Kinda boring. ( )

I know as an educator and librarian, it is assumed by most that I am a lover of Shakespeare. However, I must come clean. I am not. I actually truly dislike reading the 16th century language and I have trouble getting past that to try and enjoy the story. That being said however, I chose to read this because the majority of English teachers at my school teach this classic and I wanted to be able to have conversations with the students about it. I will say, A Midsummer Night's Dream is my favorite Shakespeare play so far and I feel like I accomplished something by reading it. ( )

You have to give it to the greatest playwright who ever lived to write a complicated comedy on true love. In this play, Shakespeare intertwines the lives of four sets of characters in four plots. In begins with Theseus, the Duke of Athens complaining to his bethrothed Hippolyta how four days is a long time to wait for his wedding to her, the Queen of the Amazons. He wounded and defeated her in battle, but wooed her in captivity. Then enters the second set of characters: Egeus, who asks that Theseus explains the Athenian law to Hermia, his daughter, who either follows her father's wishes and marry Demetrius or be condemned to a life of virginity in a nunnery. This consequence is considered worse than death at that time. Hermia loves Lysander instead and the couple plan to meet in the woods to elope. Helena, on the other hand, is in love with Demetrius, tells him about the plan, and goes with him to the woods. The third set of characters is a group of local laborers led by Nick Bottom, a weaver, also a "pompous ass". They come to the woods to rehearse "Pyramus and Thisbe" for Theseus' wedding celebration. The play is about a love affair that ends in a tragedy. The fourth set of characters are Oberon and Titania, King and Queen of the fairies and their attendant sprites led by Puck, a mischievous one. Oberon and Titania meet in the woods and jealously argue over their mortal loves. The main characters fall asleep in the woods and Oberon sets Puck's mischiefs rolling when he orders him to squeeze the "love-at-first-sight" juice of the pansy, "love-in-idleness" on Titania's eyes while sleeping to teach her a lesson. Puck also was to apply it on Demetrius eyes so he reciprocates Helena's affections. Titania wakes up and falls in love with Bottom, whose head Puck turns into that of an ass. He mistakes Lysander for Demetrius; squeezes juice on Lysander's eyes; gets reprimanded by Oberon; squeezes juice on Demetrius' eyes. Now both knaves are in love with Helena who thinks they are mocking her and leaves a puzzled Hermia. It is up to Puck to mend his mischiefs. The 16th century language and the script format of the play makes it a difficult reading. Reading it out loud and playing the part helps in understanding. I eventually got the subtle pun after reading it several times. I had a good glimpse of how a genius' mind works after comprehending this play. ( )

This is my second favorite Shakespeare play, just narrowly being beaten out by "The Tempest" (if you want to know how much I love these books, I'm tempted to name future children Miranda, Lysander, and Demetrius). I love all the subplots that occur throughout the story (the play within a play and the men acting in it are just hilarious!) and I love all the humor throughout. And this play has Puck- what a great character; he's definitely up there as one of my favorite characters written by the Bard.

This is just such a fun play that I'll heartily recommend it to anyone who hasn't read it- and if you have, you should go reread it (I must be up to about six or seven rereads by now). ;) Hands down, this gets 5 stars out of 5; if I could give it more, I would! ( )

There's a reason why Shakespeare is considreed one of the greatest writers of all time. A lovely read; quite funny. ( )

Though I was already familiar with the storyline, I thought it wouldn't hurt at all to read my children's retold versions to start. The Lambs' "Tales From Shakespeare" fit the bill. It gave an accurate rendering and wet my whistle for the real thing. By the end of Act I, Scene I of the actual play the theologian watched me float through the room with a pleasant smile across my face. With several distractions to interrupt my enjoyment I still managed to read it in a couple of hours time. I spent a pleasant evening remembering the movie version, the one with Michelle Pfeiffer that I had just watched a few months ago. It was a little modernized(by that I mean sexualized) but it really captured the magic of the fairy wood. Once everyone else was in bed I pulled out "Shakespeare Stories" by Leon Garfield and fell in love all over again. The Garfield retelling is fantastic.

It sounds odd but I feel like I've just discovered Shakespeare for the first time. I have discovered a sensation in my soul that will always require me to be reading something by Shakespeare on a regular basis. I am already thinking about how fun it will be to introduce the Bard of Avon to my children. At least one of them I'm sure will be in raptures as I am. And I want to talk about it with everyone I come in contact with. ( )

Bottom stands just a couple of steps below Iago, Othello, and Falstaff among the beings created by Shakespeare. Not a "rutting" donkey, but an innocent, good-natured, modern man who knows that the world has gone made, but who is too gentle and nice to tell that to the characters that surround him. His is the play's true story, the rest is a comic masque designed to delight some of the most powerful in England - including the Queen. Obregon's speech in the Queen's honor is some of Shakespeare's best writing. ( )

Great romantic comedy. ( )

A lovely book containing some of Rackham's best work. ( )

My favorite Shakespearean comedy, a miracle. ( )

Behind the playful, slapstick comedic fantasy of errors there lurks a rather more serious play about the connection between judgement and love, about sexual denial and sexual politics between a couple, about the nature of artifice and the point where reality meets fantasy, and also the transitory and potentially arbitrary nature of love. There is also a clear passage at the end where Shakespeare appears to be mocking Romeo and Juliet - rather a brave and interesting thing to do! ( )

read it in school, want to own it ( )

I’ve always felt that Shakespeare had it out for love. Wives murder husbands, lovers kill themselves, rape is attempted, adultery committed…. Does anyone ever live happily ever after? It seems to me Shakespeare is screaming, “Lord, what fools these mortals be,” not in Puck’s voice, but from his own soul in most every play he wrote. This is perhaps the central theme of A Midsummer Night's Dream, that love can turn you into an ass. And while it ends on a happy note, you just know Puck’s gong to screw with these folks another day…

Yet, I have always loved this play, being my third favorite behind Hamlet & Macbeth (I know - I’m a macabre sort of gal!). And Puck is probably my favorite character behind Hamlet; I don’t believe he fumbled anything. I look at him as the grand puppeteer of the whole play. He, after all, is the one who addresses us directly, letting us know that he’s staged the whole thing for our benefit. Puck’s final twist turns the play into something trilateral, as a play within a play within a dream.

If we shadows have offended,

Think but this, and all is mended,

That you have but slumber'd 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:

And, as I am an honest Puck,

If we have unearned luck

Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,

We will make amends ere long;

Else the Puck a liar call;

So, good night unto you all.

Give me your hands, if we be friends,

And Robin shall restore amends. (Act v. Scene i.)

For any newbies to Shakespeare, this is the place to start. Fun, easier than his other works, filled with humor and mastery, A Midsummer Night's Dream is an excellent and fun time!

Review first published on Many A Quaint & Curious Volume
© Tasses 2007-2009 ( )

Was promted to re-read this by reading Neil Gaiman's eponymous Sandman short story. Learned:

That my English has gotten a hell of a lot better in the last 11 years. This was the first Shakespeare play I tried to read, and I read it by myself at the time, so I didn't really get it.

That I still don't really get the "brilliance" of this particular Sandman story.

That I should probably read more Shakespeare.

That some of the notes to this edition are utterly useless, and that Reclam can't quite decide what level of audience they're aiming their notes and translations at. ( )

FFYAA

http://nhw.livejournal.com/1110873.ht...

Of Shakespeare's really famous plays, this is probably the one I knew least well before starting this project. It is brilliant. Somehow it all comes together, in terms of plot and language. The human side of the plot - conflicting love interests resolved by supernatural means, entertained by a local am dram group - is straightforward enough; the special bit is the fairy world. And somehow here Shakespeare manages to construct an alien culture, beings which have super powers yet whose motivations remain mostly familiar. Not knowing the play, I tended to assume the fairies would be more or less of the Andrew Lang variety, but these are much more serious beings.

It seemed comparatively short, and the text seems more approachable; certainly the humorous and farcical aspects of the plot are pretty timeless (none of the incomprehensible wordplay scenes of, say, Love's Labour's Lost). In particular, to my surprise, Bottom stands out as a vivid character - the guy in the club who thinks the whole thing revolves around him, and because he thinks so it has largely become true; and even having his head turned into a donkey's while the fairy queen makes love to him doesn't seriously faze him.

The Arkangel production has veteran comedian Roy Hudd doing a superb Bottom (climaxing with a glorious Pyramus death scene), and two other particularly good performances: David Harewood as Oberon and Adjoah Andoh (Martha's mother in Doctor Who) as Titania, playing the fairy couple with Caribbean accents, which of course adds to their exotic characterisations (as does the effective soundscape). Amanda Root and Saskia Wickham are good also as the human girls, Hermia and Helena. The most enjoyable so far. ( )

This play is an old version of a bad sitcom. ( )

A comedy by Shakespeare on love and marriage. The way he mixes English culture with ancient mythology is brilliant. ( )

I know this is one of the "easy" plays, and therefore as a university-educated literary scholar I'm not supposed to like it as much as the others, but it (except for, perhaps, "The Tempest) is my favorite. I find the language beautiful, and the plot makes me laugh every time. Shakespeare's works are more enjoyable when the reader (or preferably, the person watching the performance) can see themselves in the work, and I think this is very true of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," much more so than in, say, some of the histories. And in my humble opinion, the Arden Shakespeare editions are by far superior, if you're going to work with the individual paperbacks.

Kritika? A Mesterről? Ugyanmár!:) ( )

This was the first play of Shakespeare's that I read, and it's remained one of my favorites. It's funny, there's magic and fairies and romance. It's utterly ridiculous at times, but that's just part of the charm. ( )

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

So says Theseus, Duke of Athens in this delightful comedy by Shakespeare.

Reading the background information on Shakespeare's plays is almost as interesting as the play itself. Shakespeare's sources on the drama came from authors such as Chaucer (The Knight's Tale), Plutarch (Lives), and Ovid (Metamorphoses).

Punny, funny, full of word-play and bawdy humor, it's an absolute delight to read, not to mention watch on stage. Highly recommended. You won't regret it. ( )

Having taken a Shakespeare class in college, I've read, studied and analyzed a number of the bard's plays. This was a sleeper as it turned out to be my favorite. If a book this old can make me laugh, that says something, especially when most television shows today can't make me smirk. ( )

http://books.moonsoar.com/archives/20... ( )

One of my favourite Shakespeare plays, very witty and funny. ( )