A Midsummer Night's Dream (Signet Classics)

A Midsummer Night's Dream was written 420 years ago so it's syntax of Elizabethan English is quite different and foreign to our modern American English. William Shakespeare was brilliant but his writing reflects his time so it is imperative to have a guide of sorts to breakdown his syntax into our modern syntax making the experience of reading Shakespeare more fulfilling. This is where A Midsummer Night's Dream (Shakespeare Made Clear) comes in handy as it is the ultimate accompanying guide to the famous story. This accompanying guide version makes understanding Shakespeare easier and more enjoyable. The guide includes an introductory discussion of the play's themes and characters, its dramatic structure, its history and historical context and of course its author and insightful summary at the end. This accompanying guide makes understanding Shakespeare easier and useful by having a new modern interpretation and translation of Shakespeare's original text underneath the original text provided line by line on every page of the play. This is then followed by a detailed explanation featuring insights in Shakespeare's original text with historical facts and deeper motives. As the accompanying guide concludes there is a very helpful and intriguing insight into the play's major themes. I highly suggest that if you want to not only grasp understanding the complexities of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream but also gain a deeper appreciation for it then buy this most helpful of all accompanying guides to this timeless touching, playful and insightful story.

I just ordered this edition of the play and have been utterly thrilled. I wish that we had used a version like this in my college Shakespeare classes. I am preparing to teach a class (for ages 10 and up) on "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and a friend recommended this lovely edition as a great version for children. I didn't realize that it could also be a great version for adults! For many of the students in my class, this will be their first Shakespeare play *in the original language* and *unabridged*. This version makes the entire play so much more accessible. Each page has Shakespeare's text on the right side and an explanation on the left (a quick summary at the top, plus explanations of unusual phrases/words below that). In addition, many pages include photos of different versions of that very scene. Plus, the book has several color photos of various productions and includes teaching ideas. The book is so good that I already gave my copy away and have to order more for the class, so I can't refer to it right now to add additional details for the review! This book was a lovely surprise and well worth the money. I own The Riverside Shakespeare, so I didn't think I needed another edition of any of Shakespeare's plays. This book proved me wrong. Even though I am an adult and have already read most of the bard's plays, I still found this version educational and entertaining.

“A Midsummer Night's Dream (Shakespeare Made Clear)” by Garamond Press focuses on the meaning of the world renowned historical writings of Shakespeare. The understanding of his sixteenth century archival writing is retrofitted for modern language. This book not only aides younger audiences, but also aides a wide range of audiences who may or may not understand the Shakespearean language; as it can be challenging for many. The book fragments the intricate text used throughout the original “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” play while also giving a historical background, including an explanation to convey the significance of the plot. You’re faced with a book that gives insight after every dialogue, monologue, narration and scene setting line, which helps in improving character setting, and setting in general. Though it may be a long and full read, this book will help you appreciate the classic without a “language barrier." If you’re in need of a book that helps better understand this classic, this book is it! Having the old English language of Shakespeare next to today's modern language makes it a easily helpful and enjoyable read.

Most editors are well disposed towards the plays they are asked to edit and Peter Holland is no exception - he tells us that there was no other title he'd have chosen in preference. Not everyone would agree with him about the play's merits, however. His undergraduate friend considered it 'a pappy play', and there have been plenty of other disparaging comments across the centuries. (Famously, Pepys described Dream as 'the most insipid ridiculous play', while for Malone it was unbelievably thin and trite.) After reading this exemplary edition, which reveals much of its full complexity, Dream should not be mistaken for such simple and unsubstantial fare again. Holland begins with a succinct account of modern dream theories, before tackling Classical, medieval and Renaissance views. Particularly interesting is his discussion of treatments of dream in the literature of Shakespeare's contemporaries, where Robert Greene's dismissive stance approximates to that of the rational (but limited) Theseus, while Thomas Lodge's more credulous acceptance of dreams and their mystery aligns him more closely with Hippolyta. The Introduction is astute as well as comprehensive. It observes that doubling the roles of Theseus/Oberon and Hippolyta/Titania has become routine since the 60s, but is critical of those who see this revival of doubling primarily as a solution to financial or pragmatic problems, insisting that it originally had an 'interpretative' function. Holland sees the Elizabethan practice of doubling as a structural device, where 'the audience's recognition of an actor was used to underline the interconnectedness of a series of roles he performed in a play.' Although I'm no historian of critical thought, it seems to me at least that Holland anticipates some of the more influential work of recent scholars. Louis Montrose's study of the Elizabethan theatre's subversion of patriarchal values is hinted at in this edition's Commentary. (See the note on Bottom's apparently innocent use/misuse of the word 'deflowered', p247n, for example.) Equally praiseworthy are the references made to those filmed versions of Dream, like Reinhardt's (1935), that might be considered too dated for extensive, post-Peter Brook discussion. Arden's forthcoming Dream will have a difficult job surpassing its Oxford competitor, first published in 1994. It's just a shame that in the intervening 17 years OUP haven't managed to reference page numbers mentioned in at least three sections of the book: Introduction, Editorial Procedures and Commentary. 'See p000' might suffice at proof stage, but it really isn't good enough so many years on. Peter Holland's informed and constantly illuminating edition deserves better.

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I don't remember this being one of my favourite Shakespeare plays, but I enjoyed re-reading it. It's in his "early" style, so a lot of rhyme within speeches, patterned speeches between the characters and so on; if you prefer the sinewy blank verse of his later style then you might find this one a little saccharine. Also just the right amount of the comic relief characters; sometimes those parts can drag a bit (see Touchstone in As You Like It, for example). The movie with Michelle Pfeiffer & Kevin Kline isn't too bad; has Stanley Tucci as an unexpectedly good Puck (if Tucci has ever been bad in a movie, I haven't seen it; he's even good in those Transformers movies). --Brooke Clark, author of Urbanities

A perfect edition to make students enjoy the play; a lot of pictures and varied activities to think about the themes and the characters but also the staging and the links one can draw with the role of men/women nowadays... In brief the best edition to fully understand and enjoy the play’s richness!

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