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

The best film version is the RWC 1968 one. My favourite character being the beautiful Diana Rigg as Helena bur Judy Dench as Titania was also gorgeous! Ian Holm played a delightful Puck and Helen Mirren made a cute Hermia. And those little children who played the fairies - absolutely adorable.

Sólo el título de esta obra ya muestra un lirismo asombroso y ni qué decir del desarrollo de la obra misma. Los personajes son muy heterogéneos, tenemos a Hipólita y Teseo, como gobernantes de Atenas por un lado, a unos ciudadanos que forman dos parejas de jóvenes como son Demetrio y Elena y Lisandro y Hermia. luego en el pueblo unos artesanos decididos a representar una pieza para Teseo y por otro lado el mundo fantástico de las hadas con Titania y Oberón, secundados por Puck. Cuando empecé me pareció muy difícil armonizar todo ello pero Shakespeare lo logra con una maestría impresionante, mostrando todo el simbolismo que te pueden aportar tan pintorescos personajes. Particularmente creo hay algunas frases memorables aunque la pieza es simple, me quedo con los intentos de Elena de hacer entrar en razón a Demetrio con una valentía y amor fuera de toda razón. El título de la obra explica todo, una gran confusión originada por el mundo fantástico entre los cuatro jóvenes que al final tiene el final esperado.

To celebrate William Shakespeare on his birthday in April, my plan is to locate a staging of six plays. I'll listen to and watch these on my MacBook, following along to as much of the original text as is incorporated by the production. Later, I'll read the entire play in the modern English version. A good friend I've had since high school recommended this system to me and it's been a very good system for delighting the mind in Shakespeare.

First up, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Written in 1595 and published five years later, some historians believe that this comedy may have been commissioned for an important wedding of the time. Within the play, the Peter Quince Players and their performance of Pyramus and Thisbe for the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta would seem to be a commentary on this. It's also one of the few plays that Shakespeare wrote as an original piece rather than reworking an older play or story already in print.

I found two film versions. Both are faithful to the text, magical and harmless fun. The first was a 1996 adaptation distributed by Miramax Films featuring the Royal Shakespeare Company, a revival that closed quickly on Broadway with some of the same cast members. It was adapted and directed by the former artistic director of the RSC, Adrian Noble, and though the film was not shot in front of an audience, it remains heavily theatrical.

The second was a visually splendid 1999 adaptation from 20th Century Fox starring Kevin Kline as Nick Bottom, Michelle Pfeiffer as Titania, Calista Flockhart as Helena, Christian Bale as Demetrius, Anna Friel as Hermia, Dominic West as Lysander, Sam Rockwell as Francis Flute and Stanley Tucci as Puck. This lavish version was directed and adapted by Michael Hoffman, who relocated the action to the 19th century Italian countryside.

The play opens with Theseus, duke of Athens, preparing for his wedding to Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons. The duke's instructions to raise the youth of Athens in festivity get off to a foul start when one of his constituents, Egeus, enters with his daughter Hermia and her two suitors, Lysander and Demetrius. The old man has arranged for Hermia to marry Demetrius, but her love knows only Lysander, whose plea to the duke that he's just as rich as Demetrius and loves Hermia more falls on deaf ears.

Theseus finds it troubling that Demetrius was engaged to Hermia's friend, Helena, and dumped her to take a better offer from Egeus. But the duke is bound by Athenian law, which gives Hermia the choice of obeying her father, accepting a life of chastity as a nun, or death. He gives her until the new moon to choose. Hermia & Lysander instead make plans to flee Athens and marry outside the law. They share their secret with Helena, who still grieves with her unrequited love to Demetrius. Hoping it will bring them closer together, she conspires to tell her beloved of Hermia & Lysander's plan.

Meanwhile, a group of "hard-handed" Athenian men led by the carpenter Peter Quince make preparations to perform a play for the duke and his bride on their wedding day. This troupe includes the weaver Nick Bottom and the bellows mender Francis Flute, who are to portray the lead roles in what Quince calls A tedious brief scene of young Pyramus and his love Thisbe; very tragical mirth. Bottom, considered to be the epitome of "Athens Got Talent", pleads with Quince to let him play all the parts in the play, but eventually settles on the "tragical" Pyramus. To rehearse, the men set off into the wood.

In the wood, the fairy kingdom has erupted in a civil war between Oberon, king of the fairies and his queen, Titania, who has enraged her husband by taking custody of a good-looking boy, referred to either as a "plaything" or "page" depending on who's telling the story. Oberon summons his jester Puck to get revenge on his wife by procuring a milk-white poppy whose juice -- when laid upon the eyelids of one asleep -- prompts them to fall in love with the first creature they lay eyes on when they wake. By this time, Hermia & Lysander and Helena & Demetrius have stumbled into the wood.

Puck reports to Oberon that after filling Titania's eyes with the love potion, he encountered a group of simpletons rehearsing a play. Puck chose "the shallowest thick skin of that barren sort" and while separated from the others, transformed the simpleton's head into a donkey's. Unaware he's been changed into an ass, Nick Bottom spends a wild night with the queen of the fairies. Instructed to imbibe the youth of Athens in love, Puck drops some love potion in the eyes of Lysander and Demetrius, who upon waking from a nap, both see Helena. Hijinks ensue throughout the wood, with the wedding of the Theseus & Hippolyta fast dawning.

A Midsummer Night's Dream has been called one of most accessible of Shakespeare's plays, maybe for the same reason that The Nutcracker has been called one of the most accessible ballets. The presence of fairies and the antics of Nick Bottom, with the pomposity of a jackass and later the head of one, give the play a strong visual element and doesn't require a command of Elizabethan verse to be totally charmed by. This isn't one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, but I did enjoy it much more than I thought that I would, for two reasons.

1) I loved the juxtaposition between illusion and reality. Supernatural elements are common to Shakespeare but more than any other of his plays I can think of, this is one with the greatest number of characters who share an encounter with the unknown. Today, it would be aliens, but at the time the play was written, it was fairies. There are a lot of references to sleeping and dreaming, to trying to interpret the great enigmas of the universe, all wrapped up in an amusing lark.

2) Like a master, Shakespeare juggles four separate stories and weaves them together wonderfully. I liked the way that Hippolyta studied her groom out of the corner of her eye as he officiated a domestic dispute between his subjects. I liked the earnestness of Nick Bottom, who proves that talent is always secondary to persistence, and the conceit of a group of tradesmen putting on a show. I liked how underneath all the characters was an invisible world of "dreams" giving them inspiration and wisdom.

Joe's Current Ranking of Shakespeare Plays (From Best to Worst):

1) Much Ado About Nothing
2) Twelfth Night
3) Macbeth
4) The Merchant of Venice
5) A Midsummer Night's Dream
6) King Lear
7) The Tempest

YouTube kanalımda Shakespeare'in hayatı, mutlaka okunması gereken kitapları ve kronolojik okuma sırası hakkında bilgi edinebilirsiniz: https://youtu.be/rGxh2RVjmNU

Bir gün 1564 yılında Shakespeare diye bir adam doğmuş ve bir gün 1927 yılında Gabriel Garcia Marquez diye de bir adam doğmuş. Bu iki adam bir masaya oturup konuşmaya başlamışlar. Masa da masaymış ha, adamlar yaşama sevinci içinde masaya kitaplarını koymuş, masa bana mısın dememiş bu kadar yüke. Shakespeare çıkarmış, benim Romeo ve Juliet'im, Hırçın Kız'ım ve Hamlet'im var demiş. Vay sen misin öyle diyen... Marquez çıkarmış, benim Yüzyıllık Yalnızlık'ım, Kırmızı Pazartesi'm ve Yaprak Fırtınası kitabım var, ayık ol demiş. Bu kapışmanın Çiçek Abbas ve Şakir'in "Aşıksan vur saza, şoförsen bas gaza" kapışmasına dönmemesi için Shakespeare ile Marquez aralarında bir karar almışlar. Edebiyat adında herkesin oynamak istediği bir kumar oyununa başlamışlar. Shakespeare, insan ilişkileri ve kadın-erkek arasındaki çıkmazları masaya bahis olarak koymuş. Marquez ise bahis yükseltip fantastik ve gerçek olayların karışımını büyülü bir gerçekçilik ile anlatmayı ve tuhaf olanın artık normalleşmesini masaya koymuş. Bahisler yükselmiş de yükselmiş. Masa da masaymış ha, ikisi de orada dünya üzerinde iki kişinin kazandığı tek kumarı oynamış. Ardından oynadıkları bu kumarın adını Bir Yaz Gecesi Rüyası koymuşlar.