n  n    “Lord, what fools these mortals be!” n  n

I became a fan of plays when I read a few of them in my English book. They were very good. I liked them. Ever since I wanted to read more of them and of course when I searched for them, Shakespeare’s name was on top.

A while ago I was afraid of reading them because of the classical English. But few days ago, I thought to try them and will use Google as a guide. And now I can’t explain how much happy I’m right now... Even though I faced difficulty to understand at first but with some help of Google, I enjoyed the play a lot. Now I’m getting a little bit used to of the writing.

"Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind"

I love this play so much. I love William Shakespeare more than life itself.

Going into this I knew that 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream' was going to be a little bit different from the other Shakespeare plays I’ve read. It had a lot fantasy aspects to it and a interesting combination between a comedy and a drama. It worked really well and made the whole play confusing in a good way, if that makes sense.

Something I noticed was how much easier I found it to follow the plot. Yes there were notes and although they were REALLY helpful, I feel like I definitely could have managed without them.

The characters were so diverse and interesting, which made the plot so much more funny and interesting. The characters and the relationship between the them is so ridiculous at times that it was difficult not to laugh out loud.

This is one of my new favorites.

شکسپیر را به دلایل بسیار متفاوت و گاه متناقضی می‌ستایند. مثلن شاعر نئوکلاسیک قرن هجدهمی (الکساندر پوپ) می‌گوید شکسپیر تنها نویسنده‌ی واقعن اصیل تاریخ است. بقیه (حتا هومر)، هر اندازه چیره‌دست، باز هم از دیگران گرته‌برداری کرده‌اند و این را می‌شود از شخصیت‌هایشان فهمید که نسخه‌هایی دست چندم‌اند. اما شکسپیر، با اینکه از بسیاری الهام گرفته، شخصیت‌هایش را چون انسان‌هایی واقعی متمایز از هم آفریده است. تنها چند سال بعد، دیگر نویسنده‌ی هم‌مسلک پوپ (ساموئل جانسون) درباره‌ی رویای نیمه‌شب تابستان می‌گوید که هنر شکسپیر این است که شخصیت‌هایش واقعن شخصیت نیستند! یعنی قبل از اینکه کاراکتری منحصربه‌فرد در اثر باشند، نمادی از گونه‌ی انسانی‌اند و به همین خاطر است که هر کس می‌تواند با آنها همدل شود. چند دهه بعد، شاعر رمانتیک (ویلیام هزلیت) شکسپیر را به این خاطر ستایش می‌کند که این نمایشنامه آنقدر آن‌جهانی و خیال‌انگیز است که هر اجرایی خیانتی‌ست به آن، چون این‌جهانی‌اش می‌کند. اما آقای شاعر فکر این را نکرده بوده که علت جذابیت برای مخاطبان دو و نیم قرن بعد، همین کیفیت این‌جهانی و بازی آگاهانه با مدیوم تئاتر است.

به‌گمانم آدم‌های بزرگ یک ویژگی مهم‌شان همین است که هر کسی از ظن خود یارشان می‌شود و شکسپیر هم مستثنا نیست از این قانون نانوشته. اما رویای نیمه‌شب تابستان واقعن درباره‌ی چیست؟

قرار است تسئوس پادشاه آتنی و نامزدش هیپولیتا با هم ازدواج کنند. اژئوس —مردی شناخته‌شده در آتن— برای دخترش هرمیا شوهری برگزیده به‌نام دمتریوس، اما هرمیا عاشق لیساندر است و دمتریوس هم خودش معشوق هلنا. به این‌ها اضافه کنید پادشاه و ملکه پریان را که چند وقتی‌ست سر موضوعی میانه‌شان شکرآب است و همچنین گروهی بازیگر آماتور که قصد دارند در مراسم ازدواج تسئوس و هیپولیتا نمایشی اجرا کنند. نمایشی که مثل پادشاه آتن و همسرش از دل اساطیر یونان بیرون آمده‌ (و مورد علاقه‌ی کلاسیسیست‌هاست) و پیوند خورده با فولکلور پیشامسیحی انگلستان (که مخاطبان هم‌عصر شکسپیر آن را خوب می‌شناسند). این همه شخصیت، سه خط داستانی در‌هم‌تنیده و دو زمان‌مکان ظاهرن بی‌ربط در کنار هم. توصیفات خیال‌انگیز از طبیعت و آوردن جادو به زندگی بی‌روح روزمره (که رمانتیک‌ها بپسندند) و نمایش در نمایش (که جا را برای تحلیل‌های مدرن باز کند). بنظر می‌آید که رویای نیمه‌شب تابستان درباره‌ی همه‌چیز هست. اما به‌نظر من بیشتر از همه درباره‌ی یک چیز: آنچه را که می‌بینید باور نکنید. 

غرش شیر و لباس خونی؟ باور نکنید.
یار قدیمی که دشمن خونی شده؟ باور نکنید.
دشمن خونی که ادعای یاری دارد؟ باور نکنید.
و بلاخره تمام این نمایش را؟ شک دارم اما محض احتیاط باز هم باور نکنید.
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بیشتر کتاب‌های انتشارات نورتون متون دانشگاهی ادبیات انگلیسی‌اند، اما گزینه‌ی مناسبی هم هستند برای کسی که بخواهد ته‌ و توی متن را دربیاورد. اینجا هم علاوه بر مقدمه و متنِ پانویس‌دار، متن‌های دست اولی که الهام‌بخش شکسپیر بوده‌اند (نوشته‌ی اووید، چاسر و دیگران) و نقدهای مختلف (از آن‌هایی که اول متن آوردم تا بررسی‌های معاصر مثل خوانش تیره و اروتیک و در عین حال بسیار تأثیرگذار یان کات) در نیمه‌ی دوم کتاب آمده‌اند.

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

I've been in a mood to read more classics and especially more Shakespeare. Imo this is a great comedy. I especially liked a couple things :

➥ 4 Stars *:･ﾟ✧

“O, is all forgot?
We, Hermia, like two artificial gods
Both on one sampler, sitting on one cushion,
Both warbling of one song, both in one key,
As if our hands, our sides, voices and minds
Had been incorporate. So we grew together
Like to a double cherry, seeming parted
But yet an union in partition.
Two lovely berries moulded on one stem;
So with two seeming bodies but one heart,
Two of the first, like coats in heraldry,
Due but to one, and crowned with one crest."

━━━━━━━━━━━ ♡ ━━━━━━━━━━━

This might just be the gayest thing. Ever? Bye I actually started giggling while reading Shakespeare, as if I were reading something like a sapphic romcom? That's...basically what this was if we unpretentious it. Like...I could not believe my eyes reading this insane level of angst:

n  Helena: Your hands than mine are quicker for fray;
My legs are longer, though, to run away!

(Then more toward the end:)

Hermia: Never so weary, never so in woe,
Bedabbled with the dew, and torn with briars –
I can no further crawl, no further go;
My legs can keep no pace with my desires.n

I WAS YELLING AT MY COPY OF THE TEXT THAT I PRINTED AT HOME, I WAS YELLING "YOU'RE HER DESIRE" because my poor sweet Helena kept getting rejected left right and center. Bless her, casually dropping a n  “I evermore did love you, Hermia”n...messy, messy sapphics as we always have been and forever shall remain

Just saw a performance of this and it has me all nostalgic. This has meddling fairies, ridiculous lovers and a donkey named Bottom. What's not to love?

Also fun fact, I played Titania once. I was volunteering as a stage hand when then original chick who was cast dropped out and so did her understudy and there I was organizing props back stage. (Was this my Disney-channel moment? Did I miss my cue??)

Oh yeah, it was also a Jersey Shore remix for some reason. ("A Midsummer Jersey" iirc)

So to this day when someone starts talking with a Jersey accent I have to fight the urge to panic and scream at Oberon.

I recommend this version a lot more.

This was a reread as the first of an attempt at reading Shakespeare’s plays act by act, and writing a summary and thoughts on my blog. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of my favourite Shakespeare plays because of its humour and the elements of magic. As Theseus and Hippolyta are preparing for their wedding to be celebrated, Egeus the father of Hermia approaches Theseus to complain of his daughter wanting to marry Lysander when he wants her to marry Demetrius, who loves her as much. Hermia must make a choice by the old Athenian law either to comply with her father’s wishes or forfeit her life or take the veil. Hermia and Lysander decide to elope and head off to the woods. But Demetrius is told of their plans by Hermia’s friend, Helena who loves Demetrius and whom Demetrius loved until he became besotted by Hermia. In the wood they become involved in the effects of a quarrel between the fairy queen and kind, Titania and Oberon, over a little changing who Titania is looking after and Oberon wants in his entourage. Into this wood also come a bunch of Athenian workmen who are rehearsing their play to present at Theseus’ wedding. The fairies’ magic, and Puck’s mischief leads to plenty of confusion but of course at the end, everything comes right again.

This is a light-hearted, humorous read for the most part though it touches upon some more serious themes too—love and jealousy, subservience and strength, among them. I enjoyed this revisit but the resolution of Oberon and Titania’s quarrel felt a little unsatisfactory.

My posts on the play on my blog are here:
Act I: https://potpourri2015.wordpress.com/2...
Act II: https://potpourri2015.wordpress.com/2...
Act III: https://potpourri2015.wordpress.com/2...
Acts IV and V: https://potpourri2015.wordpress.com/2...

This was the first Shakespeare I read outside of school, and I truly adored it! Everything you’d want in a play is here; humor, beautiful imagery, quotable lines, and a perfect touch of magic. I loved all the different storylines and the juxtaposition between them was so hilarious, I’m really glad I picked this up and can’t wait to get more into Shakespeare!

2nd Review:
So, it's been 10 years, I think, since I last read this. Shame on me. This is one of my all time favorite plays. I love it. Still, haven't seen it live on stage. Another Shame on me.

So, reading this, I noticed something for the first time. Oberon is a horrible husband. Seriously. Titania has a young boy she keeps around her from an human friend and Oberon wants this boy to raise up as another servant. Titania flatly refuses him. This whole thing is set in motion basically because Oberon feels he is entitled to anything he wants. He has Puck get the flower for the love spell he puts on Titania. He humiliates his wife by having her fall in love with an ass. While she's in this sorry state, he gets the boy he wants to be his servant and then he is willing to lift the spell.

Oberon is a complete jerk face. Titania deserves much better than him. He schemed and played dirty to get what he wanted. I'm so angry just thinking about it. I really don't like scheming. I get it's part of life for many people. Still. The fact that he gets away with it really irritates me. At the end, he has everything he wants and Titania seems happy as a goldfish with her 10 second memory and all's good.

Rant over. I love reading the language again. There is magic in the words. What a story. Is there anything else out there in this world like this story, not much really.

I think I enjoy reading about tricksters as an archetype. Puck, Wei Wuxian and so on.

Anyway, the one I feel most sorry for is Demetrius. He is the one who still has the love spell on him. It could be best for him, because the thing with Hermia wouldn't have worked out, but still, this wasn't his choice. That's gross. I mean good for Helena, but if that spell ever wears off, she will be in a rough spot and a loveless marriage. Love is a many splendid thing. Love lifts us up where we belong. And how horrible to marry someone that can't stand you. Anyway.

So July has started out as the month of re-reads. So be it.

1st Review
My Favorite Play!

After reading all Shakespeare plays, I wonder why schools focus so much on the tragedies and not so much on the comedies. We were never assigned a comedy to read in school, but to me, this is by far Shakes' best play, hands down. I'll take this over Hamlet, Macbeth or Romeo.

I love the Puck and he has so many great lines in the stories. This work gives me life. I have seen several movie versions of this, but I haven't seen the play in person - bucket list.

One of my favorite quotes is, "I see their knavery: this is to make an ass of me, to fright me if they could. But I will not stir from this place, do what they can. I will walk up and down here and I will sing, that they shall hear I am not afraid."

It's a quote that really empowered me in a time in my life I grew into the person that sent me to acupuncture school. They shall hear I am not afraid by singing; it really meant so much to me and who I was. I use to say that to myself all the time. Somehow in the stress of school and doing all the hoops I had to jump through for school, I lost that and now, I am afraid of the world and sit in my house alone and this was before Covid-19. I have my family, yes, and I'm thankful for them, but it's important to have friends too. When I left home, I haven't totally replaced my community and it's all my own fault. I long to take back the power of those words and and not be afraid. I use to love what made me so unique and it's hard to get to, at the moment.

The fairy fantasy is sandwiched between a love story. The best part of the story is the love story part, but I love this whole thing: the words, the subject, the love story and the fairies.

Someone made a modern movie based on this called, "Were the World Mine" and several of these quotes are set to music and I have listened to those powerful songs hundreds of times. I love it. It's a gay take on the play and it's hilarious.

I would love to read this yearly and I just haven't. It is a goal to claim. To me, this is one of the most brilliant stories told anywhere. It rings at a deep level for me. It brings me life, joy and wonder. It has to be one of the top 3 books of all time for me.

It doesn't get any better.

‎دوستانِ گرانقدر، این نمایشنامه در موردِ عشق و دلباختگی دو جوان اهلِ آتن میباشد.... دختری به نامِ <هرمیا> عاشقِ مردی بنامِ <لیزاندر> است، پدرِ دخترکِ زیبارو <اجوس> نام دارد. اجوس دخترش هرمیا را مجبور کرده است تا دست از عشق برداشته و با <دیمتریوس> که از ثروتمندانِ شهر است ازدواج کند. ولی هرمیا از دستور پدر سر باز میزند. بنابراین اجوس نزدِ <تزوس> دوکِ شهرِ آتن رفته و از دوک میخواهد تا از راه قانون با دخترش برخورد کند ... قانون آتن در آن روزگار این است که اگر دختری به فرمانِ پدرِ خویش گوش ندهد، باید ترکِ دنیا کرده و سراسرِ عمر را در صومعه و دیری دور از شهر گذرانده و یا آنکه به مرگ تن در دهد
‎هرمیا و لیزاندر تصمیم میگیرند تا شبانه به جنگل رفته و از آنجا با یکدیگر از شهر بگریزند... هرمیا این موضوع را به دوستِ صمیمی خویش <هلنا> خبر میدهد... هلنا از آنجایی که دلباختهٔ دیمتریوس میباشد، بنابراین این موضوع را به وی اطلاع میدهد، بلکه اینگونه جایی در قلبِ او برایِ خود باز کند
‎شب فرا میرسد، هرمیا و لیزاندر به جنگل میروند... از سویِ دیگر دیمتریوس نیز به آنجا رفته و هلنا به دنبالِ دیمتریوس به جنگل میرود... در سویِ دیگرِ داستان، پریان در جنگل زندگی میکنند که شاهِ پریان <ابرون> نام داشته و ملکهٔ پریان <تیتانیا> نام دارد.... آن دو با یکدیگر بحث و دعوا دارند ... ابرون به منظورِ تنبیه کردنِ ملکه به دستیارش <پیک> دستور میدهد تا در زمانی که تیتانیا به خواب فرو رفته است، عصارهٔ "ریحانهٔ عشق" را در چشمِ او بچکاند.. این عصاره سبب میشود تا هنگامی که از خواب برمیخیزد، نخستین کسی را که ببیند، یک دل نه صد دل دلباختهٔ او شود
‎در همین گیر و دار است که ابرون صدای التماس کردنِ هلنا را در جنگل میشنود که عاجزانه عشق را از دیمتریوس گدایی میکند و دیمتریوس نیز او را از خود میراند....ابرون به پیک دستور میدهد تا زمانی که دیمتریوس به خواب فرو میرود عصاره را در چشمانش بچکاند تا هنگامی که دیده از خواب میگشاید، با دیدنِ هلنا، دلباختهٔ او شود
‎پیک به اشتباه عصاره را در چشمانِ لیزاندر میریزد و زمانی که از خواب برمیخیزد، اولین کسی را که میبیند هلنا میباشد و در نتیجه عاشقِ هلنا میشود و یارِ خویش یعنی هرمیا را فراموش میکند.... عزیزانم، بهتر است خودتان این نمایشنامهٔ زیبا را خوانده و از سرانجامِ این داستان عاشقانه و هیجان انگیز آگاه شوید
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‎جمله ای از کتاب

‎در گلزارِ جهان، گلی که میسوزد و گلاب میشود، نیکبخت تر از آن گلی است که در رویِ خاری روییده و یکی دو روز میماند و سپس پژمرده میشود و میخشکد
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‎امیدوارم این ریویو در جهتِ آشنایی با این کتاب، کافی و مفید بوده باشه
‎<پیروز باشید و ایرانی>

By far the “weirdest” Shakespeare I have read so far. Psychedelic and dreamy are both perfect descriptions. I am not going through the plays in chronological order, and so the juxtaposition of King Lear and the Dream was interesting. With the first, we are dealing with progeny, filial loyalty, old age – in other words, topics with a bit of gravity. With the second? Love, fairies, a play within a play, and an ass. One thing that made for deeper meditation was the seeming randomness of the young people’s loves. Demetrius, Hermia, Helena, and Lysander had strong convictions about love prior to entering the magical forest. This may not have changed with their exiting the forest, but our good friend Puck had spun the Wheel of Fortune and switched some allegiances around. They wake as if from a dream and go about their merry way, as if their love had not been a matter of life and death. Hmmm. Random, or another piece of commentary by Shakespeare with a wink and a nudge? He did write R & J, after all.

Τι ωραίο κείμενο!Ανάλαφρο,χαριτωμένο,αστείο και παραμυθένιο.Δύσκολο να καταλάβεις οτι γράφτηκε τόσους αιώνες πριν.Πραγματική απόλαυση!