A Midsummer Night's Dream (Signet Classics)
by William Shakespeare
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Book Summary Information
Author: William ShakespeareEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1998-05-01
ISBN: 0451526961
Number of pages: 240
Publisher: Signet Classics
Book Reviews of A Midsummer Night's Dream (Signet Classics)
Book Review: Shakespeare + faeries
Summary: 5 Stars
From what I've seen, this may be the single most popular Shakespearean play to perform in high school. The language (as always) is hard to decipher and harder to memorize and deliver in a meaningful way, but audiences love the show, and the lighting, costume, and set designers have a field day with creating the visual look of the play. Because, hey--fairies! Everyone loves brightly colored, sparkly things. But it's not just the fantasy-world part of the play that's appealing. The crossed-up romances between the two Athenian couples are fairly fun to watch, and the "mechanicals" or lower class people who perform the play-within-a-play are downright hilarious, since it's always enjoyable to watch intentionally over the top acting.
Like most comedies, it could be a tragedy if a few things had just gone differently. Hermia and Lysander love each other, but Hermia's dad wants her to marry Demetrius. Demetrius loves(?) Hermia, but he used to love Helena. Helena loves Demetrius, but he now hates her and she has to watch him pursue her best friend. That's the opening of the play--everybody's miserable and nobody has what they want. Even Theseus, the Duke of Athens, doesn't have what he wants, though his marriage to Hippolyta the surprisingly sedate queen of the Amazons will be performed in a few days. If the pretty people in the mortal world are discontent, the pretty people in the fairy world are even more so. King Oberon and Queen Titania are separated, and every time they meet they quarrel over who gets custody of a particular changeling child. But their beef is really more about respect--Oberon wants it, Titania's not ready to give it, and nature itself is suffering from their discord.
The nighttime forest outside of Athens is where the action moves for the whole middle of the play. The strict sense of Athens is loosened a bit and all kinds of magic are now possible. Duke Theseus appears to be a just and sympathetic ruler, but he's the steward of some rigorous laws (like the one that says Hermia has to marry the groom her father picks, or else become a nun or be executed); Oberon, on the other hand, does establish a certain kind of order for his realm, but the rules are nearly arbitrary. He instigates some chaos when he gives Titania a love potion that makes her fall in love with a silly donkey-headed mortal (it sort of makes sense in context. Sort of), but he also has a tender heart and tries to make Helena happy again. But even Oberon's kind intentions inadvertently lead to chaos when his right hand man Puck gives a love potion to the wrong guy. Now Lysander and Demetrius have switched alliances and love(?) Helena, which both Helena and Hermia view as a nasty practical joke. Puck thinks it's hilarious, but Oberon wants the couples put right. And after Titania has acted like a loon for awhile, Oberon's ready to undo her spell, too. It's not precisely clear who's in the wrong in the Oberon-Titania conflict, and it doesn't seem to matter how they resolve their conflict, so long as it gets resolved.
When I was in high school, I really liked the whole love mix-up with the couples, but now it kind of bothers me. The guys don't have much to lose in any case, and the girls have everything to lose. But aside from that, I notice that two of the lovers have really ambivalent characteristics. At first, Helena she seems like a poor heartbroken girl who has been treated abominably, and then she seems like a deranged stalker with deep-set psychological problems. Her ex Demetrius is also a deranged stalker, and an even worse one than Helena because while Helena can't do Demetrius any harm, he absolutely could harm Hermia, his object of affection. But this is a comedy, so all the crazy people are happily settled and constructively socialized by the end of the play.
For all the difficulties, this play is still very funny and very charming. And it has fairies! If you haven't seen it, don't worry. Your local high school is probably planning a production of it at this very moment.
Summary of A Midsummer Night's Dream (Signet Classics)
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.Classics Books
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