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

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.

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

My bestie and I attended a performance of this play yesterday at the fabulous Shakespeare Company in our fair city. I hadn't been to this play for decades—I believe the last time I saw it, it was being performed outdoors by a college drama department. It's good every time. I think it may be the most accessible Shakespeare because everyone understands what's going on, with or without the dialogue.

The performance space is small and had to be used efficiently. I confess that I did not expect a trampoline on stage. It was well decorated so as to serve as Titania's bower as well as a place for Puck to bounce while contemplating their mischief. Speaking of Puck, they were played by a very athletic young woman whose energy was off the charts. Even after the actors' final bows, she bounced off the stage. And her evil laugh rivaled that of any super villain.

A fun afternoon. If you are new to Shakespeare, I recommend that you begin here. Go see a performance—plays are not meant to be read, they are to be experienced. You will be surprised and I bet you will laugh more than once. Lord, what fools these mortals be!

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

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.

According to OVNIS: Les agents de changement, which I read last week, aliens are what we used to call fairies and demons. One of the author's main arguments is the bizarre interest these supernatural creatures have in sex. Notgettingenough and I were discussing this the other day. We agreed that he has a good case as far as demons are concerned - an alien abduction does indeed sound rather a lot like a visit from a succubus or an incubus. But fairies? Here, I had serious doubts, until Not remembered A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Hm, well, one must admit there are similarities. Fairies do seem to be rather fond of sexual pranks. But I'll only really believe it when I see the alien version of Dream. Perhaps Tim Burton would be prepared to consider the project? It sounds like his cup of tea...

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!

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.

Δεύτερη αναγνωση εν οψει θεατρικής παράστασης.

Η πρώτη ηταν στο γυμνάσιο, οπου, παρ ολο το νεαρο της ηλικίας μου, θυμάμαι πως δεν μπορούσα ν αφησω κατω το βιβλίο - κι ας ηταν και σε θεατρική φορμα- μέχρι να το τελειωσω. Ευφυεις διαλογοι, τρομερη πλοκή, μεγαλο μπερδεμα, γελιο και συγκινηση, ερωτας και φαρσα, δροσοσταλιδες φιλοσοφιας και αποφθεγματική γραφή οπως μονο ο Σαιξπηρ ξέρει να το κανει τόσο γοητευτικά.

Στην τωρινή μου ανάγνωση απολαυσα ακομη περισσότερο - που δεν ειχα εκτιμησει τοσο την πρωτη φορα- την, ας πουμε, παραλληλη ιστορια με την τραγελαφική αυτοσχεδια θεατρική παράσταση του τοπικου θιάσου της κακιάς ωρας, για τους γάμους του Θησέα και της Ιππολύτης.

Μου αρεσε πολυ το πάντρεμα της αρχαιοελληνικής μυθολογιας με την δυτική (ξωτικά νεραιδες τελώνια) στον ένα άξονα και στον άλλο την συγχρονη -της εποχης- πραγματικότητα, με τους νεους να ερωτευονται ο ενας τον αλλον -μηπως ετσι δεν ειναι στην πραγματικοτητα και ο ερωτας; Ο Α αγαπαει τον Β ο οποιος αγαπαει τον Γ ο οποιος κυνηγαει τον Δ και ουτω καθεξης..
Το ανακάτεμα και το συνοθύλευμα αυτό του μυθικού με το αληθινό, της φαντασίας και του ρεαλισμού

Κι αν όλα αυτά σας φαινονται απιστευτα, βάλτε τα σε ένα Ονειρο.
Ολα μπορουν να συμβουν, κι όλα επιτρέπονται σ' ενα Όνειρο Καλοκαιρινής Νύχτας

My favorite Shakespeare. I've been in it and I see it whenever I have the chance.

I forced it on 4th, 5th, and 6th graders last year. At first they were terribly confused by Shakespearean language but ultimately, they loved it.

During Bottom's soliloquy in the play-within-a play, after a half-page of ridiculous, melodrama and general wordiness, I asked the kids what he was trying to say, and one correctly deduced, "It's night. It's night. It's night. That's a wall. It's a wall. It's a wall."

My other favorite moment was when a student read the word "bosom" and warily asked what it meant. I said, "It can mean breast or chest or heart." He looked pained, and I said, "I think Shakespeare is using it to mean heart here." He said, "Thank God."

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!