Description
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Penguin classics)
Paperback
by Shakespeare, William
- Publisher : Penguin Classics (2015), Edition: 1, 224 pages
- Language : English
- Paperback : 2018
- ISBN-10 : ?935702798X
- ISBN-13 : 9780141396668
- Weight : 0.168
- Dimensions : 12.9×1.3×19.8 cm
This is a raucous comedy that thrusts a quartet of reckless young lovers headfirst into a world of magic and fantasy, William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is edited by Stanley Wells with an introduction by Helen Hackett in Penguin Shakespeare. “Lovers and madmen have such seething brains, such shaping fantasies that apprehend more than cool reason ever comprehends.” (Lovers Lysander and Hermia flee). Athens to escape the authority of their parents, only to be pursued by Hermia’s betrothed Demetrius, and her friend Helena. Unwittingly, all four find themselves in an enchanted forest where Oberon, the king of the fairies, and Titania, his queen, soon take an interest in human affairs, dispensing magical love potions and casting mischievous spells. In this dazzling comedy, confusion ends in harmony, as love is transformed, misplaced, and – ultimately – restored. This book contains a general introduction to Shakespeare’s life and Elizabethan theatre, a separate introduction to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a chronology, suggestions for further reading, an essay discussing performance options on both stage and screen, and a commentary. William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was born to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden sometime in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. He wrote about 38 plays (the precise number is uncertain), many of which are regarded as the most exceptional works of drama ever produced, including Romeo and Juliet (1595), Henry V (1599), Hamlet (1601), Othello (1604), King Lear (1606) and Macbeth (1606), as well as a collection of 154 sonnets, which number among the most profound and influential love-poetry in English. If you enjoyed A Midsummer Night’s Dream, you might like The Taming of the Shrew, also available in Penguin Shakespeare. “He could mingle sublimity with pathos, bitterness with joy and peace with love.” (Aldous Huxley).
Reviews
3.9 rating based on 573,012 ratings (all editions)
ISBN-10: 0141396660
ISBN-13: 9780141396668
Goodreads: 29777271
Author(s):
Published: //
Shakespeare's intertwined love polygons begin to get complicated from the start--Demetrius and Lysander both want Hermia but she only has eyes for Lysander. Bad news is, Hermia's father wants Demetrius for a son-in-law. On the outside is Helena, whose unreturned love burns hot for Demetrius. Hermia and Lysander plan to flee from the city under cover of darkness but are pursued by an enraged Demetrius (who is himself pursued by an enraptured Helena). In the forest, unbeknownst to the mortals, Oberon and Titania (King and Queen of the faeries) are having a spat over a servant boy. The plot twists up when Oberon's head mischief-maker, Puck, runs loose with a flower which causes people to fall in love with the first thing they see upon waking. Throw in a group of labourers preparing a play for the Duke's wedding (one of whom is given a donkey's head and Titania for a lover by Puck) and the complications become fantastically funny.
