Customer Reviews

A Midsummer Night's Dream (Folger Shakespeare Library)

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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.

"A Midsummer Night's Dream" was the first Shakespearean work (aside from a few sonnets) I read. It was throughly enjoyable, although none of it was all that funny. Our teacher did continually call the boy who played Bottom an ass-head, which I'm sure enhanced the experience for me. The plot is pretty simple, though it being Shakespearean, it could be a little difficult to keep track of. This particular edition I found helpful. It includes definitions of some unknown words, as well as a section of famous quotes, which I found quite interesting. In general, I liked the play, and the Folger Shakespeare Library made the experience better.

This series of books produced by the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC is excellent for several reasons. The text of the play is presented on the right page and the appropriate translations into modern English or explanations of Renaissance references is explained on the facing left hand page. This allows the reader to understand more fully the main and subtle points of the play. This also provides and insight into contemporary 1600s life with the play's references to contemporary events or common knowledge of the times.

Also the books have chapters discussing each play, Shakespeare's theater of the those times, how the play fits into that world and hints on how it might be staged or presented. One of the stated purposes of this series is to provide enough understanding and clarity so that the reader can stage the play in their own head as they read. I think the books are very successful at this.

I always prefer to read the book before seeing the play: it is a great advantage to understand the dialogue and the references within the speeches. These books are excellent for the new reader of Shakespeare, whatever the age, or the reader more familiar with the bard's work.

This particular play, A Midsummer Night's Dream is perhaps the author's most loved comedy. It addresses romance, faithfulness, human hearts, honest intentions, mischievous intentions, the interaction of the other world of fairies interacting with humans, comedy a plenty, and in the end a happy ending: a favorite to be performed by less experienced casts on an outdoor summer stage (all the more reason to be familiar with the play beforehand).

Plays, even plays classified as comedies in the modern sense, don't always have a light spirit. For example, one famous scene of "Much Ado About Nothing" is flatly painful, and the viciousness of the "bad guy" in the play is fierce enough to keep present-day readers from ever relaxing.

This play, however, is light. It starts silly, stays silly, and ends silly. It is a comedy of errors, of crossed young lovers, of crossed old husbands and wives, of a kindly but perilous king and his considerate warrior queen, and of forest spirits causing mischief (accidentally) and then (honorably) setting their mischief right. Most of all, the play is about Nick Bottom, Peter Quince, Francis Flute, Tom Snout, Snug (the joiner), and Robin Starveling, the greatest thespians of their age or any other, and of their play within this play, The Most Lamentable Comedy and Most Cruel Death of Pyramus and Thisbe.

Everyone should meet Nick Bottom at least once.

A reader wishing to escape a while into a light-hearted place should consider this play. It is easy to read, easy on the heart; the poetry is beautiful; and the play is genuinely funny.

PS. As a general guide through the plays, readers new to Shakespeare might consider an inexpensive and famous book of criticisms by someone that really loved Shakespeare's plays: Shakespeare (New York Review Books Classics).

The edition is clean, clear, and easy-to-read, with just enough helpful notes on the facing page.

I was able to read the entire book and understand the notes on it. Only problem I had was that the book appeared to be in a toddlers reach or small child. The book was full of pieces of old candy on some of the pages pages. After a nice shake on top of a garbage bin book was okay.

this is my personal favorite shakespeare novel partly because it includes fairies playing with love. ha ha ha ha ha.