3.5 stars

Jun 27, 130pm ~~ Second-to-last in my Shakespeare Project, A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays. I have read it many times (pre-GR) and have seen the James Cagney movie version so much that whenever I read the play I see the cast from that movie playing each character.

But for my video as part of this project, I will be watching a 1968 film with Judi Dench and Helen Mirren. I will be back for a more complete review after the show.

8pm ~~ Okay, I have just watched the 1968 film featuring Judi Dench as Titania, Diana Rigg as Helena, and a very young Helen Mirren as Hermia. I did not recognize any of the men's names except for Ian Holm who played a delicious Robin Goodfellow. Certainly not my favorite version, but it caught the attention, anyway. Very 'sixties'. lol

As for more comments on the play itself, I enjoyed it as much as ever. I know I am not really saying much, but I don't read Shakespeare to analyze him, I read him for all those lovely words and for the stories. I think he would have had great fun writing this play. I am sure I will read it many more times in years to come.

I recall seeing A Midsummer Night's Dream at Vizcaya in Miami when I was in high school and finding it delightful and mesmerizing. The theme of mistaken identity and the inclusion of magic are common tropes in Shakespearean comedy and their use by Puck in this marvelous work makes for great reading and unforgettable theatre. The bucolic countryside where most of the play occurs looks forward to the other pastoral works (As You Like It and The Tempest and is truly refreshing in this context. The play within a play and epilogue by Bottom are some of Shakespeare's highest moments of comedy (from the poor acting) and poetry (in the dreamlike ending). A truly extraordinary read to repeat over and over again.

Fino's Reviews of Shakespeare and Shakespearean Criticism
Comedies
The Comedy of Errors (1592-1593
The Taming of the Shrew (1593-1594)
The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594-1595)
Love's Labour's Lost (1594-1595)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595-1596)
The Merchant of Venice (1596-1597)
Much Ado About Nothing (1598-1599)
As You Like It (1599-1600)
Twelfth Night (1599-1600)
The Merry Wives of Windsor (1600-1601)
All's Well That Ends Well (1602-1603)
Measure for Measure (1604-1605)
Cymbeline (1609-1610)
A Winter's Tale (1610-1611)
The Tempest (1611-1612)
Two Noble Kinsmen (1612-1613)

Histories
Henry VI Part I (1589-1590)
Henry VI Part II (1590-1591)
Henry VI Part III (1590-1591)
Richard III (1593-1594)
Richard II (1595-1596)
King John (1596-1597)
Edward III (1596-1597)
Henry IV Part I (1597-1598)
Henry IV Part II (1597-1598)
Henry V (1598-1599)
Henry VIII (1612-1612)

Tragedies
Titus Andronicus (1592-1593)
Romeo and Juliet (1594-1595)
Julius Caesar (1599-1600)
Hamlet (1600-1601)
Troilus and Cressida (1601-1602)
Othello (1604-1605)
King Lear (1605-1606)
Macbeth (1605-1606)
Anthony and Cleopatra (1606-1607)
Coriolanus (1607-1608)
Timon of Athens (1607-1608)
Pericles (1608-1609)

Shakespearean Criticism
The Wheel of Fire by Wilson Knight
A Natural Perspective by Northrop Frye
Shakespeare After All by Marjorie Garber
Shakespeare's Roman Plays and Their Background by M W MacCallum
Shakespearean Criticism 1919-1935 compiled by Anne Ridler
Shakespearean Tragedy by A.C. Bradley
Shakespeare's Sexual Comedy by Hugh M. Richmond
Shakespeare: The Comedies by R.P. Draper
Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics by Stephen Greenblatt
1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare by James Shapiro

Collections of Shakespeare
Venus and Adonis, the Rape of Lucrece and Other Poems
Shakespeare's Sonnets and a Lover's Complaint
The Complete Oxford Shakespeare

This is officially my absolute favorite of Shakespeare's plays!!!

this feels like shakespeare was on drugs when he wrote it but it is still very fun

بالاخره! اولین کاری که از شکسپیر خوندم.
لعنت به من اگه از این به بعد بخاطر ترس بیخود از اسامی بزرگ خوندنشون رو بیش از حد به تعویق بندازم.

و اما اینکه چرا بین این همه نمایشنامه سراغ این یکی رفتم: چون حین خوندن کمیک سند من بودم و جایی رسیدم که یه چپتر (چپتر 19) تماما اختصاص داره به همین نمایشنامه و شخصیت خود مورفیس که بیننده نمایشه. و این طوری شد که خوندن سندمن استاپ خورد تا زمانی که خودم این نمایشنامه رو بخونم.

درمورد خود نمایشنامه: نمیدونم چرا، ولی از شکسپیر انتظار کمدی نداشتم. همیشه حس میکردم کاراکتراش یسری آدم خشکن که جمجمه دست گرفتن و دیالوگ فلسفی میگن. ولی اون کمدی ابزوردی که بازیگرای درون نمایش به وجود آورده بودن واقعا جالب بود. مخصوصا کاراکتر دیوار و مردی که نقش نور ماه رو داره. یاد برره افتادم که یه ادم نقش بازوبند سهراب رو ایفا میکرد. :))

از ترجمش اطلاعی ندارم ولی توصیه میکنم انگلیسی بخونیدش. من خودم از روی کتابی که سایت
Cliff Notes
تهیه کرده خوندم. کنار متن کلمات قدیمی و سخت رو معنی کرده و اون کلماتی که معنی دوگانه دارن رو هم کامنت کرده. اخر هر پرده و هر صحنه هم یه بررسی کلی از لحاظ زبانی و آرایه های ادبی داره. البته کنار دستم متن مدرن شده
No fear Shakespeare
رو داشتم که واقعا کمک بزرگی بود. ولی خب خوندن متن مدرنش خالی خالی لذتی نداره. مخصوصا دیالوگای فیری ها که بلند بلند خوندنش و حس کردن اون ریتمش چیز دیگه‌ایه.
در آخر هم میخوام از کسانی که این ریویو رو خوندن خواهش کنم اگه اقتباس سینمایی یا نمایشی (تئاتر) درست درمونی از این نمایشنامه می‌شناسید معرفی کنید.
Thank thee in advance

پ.ن.: راستی! تازه فهمیدم اون شخصیت پاک(پوک) تو برزرک از کجا اومده.

2.5 rounded to 3!

I didn't enjoy the story at all. People classify it as a comedy. But I felt it was a cruel joke on the lovers. I often felt the characters of Lysander (when he was under the influence of the potion) and Demetrius were rude to Hermia and Helena respectively. And how dare Oberon try to make Titania look like a fool, just because she didn't obey him? I felt this was totally misogynistic (can't complain, considering the time at which the story was written).

And Puck! He makes mistakes after mistakes and doesn't feel sorry. I'm just glad that in the end things work out favourably for everyone. Definitely not my favourite Shakespeare play.

Gonna tell people Nick Bottom is my stage name

3.5 stars

Sometimes, I feel that I just do not get Shakespeare! This particular explanation, for its face value, is neutral in its tone and execution, for this play is so absurd, but it almost seems like it is trying to be as such. While Shakespeare has been known to borrow his plots, I would say that his tragedies are better than his comedies in the way that the elements to his tragedies are a bit more original (or is it the fact that we have seen elements of his comedies time and time again). In a way, this was original, but I feel that the structure of who loves who and who everyone wants who to be with is something I am way too familiar.

In this case, Lysander and Demetrius love Hermia, Hermia loves Lysander, Helena loves Demetrius, while Theseus, the Duke of Athens, and Egeus, Hermia's father, want Hermia to be with Demetrius. Meanwhile, Theseus turns to a group of workers, including Nick Bottom, to provide the entertainment. Bottom wants to play all of the parts in this play that they are planning to put on. There is also a group of fairies that mirror the participants in this play and Puck, who plays a key role in the many alterations of what takes place in this play.

This is by no means my favorite Shakespeare play, but it is certainly unique! It is as organized as an episode of The Muppet Show and just as insane, but if that's what you like, then this is the play for you!

You can find the Literary Gladiators discussion of this play (containing spoilers) here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7Dm9...

1.5
Midsummer-Nights Dream is another book I forgot to add to my GR 'read' list but I still remember reading this book in high school (secondary school in England) and feeling bemused and sometimes confused by it's surreal plot, imagery and characters that made no sense. This is how it looked to my teenage mind....


Several main character where running around in the forest for whatever reason (probably a spell was involved because that's the only things that makes sense) and there was a love circle or square. e.g. one of the women loved a guy, he loved another but that woman was in love with some other guy who in turn had eyes only for another woman who may or may not have been the first woman who was in love with the other guy who... you get the idea.

There was even a woman who was cursed by a fairy to full in love with a donkey called Bottom! All I could remember thinking was...WTF! Seriously, what is going on here?! Why is it Okay to make a woman croon and say poetic lovey-dovey words to a man with a Donkey's head...or was he mostly Donkey or altogether Donkey...I have no idea!

I never really liked Midsummer-Nights Dream and it's hallucinogenic aspect. The whole thing left me feeling bemused and wondering why we couldn't pick and choose which of Shakespeare's work to study? I would've voted for Othello and if we were given a wider selection to choose from, my first choice would've been Wuthering Heights but I would've liked to study The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Picture of Dorian Gray and Animal Farm to name a few. I can just imagine how enthusiastic my class mates would've been, how many of us teens would've been interested in talking, discussing and writing about any of these books. Watching the movie of adaption would've also been the icing on the cake...And what's better than visual arts to bring a story to life and make it memorable. But the school (aka the government's rigid curriculum) insists in making education dull and dreary instead of fun, engaging, relevant and educational. *sigh* But I digress from my point.

In my teens I didn't appreciate Midsummer-Nights Dream and instead, I found it confusing, weird and pointless. Having read read some of Shakespeare's other work later in collage. I know that Shakespeare was a wily old genius so he must've had a point to make in this book. Right? At least I hope so.

I can't wait to read this book as an adult and see what I've missed. Hopefully, it'll make a lot more sense this time. And just in case, I have a diagram to keep track of what's going on and who is who in this surreal world.


I'm prepared!

Эта пьеса достаточно легка, свадебно-любовная тема, очевидно, была уместной на свадьбе заказчика (кто он - ответа не нашлось). В пьесе много любовных пар, но конфликт строится вокруг отношений Гермии и Лизандра и посягающего на их разрыв Деметрия. Герои пьесы заимствованы из совершенно не связанных между собой источников - античные герои встречаются на одной сцене с героями английского фольклора и "Метаморфоз" Овидия. Но Гермия, Елена, Лизандр и Деметрий выдуманы Шекспиром.
Веселая путаница забавляет, но не более того.

Personally I think this was a good start for my reintroduction to Shakespeare. It is quite sad that I have forgotten of such a mastermind Playwright since my school days.

There is no introduction needed for a book great as this and as my review continues, I hope the readers take it with a grain of salt. This is completely based on my personal opinions regarding the play. As far as comedy goes this play does fall in the upper tier in my list and that is without doubt due to the pure wit that Shakespeare managed to incorporate in just a few pages. Plays itself generally bore me and it is with a heavy heart I look back on how most of plays of this era has lost its charm. But with comparison to the utter tragedy that books and movies have takes, the plays are still surviving and holding fast somewhat better.

Comparing masterpieces to contemporary pieces is a shame in reality. The audience and the following plays such as these have gotten has made lot of us not look at its flaws. Even myself right now would be blind to them as I have nothing to say about it too. The manner that the story has something in relation to contemporary structures too is astonishing. I’m sure we can find forlorn lovers like Hermia, Lysander, Helena and Demetrius in the 21st century too.

Now that I have read my comedy, I am ready to dive into a tragedy of Shakespeare. I shall steel my heart and go forward this.