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A Midsummer Night's Dream: A Graphic Novel
This graphic novel adaptation of Shakespeare's famous comedy retains the original language while the charming illustrations make the text more accessible for readers being introduced to the great dramatist's works for the first time.
A concise, highly enjoyable adaptation of the classic play; one of more than 85 titles Campfire has published since their introduction to North America in 2010.
At the dawn of Western civilization in ancient Athens, a young lady named Hermia has threatened to upset the order of things by announcing that she will marry the man she loves, rather than the man that her father has chosen for her. Theseus, Duke of Athens, asks, “How shall we find the concord of this discord?”
Join Shakespeare as he offers us a classically entertaining solution to this problem. Under pain of death, Hermia flees Athens and spends a mad Midsummer night along with her friends along with other city-dwellers in a nearby forest. Unbeknownst to the Athenians, the forest is inhabited by a legion of fairies and the mischievous hobgoblin Puck. The fairies’ misguided attempt to help out the humans with a magical herb leads to mayhem. As the buffoon Bottom says, the night in the forest becomes “a dream, past the wit of man to say what dream it was”.
A concise, highly enjoyable adaptation of the classic play; one of more than 85 titles Campfire has published since their introduction to North America in 2010.
At the dawn of Western civilization in ancient Athens, a young lady named Hermia has threatened to upset the order of things by announcing that she will marry the man she loves, rather than the man that her father has chosen for her. Theseus, Duke of Athens, asks, “How shall we find the concord of this discord?”
Join Shakespeare as he offers us a classically entertaining solution to this problem. Under pain of death, Hermia flees Athens and spends a mad Midsummer night along with her friends along with other city-dwellers in a nearby forest. Unbeknownst to the Athenians, the forest is inhabited by a legion of fairies and the mischievous hobgoblin Puck. The fairies’ misguided attempt to help out the humans with a magical herb leads to mayhem. As the buffoon Bottom says, the night in the forest becomes “a dream, past the wit of man to say what dream it was”.
88 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
8 people are currently reading
226 people want to read
About the author
William Shakespeare
27.6k books47k followersWilliam 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".
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".
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
January 2, 2023
I remember loving the original play when I read it in school but for some reason, this adaptation didn't work for me. Perhaps my tastes have changed or the mood isn't right or the book simply missed the mark. Striking illustrations though! I skimmed the text but loved the visual feast.
August 10, 2016
I'll be honest, I liked the graphic novel more than I liked just reading the play. Why? Well for one, this graphic novel has some AMAZING illustrations, and it was much easier to understand what was going on with visual queues. I highly recommend this approach for anyone who wants to familiarize themselves with the play, but are feeling overwhelmed.
April 2, 2013
It was a decent adaptation, but I felt that it left something to be desired. The art was beautiful, and made it easier to understand, however there was something that I cannot put my finger in that just was not "right", if you know what I mean.
However, this partictular one of Shakespeare's plays is not in my top few that he ever wrote, so I may be biased.
However, this partictular one of Shakespeare's plays is not in my top few that he ever wrote, so I may be biased.
April 18, 2022
The illustrations for this edition are just gorgeous! I would give the book itself 4 stars, but the text 3.5 stars.
That feels blasphemous but I am completely uneducated on Shakespeare (I do remember AMND being discussed in English class in school but I remember very little) and so I think I need to read plain text versions of Shakespeare lmao. I did love the magical and supernatural themes to this though, a Fairy Queen & King? The little trickster puck, and people acting under spells, and physical transformations? Very fun!
But I could only just follow what was going on but that was 100% because of the amazing illustrations. But at the end of the play (within the play) there is an image of all the actors playing music, and at that exact moment I heard an ice-cream van melody outside so that was pretty magical. Magical is exactly the word for the illustrations of this edition too!
That feels blasphemous but I am completely uneducated on Shakespeare (I do remember AMND being discussed in English class in school but I remember very little) and so I think I need to read plain text versions of Shakespeare lmao. I did love the magical and supernatural themes to this though, a Fairy Queen & King? The little trickster puck, and people acting under spells, and physical transformations? Very fun!
But I could only just follow what was going on but that was 100% because of the amazing illustrations. But at the end of the play (within the play) there is an image of all the actors playing music, and at that exact moment I heard an ice-cream van melody outside so that was pretty magical. Magical is exactly the word for the illustrations of this edition too!
February 23, 2021
I much enjoyed this adaptation as someone with an obsession with Midsummer Night’s Dream.
My only nitpick is that the face can sometimes be unnerving and I’m not overly fond of Oberon’s design 😅
My only nitpick is that the face can sometimes be unnerving and I’m not overly fond of Oberon’s design 😅
June 21, 2022
Awesome illustrations that depicted Oberon and his fairies as more evil than one might take away from Shakespeare’s original descriptions. Might use some pages to pair with the play for my students!
February 11, 2015
I usually don't like to read Romantic books such as Romeo and Juliet but this book is so funny and less romance I enjoy it very much.
My favourite character of this book is Puck. I feel like he is the one who was keeping in touch with the reader and make the reader laugh.This book is my favourite book of Shakespeare!
My favourite character of this book is Puck. I feel like he is the one who was keeping in touch with the reader and make the reader laugh.This book is my favourite book of Shakespeare!
May 7, 2021
Déception. J'ai trouvé que bien que les dessins étaient très beaux, ils diminuaient la portée de l'histoire et caricaturaient le drame. Je crois que j'aurais été plus satisfaite en lisant la version originale.
May 10, 2013
I read plain text, not original text. Thought it was a great rendition and would be an awesome teaching tool.
June 8, 2013
I loved the graphic novel. I am going to see the play at the globe theater in London, and now I will have a better understanding of it ...a great way to understand a Shakespearean play...
December 28, 2018
I did not enjoy this as much as I did the original story. I think it was because the images made the story even more confusing to me. I do believe that some people would really enjoy this though.
May 18, 2019
I love the ridiculousness of Midsummer, but this graphic novel was not my favorite. So many of the characters look too much alike, and although this is the original Shakespearean text, a lot has been cut out. It's good for a stand-alone independent read, but Shakespeare is amazing because it's meant to be read and performed. The structure of this causes the reader to lose sense of the language and form. It's helpful for my students because as 8th graders, the pictures help them understand what's going on, but I wasn't that impressed.
July 6, 2022
Odd experience. Illustrations sometimes great. Then suddenly, for example, the lovely Hermia turned unattractive and unrecognizable three pages in. Yea, I get that fairy dust changes appearances, but later in play. Seemed like there were too many visual distractions. Then all the "GRAARR" and "RRRRIP" and "clapclapclap" stuff from 1960's TV Batman. It took me a week to slog through this: "ZZZZZZZZZZ" and "ZZZZZZZZZZ" page 46. Then, p. 47, "ZZZZZZZ" five times plus one "SQUEEEZE" . So I read the play in one day (from The Complete Shakespeare) and enjoyed it more.
September 8, 2019
A beautiful adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic. Translated to plain English, this is the perfect choice for English classrooms everywhere. No more toiling through the King’s English, students will be sure to appreciate the modern interpretation. The art is beautiful and engaging and gives life to the script.
September 26, 2023
There are a few things that do not quite work in this adaptation of Shakespeare's play but other things that work better than most graphic novel adaptations of Shakespeare. On balance, it is one of the best.
May 11, 2024
The Shakespeare play was humorous and very enjoyable. (I especially love Bottom's stupidity), The graphic novel is well drawn and helps portray the story better than words alone.
Great book, I highly recommend it!
Great book, I highly recommend it!
August 15, 2017
this was really good! i cant wait to read the original!
January 21, 2019
The story was fun, but since I am not familiar with Shakespeare, I didn't get some words.
August 24, 2019
A fun graphic interpretation of Shakespeare's play. Each act is beautifully illustrated and the feel of the play comes out, even with the rhymes and lyric flow of the text.
May 13, 2020
I got this for a young friend and read it first myself while listening to an audio version. I think it's a great way to experience Shakespeare, if you can't go to a play.
June 14, 2020
The story is good. The illustrations are awesome.
September 1, 2020
I thought this was one of Shakespeare's most entertaining plays. The pictures also helped me understand it better.
May 28, 2023
Read this with the 7th graders I’m tutoring. Low rating because I don’t like graphic novels but this is actually my favorite Shakespeare!
December 27, 2025
A fun version with some great, comprehensive history at the end!
April 28, 2015
Hi Dear Friends
My name is Ali and I really enjoyed reading this masterpiece (A midsummer night's dream, graphic book), so I started translating this book in to Persian (My Native Language).
But suddenly I ruined pages 127 and 128 by a horrible accident. So, could anyone send me snapshots of those pages? Any small picture from which I could read the lines, would do, and be appreciated a world.
I live in Iran (as you might've noticed) and due to political issues and sanctions I'm unable to provide another copy easily.
Thanks' a lot and desperately waiting
Ali.M
alimojtahedzadeh@hotmail.com
My name is Ali and I really enjoyed reading this masterpiece (A midsummer night's dream, graphic book), so I started translating this book in to Persian (My Native Language).
But suddenly I ruined pages 127 and 128 by a horrible accident. So, could anyone send me snapshots of those pages? Any small picture from which I could read the lines, would do, and be appreciated a world.
I live in Iran (as you might've noticed) and due to political issues and sanctions I'm unable to provide another copy easily.
Thanks' a lot and desperately waiting
Ali.M
alimojtahedzadeh@hotmail.com
February 7, 2013
I loved the illustrations. They were very creative and captivating, the colors and design drawing the eye into the picture. So much to see! I just saw this play last summer, so the story was fresh in my mind, and the graphic novel stayed true to the story from what I remember. I would definitely recommend this graphic novel to reluctant Shakespeare readers. Personally, I think Shakespeare should be performed, not read... but if you can't see a performance, this is the next best thing!
February 20, 2015
What a great idea! I wish this had been around when I was in high school. I'm going to use this to introduce my 7 year old daughter to Shakespeare. We're going to see the play this weekend.
Be aware this is an adapted text. The words of Shakespeare aren't here, just the story.
Be aware this is an adapted text. The words of Shakespeare aren't here, just the story.
March 17, 2012
Great version for middle school students to understand the story. However, the language of Shakespeare is obviously lost and so is the drama format. But a good starter, especially for young readers.
March 9, 2013
Was okay. Demetrius looked super creepy though.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews