Other editions of book A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night's Dream is perhaps Shakespeare's most popular play, particularly as a first introduction to Shakespeare for children--filled as it is with a marvelous mixture of aristocrats, workers, and fairies. For this edition, Peter Holland's introduction looks at dreams and dreamers, tracing the materials out of which Shakespeare constructs his world of night and shadows.

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A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream is one of Shakespeare’s most beloved and most performed comedies. This fanciful tale follows a group of amateur thespians and two Athenian couples into a magical, moonlit forest where they encounter mischievous fairies, ruled by Oberon and Titania, king and queen of the fairy kingdom. The play begins in anticipation of the wedding between Duke Theseus of Athens and the Amazonian Queen, Hippolyta. The lovely Hermia argues with her father who has demanded she should marry Demetrius, a man she cares nothing for. Hermia is in love with Lysander. When her father informs Theseus of his daughter’s wishes, reminding them both that the penalty for disobeying one’s father is death, the Duke issues a compromise. Hermia can either marry Demetrius or live a life worshipping the goddess Diana as a nun. Hermia and Lysander decide their only option is to elope, and run off together through the forest. Before leaving, Hermia told her plan to her friend, Helena. Helena, in love and spurned by Demetrius, share Hermia and Lysander’s plan with him, hoping to garner his approval. Instead, Demetrius becomes furious, and sets off through the forest after his betrothed with Helena in close pursuit. A Midsummer’s Night Dream remains a delightful journey into a moonlit reverie.

Shakespeare's most imaginative and merry play is set in an enchanted wood amidst fairies and sprites.When Oberon, King of the Fairies, uses his magic upon four runaway lovers in a midsummer wood outside Athens, chaos ensues. Who really loves whom? Meanwhile, a band of well-meaning but bungling local actors have their rehearsal sabotaged by the mischievous Puck, who bewitches their leader, Bottom, and Titania, the Fairy Queen. The result is a lively and anarchic comedy which can only be resolved by an elaborate disentangling of spells.Hermia is played by Amanda Root, Oberon by David Harewood, and Bottom by Roy Hudd.

Lysander loves Hermia, but Hermia is to be married to Demetrius, who is still the apple of Helena's eye. Hermia and Lysander plan to elope so they tell Helena, who warns Demetrius. Demetrius follows Hermia into the woods, then Helena follows Demetrius. When Oberon, king of the fairies, uses his magic to cast a spell on the four runaway lovers in a midsummer wood outside Athens, chaos ensues. This wonderful production is performed by Roy Hudd, Amanda Root, and the Arkangel cast.

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, suggested by "The Knight's Tale" from Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, written around 1594 to 1596. It portrays the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of amateur actors, their interactions with the Duke and Duchess of Athens, Theseus and Hippolyta, and with the fairies who inhabit a moonlit forest. The play is one of Shakespeare's most popular works for the stage and is widely performed across the world.