A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Well I am happy that I finally finished my William Shakespeare list from 2015. This last one was a bugger. As I said in my quick update, I thought the whole thing rhymed so much it took me out of the play. I found myself saying lines out loud to myself and then kind of bee bopping around my living room. Pretty much I was doing a lot of things, but not really reading the play. I know this one is a favorite with some people, but I think this would be more interesting to watch on stage (or in a movie/tv show) than actually reading the play.

Suffice it to say this was typical Shakespeare, people running around in love, not with each other for the most part, and then misunderstandings ensue (this time because of magic) and in the end all is right with the world by the time we get to the ending. Or at least all is right with most people.

One reason why I did find this play so interesting though is because two of the players are Theseus and Hippolyta. I have always been fascinated by Hippolyta because it pained me to read about how the Queen of the Amazons was taken and forced to give up being an Amazon. Depending on what Greek myth you read (and luckily for me when I was a kid I had several versions to these two) either Hippolyta was killed by Hercules (FYI I was never a fan of his at all) or she was taken or willingly left with Theseus for Athens.

Other than these two I was not that interested in the other players besides Oberon and Titiana. I was actually surprised that Shakespeare had a male character (though he is a fairy) fighting with his wife over a slave boy. I think there has been subtext in prior Shakespeare's plays about homosexuality, but it has never been overt, see Twelfth Night.

The play really didn't take too long to finish once I made myself sit and finish it. The acts were pretty short. You can also follow along with what is happening though I had the Folger's version of the play which provides definitions for some of the words. ( )

This play is wild. I'll probably re-write this review in like a week when it really sits with me. But I mean, it's Shakespeare. The words sound good. It's kind of hard to follow but impressive none-the-less. Acts 2 and 3 are definitely what I enjoyed the most. Bottom fan for life. ( )

It's a consistently fun romance with a larger dose of humor than some of his plays, which I appreciated. ( )

A reasonably mild edition of a great play, but one that will be eminently suitable for highschool students and actors. ( )

2019
https://www.librarything.com/topic/306026#6847791 ( )