For some bizarre reason, schools push the most painfully boring works by any author. In Shakespeare's case, you get handed a copy of "The Tempest", when you could get this. The underlying theory appears to be that if a book is interesting, lively, and enjoyable, it can't be good (upon this reflection, I think Arts departments get up to the same thing, lord knows it's the NEA's theory).

"A Midsummer Night's Dream" is interesting, lively, and enjoyable. On the eve of the wedding of King Thesseus and Queen Hippolyta, the young and dreadfully confused lovers Hermia, Lysander, Helena, and Demetrius get caught in the middle of an old married couple's spat. The old married couple is Oberon and Titania, who have what could mildly be described as a strained marriage. Oh yes, Oberon and Titania are the king and queen of Faerie.

This is Shakespearean comedy at its best. Wordplay and physical comedy abound, and timeless aspects of human nature are shown at their most sublime and ridiculous. I loved it.

E.M. Van Court

My daughter needed this for a school assignment. It worked out well for her, good price.

I recently re-read A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM prior to attending The Colorado Shakespeare Festival's performance of this play under the summer stars here in Boulder. Shakespeare (1552-1616) produced this romantic comedy between 1595 or 1596 and published it in the First Folio in 1623. It follows the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of amateur actors under the influence of fairies who inhabit a moonlit forest. The play is Shakespeare's most popular and is widely performed across the world.

It play tells three stories connected by the wedding celebration of Duke Theseus of Athens and the Amazonian queen Hippolyta. In the opening scene, Hermia rejects her father Egeus's request that she marry Demetrius. Rather than facing death or lifelong chastity as a nun, Hermia and her lover Lysander decide to elope. Hermia tells her best friend Helena of her plan. Helena, who has been recently rejected by Demetrius, tells him of Hermia's plan to elope. Hermia, Lysander, Helena, and Demetrius all escape into the forest where they become romantically entangled under the influence of fairies.

Oberon (King of the Fairies), and his queen, Titania, arrive in the same forest. Oberon enlists the mischievous Puck (aka "Hobgoblin" and "Robin Goodfellow") to apply the magical juice from a flower to Titania's eyes while she is sleeping. The juice makes the victim fall in love with the first living thing he or she sees upon awakening. Oberon also instructs Puck to spread some juice on Demetrius's eyes. Instead, Puck puts the juice on Lysander's eyes, causing him to fall in love with Helena. To correct the error, Oberon then orders Puck to apply the juice to Demetrius's eyes, causing him to also fall in love with Helena, much to her confusion (now having two suitors).

Meanwhile, in a subplot, a band of "rude mechanicals" have been preparing a play in the forest about Pyramus and Thisbe for Theseus' wedding. Puck transforms the head of one actor, Nick Bottom, into that of an ass. When Titania is awakened by Bottom's singing, she immediately falls in love with him. Puck eventually restores Bottom's head, and lifts the spell from Lysander, but leaves Demetrius in love with Helena. The lovers conclude the night's events must have been a dream. Puck ends the play with a soliloquy.

G. Merritt

The spirit of one of Shakespeare's richest plays is lighthearted laughter. The great impressario of the proceedings is Puck who in giving the 'love potion' to the wrong person, sets up the chaos of both Demetrius and Lysander loving Helena. There are numerous networks of parallel and contrast through the work , between the worlds of the royal humans, the fairies, and the craftsmen. The motif of dreaming and imagination play a strong part in the play. And the resolution in all the couples finding themselves in love and harmony at last is a supreme happy ending.
This is one of Shakespeare's most delightful and amusing works, one of the richest comically in all the world of theater.

I must say that until I saw a simple, highschool play of this particular work, I was deathly afraid of SHakespeare, thinking it boring and only something for people over fifty to discuss and teach. WEll, i was wrong.
This particular story brings in classical characters from Greek Mythology, such as Theseus and Hyppolita (sorry if I butcher her name...lol) as well as the regal Titania and Oberon, and of course, the humorous and jovial puck and bottom.
Books like this are presented in the media to be boring but they truly are intersting and worthwhile reads. Without titles such as this, I highly doubt many writers of fantasy and romance would be the same today.
Very highly recommend as a start to Shakespeares works, though seeing it is even better!

Back in high school, I slept through any lessons involving Shakespeare. Now that I am older, I see that it is only BAD Shakespeare that is boring, (and Miss Hunters' literature class reading was indeed bad Shakespeare). While "The Bard's" work remains very different from our current storytelling structures - several concurrent plots, dated concepts and languages, filmmakers still document the works on film and theatres continue to mount productions, all with varying degrees of success. One of the bard's works that has seen many productions is his A MIDSUMMER'S NIGHTS DREAM

Three storylines propel the story along. The most interesting involves four lovestruck adults who, even with magical influences, can't seem to end up with the proper mate. The second storyline involves preparations for the wedding of Theseus, a Duke of Athens. Most importantly, a small band of laborers take it upon themselves to become actors, hoping for a shot to perform in front of the royal couple. Finally, the third world of the story involves a magical visit with Oberon and Titania, King and Queen of the faeries. Through their magical influence, the three stories interweave to make for an entertaining read.

These three worlds also provide the stories major drawback. As two of the storylines come to an end, there is still another act remaining. That pacing seems stretched out, especially in filmed and staged editions.

Due to its large cast and pastoral setting, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM is perfect for Shakespeare in the Park summer evenings. On the other hand, I recommend any Shakespeare production as they play better than they read.

The play has seen many screen adaptations, one with James Cagney as the actor Bottom and Mickey Rooney as Puck and recently a star-studded feature with Michelle Pfeiffer, Kevin Kline, Christian Bale, Stanley Tucci and Calista Flockhart.

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM is exceptional entertainment but will do very little for the GONE IN 60 SECONDS crowd. To the untrained ear, Shakespearean language is somewhat of a chore to follow, albeit a pleasant chore. Perhaps Miss Hunter could learn a thing or two about presenting Shakespeare from a few more readings?

Midsummer Night's Dream is the bards most fantasical play in the true sense of the word. The language is absolutely beautiful and the plot is so creative and wonderful. This is a play that can be enjoyed over and over again for a lifetime. In some respects this is the perfect play to introduce young people to Shakespeare and hopefully inspire a lifelong love of his work.

Say, this fictional and capricious play by Shakespear (not an original printing, you should know)is a capital reading choice. I commend you for taking the time to read and admire the Immortal Bard's wonderful work. Alliteration, huh? pretty neat.

Ah, the Bard...how I love Shakespeare! A playwright like no other, this is my all time favorite of his. A Midsummer Night's Dream is poetic, sassy, and sultry...just love it. I think I've read it near thirty times by now. But, indeed, how does one leave alone a play with such great poetry?

Hermia, a fair maid of Athens, is in love with Lysander. However, her father wants her to marry Demetrius, a youth who, until looking upon Hermia, loved Helena, even wooed her. Now he swears to love only Hermia, though Helena passionately begs him to come back to her. Egeus (Hermia's father) goes to Theseus, Duke of Athens, asking permission to dispose of Hermia unless she consents to marry Demetrius. Hermia and Lysander plot to fly from Athens, meeting in a grove that very night, and tell Helena of their plan. Helena, however, seeking to win Demetrius' love again, tells him of the plan. This beautiful tale of four lovers is interwoven with the story of commoner actors and magical fairies and their meeting in the same grove that night.

Brilliantly done. I cannot think of enough praise for this amazing play...it transports you to a different world completely.

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a humorous play by William Shakespeare. It is written in old English so it is not a real easy reading. William Shakespeare's main purpose in writing this play is to show that love makes you do strange things. Also he is showing us that love is not smooth. A really good quote in the play is when Lysander says, "The course of true love never did run smooth." This statement makes a lot of sense later on in the book. Shakespeare is also showing us that when you love someone you do not pay attention to their faults, but when you do not love someone it is easier to pick out their faults.
Also Shakespeare is making fun of actors back in his time. Shakespeare thought that other plays were really pitiful. In this play there are these people making a play. One of the men had to be a girl. Another guy was a wall. They also say words that they don't know the meaning of and they make a lot of mistakes. In the end the spectators liked it.
This play mostly takes place in the woods. The reason he did this is because there are fairies in the woods and magic. In the woods many mysterious things can happen. This makes it so that things that can't happen in real life can happen in this play. A fairy named Puck really messes with Lysander, Hermia, Demetrius, and Helena. Puck changes who they like. This causes them to fight. The fairies try to help the mortals. All the do is make things worse though.
One lesson that I have learned in A Midsummer Night's Dream is that if you love someone it should not be because of their appearance but because of their personality. If you do not do this you will have a lot of fights. Just because someone looks good on the outside does not mean they act good on the inside. In A Midsummer Night's Dream people cared about what they looked liked. They also cared about what someone else looked like.
Another lesson I have learned is that you should be content with what you look like. Helena was mad because she thought that Demetrius did not like her because she wasn't as good looking as Hermia. In reality she did look pretty. Everyone feels like they have faults with there body. Realistically, the reason this is so is because no one is perfect.
Another lesson I have learned is that when you love someone you will not notice the fault of that person but you will notice the positive traits of that person. Lysander used to love Hermia but when Puck made him love Helena he noticed that Hermia was short and he made fun of her.
When you love someone check your motives because people change who they like a lot when they love because of appearance. If you love someone because of there heart you will have a long and smooth relationship.
I would recommend A Midsummer Night's Dream for teenagers and older. The reason I would recommend it to them is because it applies to them quite a bit. It has a lot of lessons that you should know too. It is also a funny play too. I would not recommend it to you though if you do not like reading old English.

A Midsummer Nights Dream is a play that shows Shakespeare's perspective on love and romance. This lay also is quite humorous and has a magical twist. I enjoyed the perspective that Shakespeare provided on how foolish and sappy love can be. However I also thought that having fairies involved with the storyline was creative and made the entirety of the play interesting.
The play unravels with the engaged Hippolyta and Theseus who were at first enemies but now madly in love. Theseus is the duke and is called to resolve a conflict of love. Lysander, a young handsome man, is determined to marry Euges's daughter Hermia, who also returns his love. The problem that arose and the one which the Duke was to solve was that Eugus has promised Demetrius for Hermia's hand in marriage, Demetrius had tried desperately to pursued Hermia to love him but it was no use, she truly did love Lysander. Hearing all this the Duke announces Hermia shall marry Demetrius or become a nun. Another factor is played into the play though when a young woman, Helena swears she is desperately in love with Demetrius. Helena hears of Lysander and Hermia's plan to meet in the woods so she tells Demetrius, hoping to win his favoritism.
Unknown to all humans, there in the woods are other ones living, the fairies. Oberon, King of the Fairies, sees the scene and is amused. Helena followed Demetrius into the woods telling him how much she loved him. Frustrated Demetrius runs off losing poor Helena. Oberon feels pity on poor Helena, and orders Puck, his messenger, to put a very special flower on Demetrius's eyes. The flower was a cupids flower and when applied to anyone's eye then the first object you see is the one you will fall instantly fall in love with. Puck then spies a human, not Demetrius, but Lysander who is asleep with Hermia, he applies it to Lysander's eye instead. Helena then runs in and wakes up Lysander, not knowing about the flower and its juices. Immediately, Lysander swears his love to Helena. but confused she runs off, with Demetrius following. After a long chase, the two couples collapse from exhaustion, and Puck comes to make amends from his first mistake. In the end they all fall in love, Hermia to Lysander and Demetrius to Helena. Throughout the entire play you can see how the fairies manipulate the lives and especially the love lives of the humans.
I believe that Shakespeare's purpose on writing this humorous, yet sometimes confusing, play was to show certain aspects on love. One way on looking at it is Shakespeare shows that at times love is foolish and can be shifted easily when it isn't based on the things that are long lasting but on petty things of looks and money. He demonstrates that love isn't just a feeling of butterflies in your stomach but it's a choice and hard work. The second aspect is that when you are in love to enjoy every moment of it and not to let it be unappreciated or wasted. Lysander and Hermia showed both angles. in the beginning they acted very much in love, but it only seemed as if it was a physical attraction not a heartfelt choice. The other kind of love I think they showed is that they did cherish every moment. They didn't exactly have their whole entire life planned out or how it would work out but just enjoyed the fact that they loved each other and that's how it would always be.
I have learned personally that when you are in love that it is a special and should be treated specially with care and respect. To disregard the joy of being in love would be to ignore something that is priceless. I also have learned that one day when you are in love to enjoy those magical moments that may never come again. I also think that you should take those moments to heart but to understand that its much more deeper that those moments go. Love isn't about how you feel but it is an act of growing up and being mature. Most of all I have learned how important and special it is to have love that never changes; Love that won't ever let us down or stop because of the circumstance. Love is hard to find and feels like it's even harder to give at times. God shows us the perfect love. The love of not changing when your tired, or don't feel like sacrificing but the sort of love that will last through anything. That's the kind of love that is worth cherishing.
I would definitely recommend this play. It is enjoyable to read and have laughs about. I think the story is very interesting and I had a lot of fun tagging along to find a world of magical love.