A Midsummer Night's Dream (Signet Classics) [Mass Market Paperback]

William Shakespeare (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1998

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

• Mass Market Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Signet Classics; 2nd annotated edition edition (May 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451526961
• ISBN-13: 978-0451526960
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,637 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #4 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > Drama > Playwrights, A-Z > ( S )
  • #4 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( S ) > Shakespeare, William
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What night-rule now about this haunted grove?, June 11, 2010

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Midsummer Night's Dream (Signet Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

It's neither the best nor worst of Shakespeare's many comedies, but "A Midsummer Night's Dream" definitely holds one honor -- it's the most fantastical of his works. This airy little comedy is filled with fairies, spells, love potions and romantic mixups, with only the bland human lovers making things a little confusing (who's in love with whom again?).

As Athens prepares for the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta, the fusty Egeus is demanding that his daughter Hermia marry the man he's chosen for her, Demetrius. Her only other options are death or nunhood.

Since she's in love with a young man named Lysander (no, we never learn why her dad hates Lysander), Hermia refuses, and the two of them plot to escape Athens and marry elsewhere. But Helena, a girl who has been kicked to the curb by Demetrius, tips him off about their plans; he chases Hermia and Lysander into the woods, with Helena following him all the way. Are you confused yet?

But on this same night, the fairy king Oberon and his queen Titania are feuding over a little Indian boy. Oberon decides to use a magical "love juice" from a flower to cause some trouble for Titania by making her fall in love with some random weaver named Nick Bottom (whom his henchman Puck has turned into a donkey-headed man). He also decides to have Puck iron out the four lovers' romantic troubles with the same potion. But of course, hijinks ensue.

"A Midsummer Night's Dream" is another one of Shakespeare's plays that REALLY needs to be seen before it's read. Not only is it meant to be seen rather than read, but the tangle of romantic problems and hijinks are a little difficult to follow... okay, scratch that. They can be VERY difficult to follow, especially if you need to keep the four lovers straight.

But despite those small flaws, Shakespeare is in rare form here -- the story floats along in an enchanted haze of fairy magic, forest groves, and a love square that twists in on itself. And Shakespeare's lush, haunting poetry is absolutely lovely here ("With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine/There sleeps Titania sometime of the night/Lull'd in these flowers with dances and delight...").

But he also packs it with plenty of hilarity -- not only is it funny to read about the haughty fairy queen fawning over a guy with a donkey head (Nick Bottom = "ass's head", get it?), but there's plenty of funny moments in the dialogue ("Thisby, the flowers of odious savours sweet...").

The four main lovers are relatively bland and interchangeable, and we never find out much about them except that Helena is kind of stalkerish and not too bright (she tips off the guy she likes that the girl HE likes is eloping so he can stop her?). The real draws are the fairy creatures -- Titania and Oberon are proud alien creatures filled with both cruelty and kindness, and Puck is delightfully mischievous and.... puckish.

"A Midsummer Night's Dream" is a shimmering little concoction of magic, romantic mayhem and fairy squabbling. Absolutely stunning.

5.0 out of 5 stars For the faint of heart, December 7, 2011

By 

S. Hartanto - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Midsummer Night's Dream (Signet Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

Unlike many of Shakespeare's plays, A Midsummer Night's Dream is neither tragic nore overly didactic. Although the conflict between the young lovers (Hermia, Helena, Lysander, and Demetrius) is distressing for the characters involved, Shakespeare structures the story in such a way that the debacle becomes light-hearted and fanciful. One way he does this is by using fairies as central characters. Unlike in Macbeth or Hamlet, where the occult is dark and foreboding, A Midsummer Night's Dream's mystic is playful and charming. For example, fairies named after flowers lull their queen to sleep with a fairy song.

Another device Shakespeare uses to lighten the mood is humor, most strongly found in the characters Puck and Bottom. Puck, a mischievous sprite, is nothing less than a prankster. At one point, he turns Bottom's head into that of a donkey. The other comic relief, Bottom, is an unsophisticated, rough-around-the-edges tradesman who thinks himself to be quite the opposite. Humor is created through Bottom's delusions; the gravity with which Bottom delivers his line (in the play-within-the-play) contradicts his numerous grammatical and rhetorical errors, and he does not question Titania's doting love for him, convinced that he indeed deserving of it. In addition to these two characters, the four Athenian lovers and the lovers Pyramus and Thisby (in the subplay) act with such melodrama that they reinforce A Midsummer Night's Dream's categorization as a satire instead of a drama.

Shakespeare meant for the audience to partake in the lovers' troubles while still being distanced and detached from them. This allows for an entertaining, carefree theatrical experience that doesn't weigh one down.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterpiece, October 19, 2006

By 

Marina - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Midsummer Night's Dream (Signet Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

This play was one of Shakespeares best. It was beautiful,magical and it made me laugh.The fairies were the perfect piece of magic to make this play work. I loved how Shakespeare combined the real world and the spiratual world together. My favourite character of all of Shakespeares character was definately Helena. She reminded me of myself. Shakespeare was great at showing how the course of true love never does run smooth with the four characters. I recommend this play to everyone. It was simply beautiful.