Midsummer Night's Dream (Arden Shakespeare) [Paperback]

William Shakespeare (Author)

Book Description

Series: Arden Shakespeare | Publication Date: June 1979

Newly revised, this comic play by Shakespeare features a new Introduction by Sylvan Barnet, former Chairman of the English Department at Tufts University, an updated bibliography, suggested references, and stage and film history.

Product Details

• Paperback: 265 pages
• Publisher: Arden Shakespeare (June 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0174436068
• ISBN-13: 978-0174436065
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 4.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,453,914 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in April 1564, and his birth is traditionally celebrated on April 23. The facts of his life, known from surviving documents, are sparse. He was one of eight children born to John Shakespeare, a merchant of some standing in his community. William probably went to the King's New School in Stratford, but he had no university education. In November 1582, at the age of eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway, eight years his senior, who was pregnant with their first child, Susanna. She was born on May 26, 1583. Twins, a boy, Hamnet ( who would die at age eleven), and a girl, Judith, were born in 1585. By 1592 Shakespeare had gone to London working as an actor and already known as a playwright. A rival dramatist, Robert Greene, referred to him as "an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers." Shakespeare became a principal shareholder and playwright of the successful acting troupe, the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later under James I, called the King's Men). In 1599 the Lord Chamberlain's Men built and occupied the Globe Theater in Southwark near the Thames River. Here many of Shakespeare's plays were performed by the most famous actors of his time, including Richard Burbage, Will Kempe, and Robert Armin. In addition to his 37 plays, Shakespeare had a hand in others, including Sir Thomas More and The Two Noble Kinsmen, and he wrote poems, including Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. His 154 sonnets were published, probably without his authorization, in 1609. In 1611 or 1612 he gave up his lodgings in London and devoted more and more time to retirement in Stratford, though he continued writing such plays as The Tempest and Henry VII until about 1613. He died on April 23 1616, and was buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford. No collected edition of his plays was published during his life-time, but in 1623 two members of his acting company, John Heminges and Henry Condell, put together the great collection now called the First Folio.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magical and funny play in a fine edition, November 22, 2004

By 

Craig Matteson (Saline, MI) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Midsummer Night's Dream (Arden Shakespeare: Second Series) (Paperback)

There are many reasons for the popularity of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream", not the least among them is the almost unique joining of the humorous misuse of language (by the tradesman actors) and the utter beauty of language and expression (by Puck, Oberon, and Titania). One usually gets a farce of language or an attempt at the sublime. Here the music of the two enriches both.

How can one put together these four disparate plotlines into such a wonderful whole? The quartet of lovers and their mixed and varied attentions forms the basis of the plot in the comedy and it is a delightful enough farce. The squabble of Demitrius and Lysander over Hermia while Helena pines over Demitrius, Oberon and Titania's argument over one of her servants and Oberon's use of Puck to manipulate Titania's affections including Puck's mistaken application of Oberon's potion to Lysander's eyes, the pending marriage of Thesus and Hippolyta, and the wonderfully, magically awful play being put on by the tradesman for the nobles. Putting all this into a wonderful whole is an achievement that I believe is unmatched.

I do want to say that this play has suffered a great deal in our sex obsessed age. We have foisted on this play an eroticism that it does not claim for itself nor display. While the "adult" couples (Thesus & Hippolyta, Oberon & Titania) interact and talk in ways that include that aspect of their lives, the youthful couples always talk and act in ways that are concerned with propriety and modesty. Bottom is hardly the lust blinded brute depicted in modern productions. He is much more interested in eating and chatting with his Fairy friends than Titania. It is Titania who is under the influence of the magic flower who is infatuated with Bottom while he remains quite oblivious to her desires.

In any case, this is a fine edition of the work with many helps for the reader. Almost half the book is filled with introductory essays that provide background on the play and its text. The play itself is full of notes to help the reader understand idioms and definitions of words that are obscure, unique to Shakespeare, or that have changed meaning since 1596. There are four Appendices that cover source materials for the play, realigned text that the editors believe were corrupted in the sources we have for the play and the last one is the prologue to the play that Peter Quince butchers to the amusement of the nobles. The appendix provides us with the prologue with correct punctuation, as Quince should have read it.

All the background material is interesting and enriches our understanding of the play. But it is the play that matters and is so much fun to read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shakespeare is hilarious!, May 27, 2000

By 

Michele Eggen - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Midsummer Night's Dream: Playgoer's Edition (Arden Shakespeare Second) (Paperback)

Anyone who has read this play will say that it was a riot. What's even better than reading it, though, is seeing it performed live. My face hurt because I was laughing so hard! But if you do read it, and you have that problem about understanding what it's saying, not a big deal! The flavorful but easy to read dialouge makes it simple to understand what's going on. But, you can always get the New Folger edition that has explanations of certain parts on the opposite page (very helpful for when Shakespeare makes a joke that doesn't make any sense to us now). This play is laugh-out-loud funny and almost anyone can enjoy it.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent publication, September 20, 2007

By 

K. E. Larson (Landenberg, PA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Midsummer Night's Dream (Arden Shakespeare: Second Series) (Paperback)

The Arden series was requested as a gift and by someone who knows it well. Shakespearean students will appreciate this publication.