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avg 3.95
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. ...more
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. ...more
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Read in January, 2003
My second reading of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream was much more fruitful than my first. The play helped me realize, to a greater extent, Shakespeare’s genius and his works’ complexity.
The way Shakespeare frames the reality of those characters in love is very true and entertaining. In the final act, Theseus asserts that “The lunatic, the lover, and the poet / Are of imagination all compact.” Throughout the play, Shakespeare equates those in love to the...more
The way Shakespeare frames the reality of those characters in love is very true and entertaining. In the final act, Theseus asserts that “The lunatic, the lover, and the poet / Are of imagination all compact.” Throughout the play, Shakespeare equates those in love to the...more
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1 comment
Read in November, 2008
I usually do not like abridged books, I feel the original full text should be read and savoured, not a shortened and edited text.
That being said, it is important for teens who read the manga versions of Shakespeare to realize that what they are reading is a summarized version. Hopefully the manga adaptation will get teens to seek out the real thing.
I have seen "A Midsummer Night's Dream" numerous times in the theatre. In Edmonton, Alberta there is a Shakespeare festival ever...more
That being said, it is important for teens who read the manga versions of Shakespeare to realize that what they are reading is a summarized version. Hopefully the manga adaptation will get teens to seek out the real thing.
I have seen "A Midsummer Night's Dream" numerous times in the theatre. In Edmonton, Alberta there is a Shakespeare festival ever...more
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sometimes i think i go through my days in a midsummer night's dream....
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This isn't one of my favorite William Shakespeare play but it was well written (obviously). The ending was completly different compared to the other plays he's written (this isn't a tragedy). It was interesting to see how within the play we see the importance of class, as in the writer's time period through the characters. Bottom can be taking as an example, his name itself represents his stand in society; the lower (working) class. The Marxist and popular culture theory can be applied here m...more
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Read in January, 1956
recommended to Wayne by:
Big sis Dianne and big cous Kerryrecommends it for: believers in magic
I have never recovered from my first Shakespeare...and THIS was IT, experienced as it should be experienced - as a performance, not as a reading!!
It was Max Reinhardt's and William Dieterle's black and white movie version of 1935 with the boy Mickey Rooney as Puck, with Mendelssohn's magical music, with fairies who flew
and a main one from the Ballet Russe.
I was about 9 years old and my older sister Dianne and favourite cousin Kerry were studying it as their first Shakespeare. We met at...more
It was Max Reinhardt's and William Dieterle's black and white movie version of 1935 with the boy Mickey Rooney as Puck, with Mendelssohn's magical music, with fairies who flew
and a main one from the Ballet Russe.
I was about 9 years old and my older sister Dianne and favourite cousin Kerry were studying it as their first Shakespeare. We met at...more
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Read in August, 2008
recommends it for:
Open minded fans of comics or Shakespeare
I've written more of an overview of the concept of the Manga Shakespeare series under my review of Romeo and Juliet, so here I'll just go straight on to talking about the story and artwork.
Story: I quite like the story of a Midsummer Night's Dream - its a silly bit of fun and it doesn't pop up quite as often in popular culture as some of the other Shakespeare plays so it still felt fresh to read. The plot hangs together well, there are some interesting characters, and comedy elements are we...more
Story: I quite like the story of a Midsummer Night's Dream - its a silly bit of fun and it doesn't pop up quite as often in popular culture as some of the other Shakespeare plays so it still felt fresh to read. The plot hangs together well, there are some interesting characters, and comedy elements are we...more
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Read in March, 2008
I thought that A Midsummer Night’s Dream was a decent book. For Shakespeare it was actually not that hard to understand and I was able to follow along relatively well. Also, I thought that this was one of my better experiences with Shakespeare because it was a comedy not a tragedy so I felt that it was a little more enjoyable to read. There is a total scandal with a huge love triangle and it is kind of funny. At first it was a little hard to follow all the characters because there were so ...more
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recommended to Marco by:
english teacher
recommends it for: school children
recommends it for: school children
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Read in October, 2007
I'd forgotten until recently just how much I love this story! Getting to teach it to my senior honor students has actually been a lot of fun; there really are so many relatable, "real-life" themes in the stories that my students and I have had a great time with so far. This is totally a play that needs to be seen in order to be appreciated, and while I love the word play and some of the great lines, I'm a much bigger fan of this work as a performance. Midsummer lends itself so well ...more
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Don't take this the wrong way. It was okay.
Not that Shakespeare isn't Shakespeare, not that he isn't the Best, the Standard, the HOLY GRAIL of the written word, just that my reading experience would have been more earth-shattering had it happened when I was so much younger.
This play has been reused so many times that even though I just read it, I felt the entire time that I had just read it. And in regard to Shakespeare's writings as a whole, the storylines and morals a...more
Not that Shakespeare isn't Shakespeare, not that he isn't the Best, the Standard, the HOLY GRAIL of the written word, just that my reading experience would have been more earth-shattering had it happened when I was so much younger.
This play has been reused so many times that even though I just read it, I felt the entire time that I had just read it. And in regard to Shakespeare's writings as a whole, the storylines and morals a...more
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Read in January, 2006
Brilliant.
I have no problem with reading Shakespeare as he wrote, but I will admit that I rely on the notes to help me understand a particular word or phrase. In this series, the entire script is so notated -- the 'original' scrip on the left-hand page, and the 'translation' on the right hand side. This has helped me understand the plays even more.
I wouldn't, however, rely solely on this edition. Notes on texts can also be a valuable resource.
And then there's the play itself.... ...more
I have no problem with reading Shakespeare as he wrote, but I will admit that I rely on the notes to help me understand a particular word or phrase. In this series, the entire script is so notated -- the 'original' scrip on the left-hand page, and the 'translation' on the right hand side. This has helped me understand the plays even more.
I wouldn't, however, rely solely on this edition. Notes on texts can also be a valuable resource.
And then there's the play itself.... ...more
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For me as a man of theatre, reading a play is kind of ”one man performance”, and totally different experience compare to the very same plays performance at theatre or in film form. I consider them as three different versions of one story.
I would never forget A Midsummer Night's Dream in film directed by Max Reinhardt and William Dieterle(1935).
ترجمه ی این نماش نامه توسط مسعود فرزاد ابتدا در سال 1342 با نام "رویا در شب نیمه ...more
I would never forget A Midsummer Night's Dream in film directed by Max Reinhardt and William Dieterle(1935).
ترجمه ی این نماش نامه توسط مسعود فرزاد ابتدا در سال 1342 با نام "رویا در شب نیمه ...more
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Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
teenagers
This book was a pretty funny book! It was hard to understand some parts since it was in old English. It was about a square between Lysander, Hermia, Helena, and Demetrius. Both Demetrius and Lysander were in love with Hermia, but Hermia loved Lysander when she was supposed to get married to Demetrius. As for Helena, she was in love with Demetrius the whole time. Then there was another part of the play where the mechanics were supposed to perform a play for the duke and duchess of Athens for thei...more
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Read in May, 2008
recommends it for:
Classics readers, play readers, Fantasy readers
Deus ex Machina doesn’t have to wait to the end – it could be a whole play, and here William Shakespeare proved that. The human characters are largely insufferable with their overwritten, saccharine love and anxiety, but with a donkey’s head, a lovestruck goddess and a spritz of devious magic, it turned into a very amusing mess of a play. Sometimes it felt like he was parodying his own romances. Even in this, one of the least serious of William Shakespeare’s plays, the frequency of needl...more
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I am a big fan of Shakespeare plays and A Midsummer Night's Dream was the first one I read. The story is really funny with great lines. The ending is very sweet and concludes nicely. Parents, be warned that there are some suggestive jokes that may need some explaining.
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Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
fantasy, witchcraft, sex
The edition I have, which doesn't come up on Goodreads for some reason, is edited by someone named Mario Digangi, author of "The Homoerotics of Early Modern Drama" and offers amusing footnoted speculation on "What if Lysander had fallen in love with Demetrius instead!?" Good for giggles. But really, I'm putting this up here because I re-read it last night after seeing it live in the Park and am in madly in love with it. The language; the witchiness running through the heart o...more
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Read in June, 2008
recommends it for:
people who like shakespear's book
this is a play about four lovers: lysander, hermia, demetrius and Helena. lysander and demetrius both love hermia but Egeus, Hermia's father, does not approve lysander. Helena loves demetrius but he doesnt love her back. The fairies come in and decides to make things right, Oberon, king og fairies, told Puck to put love potion on demetrius so that he'll fall in love with the first thing he see when he awakes. so puck goes, only he mistakens lysander for demetrius. lysander falls in love with h...more
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Read in January, 2004
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Read in May, 2008
I read this in anticipation of seeing the play next week.
Besides reading a familiar passage I only knew from Baby Shakespeare (of the Baby Einstein series), I especially enjoyed this little speech of Theseus:
"The lunatic, the lover and the poet
Are of imagination all compact:
One sees more devils than vast hell can hold,
That is, the madman: the lover, all as frantic,
Sees Helen's beauty in a brow of Egypt:
The poet's eye, in fine frenzy rolling,
Doth glance from heaven to ...more
Besides reading a familiar passage I only knew from Baby Shakespeare (of the Baby Einstein series), I especially enjoyed this little speech of Theseus:
"The lunatic, the lover and the poet
Are of imagination all compact:
One sees more devils than vast hell can hold,
That is, the madman: the lover, all as frantic,
Sees Helen's beauty in a brow of Egypt:
The poet's eye, in fine frenzy rolling,
Doth glance from heaven to ...more
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