its sensuality:

“I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine.”

So, yeah, it has lovely poetry, too!

Death, and grief are central to Shakespeare’s tragedies, but in the plays actors obviously “pretend” these scenarios, so in this play we have the traveling actors make fun of that process in the play within a play:

“Thus I die. Thus, thus, thus.
Now I am dead,
Now I am fled,
My soul is in the sky.
Tongue, lose thy light.
Moon take thy flight.
Now die, die, die, die.”

And there’s also some raucous, bacchanalian humor. Way fun!

But if you aren’t all that literary, take the word of Samuel Pepys, who in the mid-seventeenth-century said of it in his Diary that it was "the most insipid ridiculous play that ever I saw in my life,” though he admitted it had "some good dancing and some handsome women, which was all my pleasure." I won't fight with Pepys about that, in part because he is rumored to be dead. But how can I know?

[Rachels_booknook_ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m glad I decided to do a reread of this.. I always thought this play was a lot of fun, and who doesn’t love some Fae trickery and drama?

[Saranya ⋆☕︎ ˖ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked it... mainly because there was no tragic ending:)

This is Shakespeare's chaotic romp through an enchanted forest. Here, love potions are passed around like party favors at a particularly unhinged fae gathering!

Hermia and Lysander, Helena and Demetrius – their romantic entanglements are less a love square and more a pretzel that's been dropped and stepped on. The Mechanicals provide the perfect comic relief. And as for Oberon and Titania's marital spats? They make your average human squabble look like a polite disagreement over who gets the last biscuit!!

It's all wonderfully silly, utterly magical and a glorious reminder that sometimes, the best way to sort things out is with a healthy dose of woodland shenanigans and a donkey head!!!

[Ulysse · Rating 5 out of 5]

I posted this in mid-Winter, but I think it's more appropriate today. Happy Midsummer Night friends!

The Strange Party

I’ve just had the weirdest dream
(Things aren't always what they seem)
All my GR friends were here
Celebrating the new year
At my parents-in-law’s place
Who had gone away someplace
Partygoers one by one
Showed up ready to have fun
There was Nick with a cigar
Blowing smoke rings from afar
Violeta had brought salad
Vesna sang us a sweet ballad
Ken kept drinking from a can
Like a real American
Someone knocked and there was Lee
Come all the way from Italy
Lisa put some music on
But no one fancied reggaeton
Jonathan played us some Bach
With beer bottles on the bar
Ilse danced a grim Fandango
Me and Bogdan did the tango
On the sofa friend Irena
Dreaming hummed a cantilena
Jeroen David and Katia
Wrestled on the bath mat yeah
S. came with an alligator
And forgot about it later
Fio who had eaten shrooms
Went exploring many rooms
Julie drank a lot of wine
She even guzzled some of mine
P.E. looked through every drawer
Opened and closed every door
Maryana took some pictures
Of the house's plumbing fixtures
After one too many tokes
We all laughed at Olga's jokes
Laysee made a kitchen mess
Trying to bake a cake no less
X. was talking to Adina
'Bout a dinosaur called Nina
Cookie didn’t show up at all
She’ll be in my dream next fall
In the front yard there was Noam
Chatting up the garden gnome
Mark rode his bike in the foyer
Right behind him barked his lawyer
Great fun it was while it lasted
Everyone I knew was blasted
But my in-laws were due back
Any minute now alack!
My wife whispered “get them out
Even if you have to shout
Your weird friends have gone too far
And I don’t know who they are
Plus I’m tired I need some sleep
Please be so kind as to sweep
Up the crumbs and clear the smoke”
(Un)fortunately I awoke

(If you wish to join the party, let me know, and I'll include you in a custom-made dream-couplet, faster than you can say Sandman.)

[Cindy Rollins · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorites and the first play I read aloud to my children years ago, sitting outside in lawn chairs one midsummer week.

And now those days come back to me every time I read it again. I especially remember the laughter of my oldest in all the right places.

And then there is the well-known C.S. Lewis joke about seeing the play put on by an all-girls school: "It was the first time I saw a female Bottom." In these days of potty humor this still makes me giggle.

2017 Update:
Part of my Arkangel project to listen to all of Shakespeare's plays on audio. This is the play I am most familiar with and yet, I still loved the recording. So much fun!!

2022 Update: Watched the 1981 BBC production for my goal of now watching all the plays. It was clean and fairly well done. Helen Mirren was Titania and her lines were done exquistely as would be expected. My favorite video is still the 1935 movie wih Olivia de Haviland, James Cagney, and Mickey Rooney using Mendelssohn's lovely score.

[Kelly (and the Book Boar) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/

I’m sure there’s some keyboard commando all primed and ready just waiting for a chance to chime in about how “this isn’t Facebook” or “talk about books and don’t post stupid pictures.” To him/her/them I shall quote ol’ Bill himself and say . . . .

Fucketh off with thee!

Because I have read A Midsummer Night’s Dream and I’ve read it more than once. Originally I read it back in the stone age as a high schooler who opted for additional literature classes as electives rather than other selections such as “Home Ec” and asked for things like this for Christmas, which although unattractive still holds a prime location on the ‘puter desk . . . .



I’ve re-read it occasionally over the years because I enjoy the Shakespeare comedies *cough supernerd cough*. But I never loved it as much as I loved it last night when this happened . . . .



And my baby boy made his acting debut as Francis Flute in a modernized in music/wardrobe, but not in content version of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Yeah, this is a post that should probably go on Facebook, but I deleted that motherfucker and never looked back so you’re getting my proud momma moment here. Haters can eat a bag of weiners.

(Additional tidbit: Robin Goodfellow (a/k/a “Puck” to those of you in the know) was played by a girl and she kicked allllllllllllllllllllllllllllll of the ass.)

[Ted · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars
3 3/4
Upped the rating when I realized that I'd given 3 1/2 to King John, Pericles, and The Taming of the Shrew


Been a while since I've visited this review. This play was the first I read in a project to read all the Bard's plays before I kicked the proverbial bucket wherever you're supposed to kick it. I'm probably behind on this goal by now (of reading/reviewing four plays a year). Ah well.

There are multitudes of rather innocuous comments inside this spoiler. It can safely be skipped.


Here I've decided to add some comments about this project, finding myself about 30 months into it.
- I've read 10 of the plays so far, so I'm on schedule; all but one (The Tempest) reviewed; I trust I'll get to that one soon.
- The plan outlined below has been altered some, which can be seen by taking a look at some of my more recent reviews. I've tried to just go where I please instead of being rigid.
- I've tried different strategies for ordering the reading list. For whatever reason, the ten plays I've read are five comedies, three histories, and two - Pericles & The Tempest - well, what the heck are they? See my reviews if you care what I thought.
- I've added links to the plays I've reviewed inside my review of the Complete Works (link below, right under Resources.)
- The bit about watching a movie of the play didn't last too long, since I found it difficult to find a movie for some.
- Making up for that, I'm now seeing at least three plays a year on stage.
- I'm still kickin'. I guess that's the best part. 8 )



I made a plan in early 2014 to read all of Shakespeare’s plays. Not in 2014, but in the rest of my days.

Naturally this plan relied on some assumptions.

First, all plays would be treated as if I’d never yet read them (which was true for most of them).

Second, I assumed that reading one play every three months would be reasonable. There are 37 plays, hence a little over nine years. I would be 78. Seems okay.


Problems

1. What order to read the plays in?

A. Best guess as to the order they were written?
A’. The order that they appear in my Complete Shakespeare? (close to the same thing)
B. By sets of the types of Play? (comedy, history, tragedy, problem plays)
C. Random?
Wresting with this question occupied me until about August. NO, NO JUST KIDDING
I randomly selected MND to start with.

2. I only got one play read.

Okay, this is not huge. I now have 36 to go. An even nine years? Perhaps this is a very favorable, even unrealistic? assumption. Yet …
anyway. So I’ll be 79. Seems okay.

3. My answer to 1, and the fact of 2, may be related.

I’ve never much enjoyed reading plays that are comedies. Seems to me that they’re much more fun to watch than to read. There’s not much to engage the mind in a comedy, nor is there anything to learn from them (like there is from a history, for example). Okay, you can learn about human nature from a good comedy, just like you can learn about human nature from any well-written fiction. But in my experience a comedy is pretty much pure entertainment, like a musical. If it goes beyond entertainment, then it goes beyond comedy.


Resources

The edition of Shakespeare’s works that I have is this one.

The books of commentaries that I have are The Wheel of Fire, Shakespearean Tragedy and Coleridge’s Writings on Shakespeare.

WoF contains analyses of seven of the plays, together with other essays.

ST (Bradley) contains very lengthy pieces on four of Shakespeare’s play, with some other lectures.

The Coleridge book discusses to varying degrees many of the plays.

I have one other book, Engagement with Knavery by Robert Jones, which deals with only one of the plays, Richard III. This book seems to be unheard of on GR. (Duke Univ. press, 1986)

For movies, I have Netflix.

This Plan of attack was my answer to all the above scratching my head. These following sections used to be in spoilers, but I've revealed this stuff else there wouldn't be much showing.

Read the introduction

I noted the sources listed: Chaucer (the opening of the play has similarities to the beginning of the Knight’s Tale; Plutarch’s “Life of Theseus”; and of course Ovid’s tale of Pyramus and Thisbe.

Naturally the Faeries are found in folklore. “Belief in faeries, which had been fairly strong some generations before, was dying out except among the ignorant … Among educated men and women fairies had become a picturesque fantasy, and a topic for pretty verse and Courtly entertainment.”Spencer’s The Faerie Queen, written just a few years before this play, has nothing to do with Shakespeare’s use of faeries here. Spencer’s work was a vast and serious allegory related to contemporary political and religious affairs in England, not a light entertainment. His “Faerieland” is peopled with Arthurian knights representing various virtues, not with folkloric pixies.

Puck was modelled on a well-known character of country tales named Robin Goodfellow. Shakespeare appears to be the first to have conferred the name “Puck” to this good fellow.

There are also links to three earlier plays by Shakespeare: Two Gentleman of Verona (the cross-wooing of two pairs of lovers), Love’s Labor’s Lost (amateurs producing a drama for royalty) and Romeo and Juliet (fairy pranks).Who says GoodRead reviewers are the only ones to re-use material?


Read the play
If you’ve never read the play, and want a synopsis, look elsewhere.

Well okay, here’s a synopsis.

Athens: Theseus and the Amazonian queen Hippolyta are preparing to be wed. Young Athenians Lysander & Demetrius are both in love with Hermia, who loves the first & loathes the second, whom her father insists she must wed. A second Athenian lass, Helena, does love Demetrius, but is spurned by him.

A group of comedic blue collars is preparing to present Pyramus & Thisbe following the wedding ceremony; chief among these is Bottom, a bombastic buffoon. Meanwhile the king and queen of the faeries (Oberon & Titania) are preparing for the midsummer night’s faerie revelries in the woods outside Athens, but are locked in a caustic argument about Titania’s young “changeling”, a boy “stolen from an Indian king”. (II.i.21-23)

Oberon commands his mischief-maker Puck to gather a weed that, when sprinkled on the eyes of a sleeper, will cause them to fall madly in love with the first live being they see on awaking. Puck is to sprinkle this on Titania and arrange that she will see something or someone ridiculous when she awakes Oberon will only allow the spell to be removed when she agrees to give him her boy. Mix this in with Lysander and Hermia deciding to flee from Athens, and sleeping in the woods when they tire; Demetrius searching for Hermia; Helena moping about in the same woods; the play actors rehearsing in the same environs; Puck wreaking planned and unplanned havoc on various characters, including giving Bottom the head of an ass; Titania falling for this ass-headed one; lovers reversing the object of their desires, spurning those whom they formerly loved; and soon only Oberon is left with any knowledge of what’s going on, trying to instruct Puck on how to straighten everything out.

Eventually, all’s well that ends well. It is good fun.


Watch a movie of the play
Recently I've been reading plays that the Chesapeake Shakespeare Theatre has been putting on, before seeing their production. SO I'm not feeling a need to also see a movie of the play. However, back when I started I wasn't seeing live productions. Thus the following words on movies of Midsummer Night's Dream.


Several versions of the play have been filmed, the earliest in 1909 with Charlie Chaplin. I chose to watch the 1935 film. This movie features extensive use of Felix Mendelssohn's beautiful music which he wrote for the play – first the 1826 Overture, and then the 1842 incidental music.

The film features the debut of Olivia de Haviland as Hermia; James Cagney as Bottom (his only Shakespearean role, for which he got a lot of deserved praise); and a thirteen year old Mickey Rooney as Puck.

The wording and cadence of Shakespeare is fairly well preserved in the movie, though extensive editing chops out much of the text. I felt it was a good production, and I was certainly more entertained by the movie than by the play.

Mendelssohn’s music was wonderful, and the fairie sequences which were all accompanied by this music were inspired magic. The ballet done in these scenes was gorgeous, and the way the fairies glided through the air was beautiful. The costuming of the female faeries, including that of Titantia, surprised me by its very suggestive, almost salacious, design. And Victor Jory as Oberon lent that role a dark creepiness which I found very appealing. All in all, these dreamlike scenes were for me the highlight of the movie.




The Theatrical release poster



Read any commentaries on the play that I have

The only small bit on this play was the following note in the Coleridge book, which is taken from marginalia he wrote at I. i. 246 ff, where Helena betrays Hermia. Since it’s all I’ve got, I’ll quote the whole thing:

I am convinced that Shakespeare availed himself of the title of the play in his own mind as a dream throughout, but especially (and perhaps unpleasingly) in this broad determination of ungrateful treachery in Helena, so undisguisedly avowed to herself, and this too after the witty cool philosophizing that precedes. The act is very natural; the resolve so to act is, I fear, likewise too true a picture of the lax hold that principles have on the female heart when opposed to, or even separated from, passion and inclination. For women are less hypocrites to their own minds than men, because they feel less abhorrence of moral evil in itself and more for its outward consequences, as detection, loss of character, etc., their natures being almost wholly extroitive. But still, however just, the representation is not poetical; we shrink from it and cannot harmonize it with the ideal …

”extroitive?” From thefreedictionary.com: Ex`tro´i`tive a.1. Seeking or going out after external objects.
“Their natures being almost wholly extroitive.”
- Coleridge.
Another sight gives the same definition and example. Is Coleridge the only person who ever used this word?


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[Kat Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's still as awesome as I remember. Though, unfortunately, causes me some initial irritation with The Iron King.

Robbie Goodfellow is a wicked spirit running around having fun and pulling ridiculous pranks. He's not a serious teenage boy who is dramatic and suspenseful or mysterious or sexy.

Why do we have to turn everything into sexy these days? Why does every male character have to suddenly fit the romantic male archetype?

Why are mythological creatures becoming obsessed with teenage girls?

[Whitney Atkinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

if i had a professor who actually talked about this and made it interesting then im sure i wouldve liked it more but i was just like ?????????

[J.L. Sutton · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Lovers and madmen have such seething brains
Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend
More than cool reason ever comprehends."



One of William Shakespeare's most famous comedies, A Midsummer Night's Dream, delights in gorgeous language, clever plot twists, fairies and whimsy. I'd read this before, but it felt like the right time to get it out and read it again. While it doesn't have the emotional grip on the reader (or playgoer) that Hamlet, Henry II or several of his tragedies have, it was fun to revisit this and experience it again! 4.5 stars


...............

[Zoë! · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first Shakespeare I read outside of school, and I truly adored it! Everything you’d want in a play is here; humor, beautiful imagery, quotable lines, and a perfect touch of magic. I loved all the different storylines and the juxtaposition between them was so hilarious, I’m really glad I picked this up and can’t wait to get more into Shakespeare!

[Olivia (Stories For Coffee) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun, whimsical, hilarious play full of meddling characters, mix ups, and clueless clowns who made me chuckle openly and scream when mischief ensued. I can’t believe it took me this long to read this play!