James Butler

William Shakespeare

HUMOUR & COMEDY Two young lovers, Hermia and Lysander, meet in the wood with the intention of running away and getting married secretly. They are followed by Demetrius, who loves Hermia, and Helena, who is in love with Demetrius. What they don’t know is that the wood is enchanted… Dossiers: Shakespeare's Sources The Elizabethan Performance

B2.1-niveau ERK

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Shakespeare's popular comedy of love and mistaken identity is accompanied by a section on reading Shakespeare's language, information on Shakespeare's life and theater, explanatory notes, annotated reading lists, and an essay

william wukkuan

So sorrow’s heaviness doth heavier grow

For debt that bankrupt sleep doth sorrow owe,

Rewatched the movie (1999) and can't stop thinking about this quote

mari

Do I entice you? Do I speak you fair?

Or rather do I not in plainest truth

Tell you I do not, nor I cannot love you?

And even for that do I love you the more. I am your spaniel, and, Demetrius,

The more you beat me I will fawn on you.

Use me but as your spaniel: spurn me, strike me,

Neglect me, lose me; only give me leave

(Unworthy as I am) to follow you. What worser place can I beg in your love

(And yet a place of high respect with me)

Than to be usèd as you use your dog?

Helen Hackett

'If we shadows have offended, Think but this, and all is mended- That you have but slumbered here While these visions did appear' A young woman, Hermia, flees ancient 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 take an interest in human affairs, dispensing magical love potions and casting mischievous spells. In one of Shakespeare's most perennially popular comedies, slapstick collides with courtly romance and confusion ends in harmony, as love is transformed, misplaced and ultimately restored. 'He could mingle sublimity with pathos, bitterness with joy and peace and love.' Aldous HuxleyGeneral Introduction by Stanley Wells Edited by Stanley Wells With an Introduction by Helen Hackett

I absolutely love this play! It is definitely my favourite of all Shakespeare's plays. In particular I am not the biggest fan of this edition, however it has such a special place in my heart since it was the version we did in my theatre group. 

It is such a fast paced play, and I love that humour even in the last 400 years has hardly changed at all. My only gripe with the writing is that it is so much better when performed, the acting of the characters adds so much life and drama to their words.

The characters are so compelling, especially Puck and Helena (to me, at least). 

I so completely adore this quote from her, I love how it shows that she is so steadfast in her belief that true love is beyond what the eyes are capable of seeing, and is beyond the judgement of other people. 

The ending soliloquy from Puck is also just a fantastic fourth wall break, and I love how he addresses the audience to remind them that even if they were offended or upset about something said or done, that the play was just a dream and they should not consider it real at all. It is such a fantastic way of bringing the audience into the blurred lines of reality and dreams that permeated throughout the play, and overall one of my favourite endings to any story.

iris may

I absolutely love this play! It is definitely my favourite of all Shakespeare's plays. In particular I am not the biggest fan of this edition, however it has such a special place in my heart since it was the version we did in my theatre group. 

It is such a fast paced play, and I love that humour even in the last 400 years has hardly changed at all. My only gripe with the writing is that it is so much better when performed, the acting of the characters adds so much life and drama to their words.

The characters are so compelling, especially Puck and Helena (to me, at least). 


Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, 
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.


I so completely adore this quote from her, I love how it shows that she is so steadfast in her belief that true love is beyond what the eyes are capable of seeing, and is beyond the judgement of other people. 

The ending soliloquy from Puck is also just a fantastic fourth wall break, and I love how he addresses the audience to remind them that even if they were offended or upset about something said or done, that the play was just a dream and they should not consider it real at all. It is such a fantastic way of bringing the audience into the blurred lines of reality and dreams that permeated throughout the play, and overall one of my favourite endings to any story.

anjali

Read when I was a kid; not amongst my absolute favourite Shakespeare plays (that title belongs to Hamlet or King Lear), but entertaining.

A midsummer night's dream

Gelaine Trinidad

thoroughly enjoyed the dramatized audio edition as well ~ 
ah, bottom
aaah, puck

Chloé

My favourite play by Willy Shakes, I mean its based on mythology and yo girl adores MYTHOLOGY.

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy written by William Shakespeare in 1595/96.

Original Classics and Annotated

Whimsical and strange, and possibly my favorite Shakespeare play to date. 

nikki

Vicky  Nuñez 

The course of true love never did run smooth.


This used to be one of my favorite of Shakespeare's plays and I'm so glad it its as fun as I remember it. The play at the end just killed me.

Rupert Everett

Michael Hoffman

Leslie Urdang

Two pairs of star-crossed lovers, a troop of inept amateur actors, a feuding pair of supernatural sprites and a love potion gone awry all come together in an enchanted moonlit forest.

William Shakespeare's A Midsummer night's dream

ameera

Le Songe d'une nuit d'été

It was surprisingly very funny. Shakespeare was one funny dude. 

Romy

A Midsummer Night's Dream (Oxford School Shakespeare)

Lamia Hajani

Short, sweet, and also incredibly hilarious. I don't generally like Shakespeare AT ALL, but this play, I must say, was good even at a second read. Since my first read was almost five years ago, this made things a bit more clear for me. I really did like the use of irony and the humour kept me at ease. I honestly really did like this one and I love that it is a fast read. It could have been better for me if I just could understand Shakespeare and didn't have to follow ALL those sidenotes.

Nicholas Laurie

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Amelia

Chiara Cabras

Jacob Salyer

So far it's my favourite Shakespeare play, can't wait to read the others! It's honestly a fun read compared to darker and more in depth plays like Macbeth. It's also very easy to understand. The romance is a bit skimmed through but keep in mind it's a comedy.

Vedha Chelot

A. R. Braunmuller

Stephen Orgel

Russ Mcdonald

Midsummer Night's Dream

olivia musick

In graphic novel format, presents an adaptation of Shakespeare's classic tale about four lovers and a group of amateur actors who spend the night in the woods where the fairy king and queen dwell.

Manga Shakespeare

Annie

In graphic novel format, presents an adaptation of Shakespeare's classic tale about two star-crossed lovers.

Romeo and Juliet

Anna Brunner

Read this w kendall & brody.. they ruined it. Still fun tho

laila

Mary Horton

Don't mind me, I'm just over here spending the last days of summer break reading Shakespeare and enjoying the pure chaos of this play.

in other words: yes, of course I enjoyed it. mischievous fairies, ethereal forests, savage Shakespearean insults, lyrical poetry, and self-aware comedy? what's not to love??

3.5 stars

Sian Wadey

This was my first taste of Shakespeare as I read it in my last year of primary school. It was the perfect play for my age as it was full of wonderful characters, magical scenes and complex and intriguing storylines. A beautiful play that I really enjoyed.

Blazgorb Throxis

Emi Gilmore 

I live for the drama tbh but the drama also only lasted like ten minutes and it was over so I think I'll just stick to Love Island

General Press

Shakespeare's intertwined love polygons begin to get complicated from the start—Demetrius and Lysander both want Hermia but she only has eyes for Lysander. Bad news is, Hermia's father wants Demetrius for a son-in-law. On the outside is Helena, whose unreturned love burns hot for Demetrius. Hermia and Lysander plan to flee from the city under cover of darkness but are pursued by an enraged Demetrius (who is himself pursued by an enraptured Helena). In the forest, unbeknownst to the mortals, Oberon and Titania (King and Queen of the faeries) are having a spat over a servant boy. The plot twists up when Oberon's head mischief-maker, Puck, runs loose with a flower which causes people to fall in love with the first thing they see upon waking. Throw in a group of labourers preparing a play for the Duke's wedding (one of whom is given a donkey's head and Titania for a lover by Puck) and the complications become fantastically funny.

Ugh, Shakespeare, really? People need to get over this dude already. I mean, sure, back in the day when nobody knew how to write properly and had nothing better to do, maybe his plays seemed impressive. But come on, let's be real here. The jokes are ancient, the plot holes are ridiculous, and sucking up to the King was probably the only way he could get his work noticed. Can we all just admit that Shakespeare's time is long gone? This play in particular, it's a snoozefest. There are like 5 different storylines, and none of them are even remotely interesting or funny. It's a total waste of time. 

A Midsummer Night's Dream B2.1-niveau ERK

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