Customer Reviews

A Midsummer Night's Dream

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is one of my favorite Shakespears.. I loved it! It's witty, smart and light hearted unlike many of his other works. If you think Shakespeare might be too heavy for you, try this one.

Having read the majority of Shakespeare's plays, A Midsummer Night's Dream was, without a doubt, the most glaring omission on the list of plays which I have read. So, naturally I felt most inclined to read it -- finally. I found it enjoyable, witty, and entertaining. In Shakespeare's use of blithe love, fairies, magic, the forest, & a play within a play, I found similar, if not redundant elements seen innumerably in his other works. I did, however, find some seemingly prosaic, yet surprisingly profound social overtones on both love and marriage.

The whimsical insouciance of the young Lysander, Hermia, Helena, and Demetrius emanates in stark contrast to the more mundane, if not rigid, love of Theseus and Hippolyta. This inevitably provokes thought on the very underpinnings of love. Also, another impending paradox of sorts presents itself with the love of the two young couples. While Lysander and Hermia enjoy a jovial and reciprocal brand of love, conversely Helena and Demetrius enjoy, courtesy of one of Shakespeare's most famous characters, Robin Goodfellow(aka Puck), a forced, yet unwitting, brand of love. The two couples' love, while diametrically opposite, nevertheless results in the same ineluctable and identical outcome -- marriage. While true love may indeed be blind as in the former case, Shakespeare, however, also makes a case that some love is perhaps forced, if not arbitrary, as well -- as in the case of Demetrius and Helena. As the two couple leave the fairies, the wildwoods, and the forest, a place that represents a world of infinite freedom, chaos, and with them lessened inhibitions, the lovers end the story by arriving at the Athenian Court, a place that represents a return to decorum, refinement, and quite possibly, confinement.

"Lord, what fools these mortals be!" - Puck

A Midsummer Night's Dream is perhaps one of Shakespeare's greatest comedic works. It is intricate and at the same time simple, engaging, lighthearted, and funny.

The characters include:

The Fairies - Oberon, Titania, Puck, Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Moth, and Mustardseed

The Athenians - Theseus, Hippolyta, Egeus, Philostrate, Lysander, Demetrius, Helena, and Hermia

The Actors/Common Men - Nick Bottom, Peter Quince, Tom Snout, Francis Flute, Robin Starveling, and Snug

This is a play in five acts, with many dynamic characters and various different story lines - there is even a play within the play. This might sound confusing, but Shakespeare masterfully ties it all together through a key event introduced in the beginning of the play, which is followed through at the end. This event is the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta.

Basically, four headstong teenagers (Lysander, Demetrius, Helena, and Hermia) become entangled in a love triangle of sorts - a triangle that is made even more complex by the meddlings of the fairies. Pure confusion results, which accounts for most of the comedic interest of the play. Through the four lover's story we slip in and out of the dream-like fairy world.

An argument between the King and Queen of the fairies (Oberon and Titania) creates another story line that is also intertwined with the actors/common men.(in particular, Nick Bottom)

Standing on the outskirts of all this confusion is the knowledge that Theseus and Hippolyta's wedding is about to take place, giving a time frame, structure, and "method" to Shakespeare's "madness". As I stated before, it also ties the whole play together.

While it might sound confusing, once read, A Midsummer Night's Dream is a marvelous work to comprehend. There are so many different connections and interpretations to be made about it. I feel that this factor, coupled with the pure fun and fantasy
of the play, makes it a very worthwhile read.

I just cant rave enough about Midsummer Night's Dream. I read this book in eight grade English and I really didn't think I would enjoy it. How wrong I was.

To put it simply, Midsummer Night's Dream is just hilarious. Love tangles and potions, mistaken identities, faeries and gods, and a play with a play can all be found in this tale.

The story revolves around the forest God Oberon and his obsession with Titania, a goddess but most of the story follows the tale of Lysander, Hermia, Demetrius and Helena and their crazy and constantly tampered with lovelife. Lysander and Helena flee into the forest in hopes of eloping (Helena's father will not allow the two to marry) and the duo are followed by Demetrius (who loves Helena) and Hermia (who loves Demetrius). This is the start of the love tangle. Thanks to the meddling of Oberon and Puck (a well loved and comedically apt fairy), at one point, each man loves each girl, even so far as a complete reversal where Lysander and Demetrius scorn Helena and court Hermia.

In addition, a play is being put on for the lord of the city from which the four love-wrought teenagers are from's wedding. One member of the cast, Bottom (a pun on the word ass.. you'll see) is turned into a donkey, or an ass. At one point, Titania is madly in love with the ass Bottom.

The stories, while seperate, eventually come together in a pleasing ending.

Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeares greatest comedies. The light hearted, jovial, and mystical story will please any reader and comes highly recommended and perhaps Shakespeares most popular comedy.

On a side note, the Folgers Series edition is excellent. As with all the Shakespearean Folgers books, the side-notes and scene summaries will help the reader understand and enjoy the play much more. This play itself comes highly recommended, even more so with this edition.

A midsummer night's dream: humerous to those who are competent enough to get it. I enjoyed it. It was decently easy to read. definitely find a book that is annotated. It helps a lot! its also very short, so it doesnt take long to read. for most you could probably finish it in an afternoon or evening. This book follows the escapades of faeries. One in particular is the loveable Puck. He attempts to fix loves and right wrongs and everything gets mixed up in the process. A book of love and humor, I thuroughly approve.

New Folger's Shakespeare plays have a section of each page that defines and has pictures of archaic words and phrases, which aids in understanding of complicated plays like this one, which weaves together 3 sets of stories:

Fairies:
characters:
-Titania, queen of fairies, and her entourage: Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Moth, and Mustardseed
-Oberon, queen of fairies, and his sidekick, the troublemaking Puck(a.k.a. Robin Goodfellow)
plot(s): Oberon and Titania are one of those couples that really should get divorced, but don't, so their marriage is one of tensions and revenge. Their latest fight is over a young boy given to Titania. Oberon wants the boy, but Titania refuses to give the boy to him. Oberon, wanting revenge, sends Puck to find a magical flower that, rubbed into a person's eyes, can make that person fall in love with the first thing/person they see. After using the flower to cause some trouble among the humans(Athenians), Puck rubs the flower on Titania's eyes. Puck makes sure the first thing she sees upon waking is Bottom, a human(actor), whose head Puck has turned into a ass's head(the donkey kind, not the kind synonymous to Bottom's name)...much hilarity ensues

Humans(Athenians):
-Theseus, king
-Hippolyta, Amazon queen, betrothed to Theseus
-Egeus, Hermia's father
-Philostrate, Theseus's master of revels(in charge of entertainment)
-Hermia, spoiled brat
-Helena, Hermia's friend
-Lysander, loves Hermia
-Demetrius, loves Hermia
plot(s): At the beginning, both Lysander and Demetrius love Hermia, but Egeus wants Hermia to wed Demetrius(her options are to wed Demetrius, die by her father's hand according to Athenian law, or join a nunnery). Hermia elopes with Lysander. Helena loves Demetrius but he doesn't love her back, so she tells her about Hermia and Lysander eloping, hoping that Demetrius will like her for it. They all end up in the forest, and Demetrius entreats Hermia to give him another chance; Demetrius continues to shun Helena. Oberon, king of the fairies, seeing how Demetrius acts towards Helena, tells Puck to use the flower's love potion on Demetrius. Puck mistakes Lysander for Demetrius, and, in an attempt to remedy his mistake, both Lysander and Demetrius end up in love with HELENA=no one is in love with Hermia. They almost all begin fighting, but Puck lures them away, puts them to sleep, and corrects the mistake.

Last but not least, humans(actors):
Quince, Bottom, Flute(these are their last names), and others who I don't really remember.
plot(s): the actors are really simple manual laborers that have been ordered to put on a play for Theseus's wedding to Hippolyta. They decide to act out "Pyramus and Thisbe"(Romeo and Juliet, respectively), but the actors are all guys. The only option is to cast a guy, Flute, as Thisbe, causing problems, since overenthusiastic Bottom is Pyramus. Titania, queen of the fairies, under a spell, falls in love with Bottom.

This play is, like typical Shakespeare, full of ridiculous characters and fun. It is very confusing to read, but really, really, really funny.

Take an enchanted forest in Athens, Greece. Add six actors and two quarrelsome couples. The end result is William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Mischievious fairies, magical potions, and tragic comedies all come into the mix creating a play that will have you thinking in verse for months. If you are desperately looking for a book that actually won't put you to slep, this book may be the cure you were looking for. This is a book you will never forget.

Well, there are numerous reasons you wouldn't want to buy this book. Number one it's shakespear which is literally a different language. If you're not familiar with it, you will hate this book. The author did put a page in every other page giving meanings of different texts and terms, though. The good thing is it reads fast. And for anyone who thinks comedy. Not what you're thinkin. In drama terms a comedy is a play with a happy ending. A funny play wold be a farse. Soo it's not really even the least bit funny if that's what ur thinkin. The book as a whole is pretty short if you take out the definition pages and explanations of different things. Maybe about a 100. Really though, unless you have to for school don't waste any time on this book.

A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's greatest plays and yet is his most slaughtered play on stage. It is a play that exists on an archetypal and mythic level. It is so universal and yet so much a part of our lives, that it is so hard to grasp. There are so many worlds that exist within the play, from a magical fairy world to Shakespeare's own contemporary actors. One of the most fascinating questions that the play puts forward is: How much control of our lives do we really have? Do bad things happen from our own doing or is there another working force like Puck that goes around causing mischief. The play also raises a debate of love. If you look at the lovers in the play, you could take a cynical view and see that it doesn't really matter who has who because they are all the same and all marriage leads to unhappiness. You could also learn that when two people have the same mutual feelings of love towards each other, it is a truly amazing thing. In the end, one gets that love is a vicious cycle that rarely falls out right but when it does, it must be acted on for it may never fall out perfectly again. Even though Oberon and Puck cause grief on the lover's, the mechanicals and Bottom, they restore everything to good in the end. The heart and humor of this play exists with Bottom and The Mechanicals. While Shakespeare is obviously mocking the bad acting of his time, he still sympathizes with the actors and lets them steal the show at the end. Midsummer also probably features Shakespeare's most beautiful poetry he wrote, that paints a magical and mystical picture is the mind's eye. A truly amazing piece.

Shakespeare in this play tries to entertain us with supernatural beings in a forest who more or less take humans under their influence to make them enjoy life and love as the only aims of humanity. It naturally leads to several weddings, but it is the slow discovery that the beings of the night are the allies of men and women if these do not forget their are human. They are human because they believe in and accept the creatures of the night as being benevolent and aiming at the happiness of humanity. Love can always triumph because these mythical beings are looking after it. In this play we have one of the antecedents to Purcell's later work on a British mythology, we have the resistance to the rising puritanism that is going to engulf England and impose the absolute closure of theaters and even the rejection of such plays because they do not abide by the simple christian faith but refers to pagan beliefs that are still strong and alive in the consciousness of simple people, if not also of educated people, even if with another value. Luckily such beautiful comedies will survive the Puritans and are still the source of our pleasure. One does not need to believe in elves to find pleasure in Puck.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU