A Midsummer Night’s Dream

That Helena is a bitch.
I know the big draw for this play is all the fairy goings-on, but upon re-reading/re-listening to it for the umpteenth time, I was more interested in the insane inner workings of Helena's mind.



Ok. Get this.
Hermia and Lysander are in love. But Hermia's dad wants her to marry Demetrius, and you know how dads can be about that sort of thing. For example, my husband really liked this boy that my oldest daughter dated several years ago. For the purposes of this review, we'll call him Kevin. In his eyes, Kevin was the best boyfriend his little girl could choose. My daughter didn't feel the same. As you may already know, daughters rarely like the guy their fathers want them to like.
And now, because he's petty as hell, he refers to every poor boy that she brings home as Not-Kevin.
Sometimes to their face.



Now. Demetrius is determined to marry Hermia even though she obviously loathes him.
Because some men find rejection sexy.
And Helena is obsessed with Demetrius and follows him around like a puppy. Even though he obviously doesn't want her.
Because some women find rejection sexy, too.



You're probably wondering why Hermia and Lysander don't just give her father a bit of time to cool off with all this Demetrius stuff, right?
Well, because if Hermia doesn't agree to marry Demetrius quick-like, her dad is going to send her to a convent (of Diana b/c this is set in Greece) or have her killed, which is his right under the law...but probably just the convent.
Harsh, right?
This guy makes my husband look tactful, and as you may realize from the above-mentioned story, that's not an easy thing to do.
So, Hermia and Lysander make plans to meet in the woods, run off to the big city, get hitched, and live happily ever after.



Remember how I said Helena is a bitch?
Well, this is where Helena proves she is a level 10 clinger that will do anything for a scrap of attention.
She rats her best friend Hermia's escape plan out to Demetrius!
In the hopes that he...? What? Finds Hermia in time to stop her from marrying someone else? If Hermia is out of the picture, Demetrius will have to look elsewhere for matrimonial prospects!
Helena is just shooting herself in the cooch by telling him that her rival for his love is sneaking off to get married.
A real stalker would know this. <--just saying



She. is. terrible.
And if Demetrius weren't such a douchebag, I probably would have felt a little sorry for him getting saddled with such an obvious crazypants for the rest of his life.



Ok. Enter the fairies.
They have their own problems. The biggest of which is that Oberon is apparently jealous of how much time Titania spends doting on the son of her (now dead) human friend.
God, men are so weird!



So what happens?
Lots of bickering, lots of crying, lots of fairy dust getting thrown around on the wrong people, lots of mistaken love, and of course a dude with an asshead.
Sounds freakishly similar to my early twenties.



I'm sure you know the story. I think most everyone has seen or heard this story in one form or another in their life. And if you haven't read the original play and want to, it's pretty easy to get into. I've read it a few times, but this time around I listened to the full-cast audio version.
It's excellent. And I'd suggest that as an option to anyone who is interested. After all, this was supposed to be acted out, so it works well when you have voice actors doing their thing to bring Shakespeare's story to life.
Highly Recommended.

I love this play so much! This was a reread for me, but I was very happy to study it. It’s such a funny, playful and hilarious. I bet Shakespeare would have made a brilliant comedian. But at the same time, it’s actually so beautifully written that I was in admiration of his skill. With speech alone he combines jokes, wits and beautiful rhythm and rhyme. He’s literally writer goals, to be honest. I love how the final scene echoes Romeo and Juliet and its plot. The final scene is a play within a play, but it’s impossible to tell if Romeo and Juliet was written before or after this one. Did Shakespeare see the end scene was so well received he created an entire separate play based on the mini play? Or did he kind of promote his previous play with this one? Who knows! The epilogue was ironic because a character pretty much just mentioned the uselessness of epilogues, but it’s such a famous and classic epilogue that I’m glad it’s there. Even if solely in jest.

Personajes encantadores para una bella historia de magia y enredos.

Video reseña completa en:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CjkyK50sdPr/

My second Shakespeare play of the year. This one I studied at school, so I've read it before and I had fond enough memories, to have given my son the middle name of Oberon. How do I feel about it now? It was a laugh a minute romp. Completely different to Hamlet, which I read a few months ago. This has a lot more poetry, which worked brilliantly.

Some of it went a little over my head, but many of the lines were genius, right from the first page, such as -
"Hippolyte, I wooed thee with my sword,
And won thy love doing thee injuries;"

Or the more famous lines -
“Lord, what fools these mortals be!”

Or -
“The course of true love never did run smooth.”

I could go on, there are many more quote worthy passages. I adored the whole of Hermia's reaction to losing Lysander's love in act III.

I suppose making these Shakespeare plays extra special for me, is my watching them being performed before reading the play. So each time I read the lines, I remember what I've seen and I think that really adds to the experience.

I'd like to say that I preferred Hamlet as the more accomplished play, but this was so much fun I just can't rate it any less than 5 stars.

What next? Probably Romeo and Juliet, which is the play I know best, though I can't recall watching or reading it in it's entirety. Wish me luck!

n  n    Book Reviewn  n
4 out of 5 stars to A Midsummer Night's Dream, a comedy written in 1595 by William Shakespeare. What a fun read! I first read this in high school and then again in college as part of a course on Shakespeare. Then I watched a few movie versions. It's full of so much humor and creativity. The plot is essentially the impacts of magic, as some fairy dust causes everyone to fall in love with the first person they see -- once the dust falls on them. Imagine the hilarity that ensues in a chain reaction of who loves who. If you want to read a comedy, this would be one of the top 3. It's got lovable characters, lots of understandable metaphors and a ton of memorable and enjoyable scenes.

n  n    About Men  n
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by.

I really enjoyed this play. It was beautifully told, whimsical in parts, and there were fairies. Fairies are never a bad addition to a story, and that made it more of a magical experience. I loved the humour that was present in this, and the fact that Titania fell in love with Bottom, despite having the head of an ass, made me titter.

I know that this is one of the more popular Shakespeare plays, and I can understand why. The themes within this are wonderful, and I enjoyed the fantasy element. Some of it, I admit, went over my head a little, and I had to go back and read it again, but overall, this was a beautiful experience. I definitely will delve into more Shakespeare in the future.

i can not believe that i actually enjoyed a william shakespeare play. what the fucketh

omg this book was so messy and funny!! i’m so happy i got the modern text because i sped right through this