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 enlarge | Author: William Shakespeare
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Category: Book
List Price: $5.99
Buy New: $1.75
You Save: $4.24 (71%)
New (54) Used (74) Collectible (2) from $1.40
Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 6371
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 6.6 x 4.2 x 1
ISBN: 0743477545
Dewey Decimal Number: 822.33
EAN: 9780743477543
ASIN: 0743477545
Publication Date: January 1, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 6-10 of 10 | | « PREV | | |
 Ill met by moonlight, proud reader? December 28, 2005
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
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!
 This book sucks May 26, 2005
2 out of 48 found this review helpful
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.
A Midsummer Night's Dream January 15, 2005
12 out of 16 found this review helpful
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 December 13, 2004
8 out of 22 found this review helpful
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.
 What a Dream December 9, 2004
6 out of 9 found this review helpful
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.
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