Shakespeare - Plays, History, & Criticism

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Name: A Midsummer Night's Dream
Author: William Shakespeare
ISBN: 9780485810035

by William Shakespeare (Editor), Richard F. Kennedy

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Overview

Shakespeare's intertwined love polygons begin to get complicated from the start--Demetrius and Lysander both want Hermia but she only has eyes for Lysander. Bad news is, Hermia's father wants Demetrius for a son-in-law. On the outside is Helena, whose unreturned love burns hot for Demetrius. Hermia and Lysander plan to flee from the city under cover of darkness but are pursued by an enraged Demetrius (who is himself pursued by an enraptured Helena). In the forest, unbeknownst to the mortals, Oberon and Titania (King and Queen of the faeries) are having a spat over a servant boy. The plot twists up when Oberon's head mischief-maker, Puck, runs loose with a flower which causes people to fall in love with the first thing they see upon waking. Throw in a group of labourers preparing a play for the Duke's wedding (one of whom is given a donkey's head and Titania for a lover by Puck) and the complications become fantastically funny.

Synopsis

(back cover)
"Lord, what fools these mortals be."
A

Midsummer Night's Dream

Strange things are afoot in the woods outside Athens. Two men are in love with the same woman, the King and Queen of Fairies are at loggerheads, and a mischievous sprite is about to weak havoc with a magic flower. Meanwhile, an impish fellow named Puck has really made an ass of an amateur actor called Bottom.

How will it all end?

One of Shakespeare's best-loved comedies is vividly and faithfully retold in graphic novel format.

About the Author, William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in April 1564, and his birth is traditionally celebrated on April 23. The facts of his life, known from surviving documents, are sparse. He was one of eight children born to John Shakespeare, a merchant of some standing in his community. William probably went to the King’s New School in Stratford, but he had no university education. In November 1582, at the age of eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway, eight years his senior, who was pregnant with their first child, Susanna. She was born on May 26, 1583. Twins, a boy, Hamnet ( who would die at age eleven), and a girl, Judith, were born in 1585. By 1592 Shakespeare had gone to London working as an actor and already known as a playwright. A rival dramatist, Robert Greene, referred to him as “an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers.” Shakespeare became a principal shareholder and playwright of the successful acting troupe, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men (later under James I, called the King’s Men). In 1599 the Lord Chamberlain’s Men built and occupied the Globe Theater in Southwark near the Thames River. Here many of Shakespeare’s plays were performed by the most famous actors of his time, including Richard Burbage, Will Kempe, and Robert Armin. In addition to his 37 plays, Shakespeare had a hand in others, including Sir Thomas More and The Two Noble Kinsmen, and he wrote poems, including Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. His 154 sonnets were published, probably without his authorization, in 1609. In 1611 or 1612 he gave up his lodgings in London and devoted more and more time to retirement in Stratford, though he continued writing such plays as The Tempest and Henry VII until about 1613. He died on April 23 1616, and was buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford. No collected edition of his plays was published during his life-time, but in 1623 two members of his acting company, John Heminges and Henry Condell, put together the great collection now called the First Folio.

From the Paperback edition.

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Editorials

From the Publisher

"A fine example of judicious editorial writing. Foakes guides the reader securely and fluently through the critical and scholarly disputes that have accumulated around the play. He manages to be informative without being patronizing, and detached with out failing to offer opinions." The Times Higher Education Supplement

Children's Literature - Ellen Welty

The challenge of getting teenagers to read any of Shakespeare's plays is made easier by packaging them with fan fiction interpretations of a number of the scenes. Part of the "Love Casts a Spell" series, this accessible version of one of Shakespeare's most popular and most frequently performed plays encourages readers to take liberties with the characters and the scenes and re-imagine them to their liking. The result is a charming collection of entertaining vignettes following a traditional rendering of the play. The play itself follows a twenty-four hour period in the lives of three couples; Lysander who is in love with Hermia whose father has promised her to Demetrius; Helena who is in love with Demetrius who has forsaken her for Hermia, and Theseus and Hippolyta who are in love with each other. Mix in a group of faeries and a misapplied enchantment and the result is a delightful tale of happy endings. The fan adaptations are equally entertaining, ranging in length from brief scenes to short stories and teenaged readers may read them first before trying the original play. Additional backmatter includes a list of little known facts about Shakespeare and a fun quiz. Recommended. Reviewer: Ellen Welty