A raucous comedy that thrusts a quartet of reckless young lovers headfirst into a world of magic & fantasy William Shakespeare&s A Midsummer Night&s Dream is edited by Stanley Wells with an introduction by Helen Hackett in Penguin Shakespeare & Lovers & madmen have such seething brains Such shaping fantasies that apprehend More than cool reason ever comprehends& Lovers Lysander & Hermia flee Athens to escape the authority of their parents only to be pursued by Hermia&s betrothed Demetrius & her friend Helena Unwittingly all four find themselves in an enchanted forest where Oberon the king of the fairies & Titania his queen soon take an interest in human affairs dispensing magical love potions & casting mischievous spells In this dazzling comedy confusion ends in harmony as love is transformed misplaced &
- ultimately
- restored This book contains a general introduction to Shakespeare&s life & Elizabethan theatre a separate introduction to A Midsummer Night&s Dream a chronology suggestions for further reading an essay discussing performance options on both stage & screen & a commentary William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was born to John Shakespeare & Mary Arden some time in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon He wrote about 38 plays (the precise number is uncertain) many of which are regarded as the most exceptional works of drama ever produced including Romeo & Juliet (1595) Henry V (1599) Hamlet (1601) Othello (1604) King Lear (1606) & Macbeth (1606) as well as a collection of 154 sonnets which number among the most profound & influential love-poetry in English If you enjoyed A Midsummer Night&s Dream you might like The Taming of the Shrew also available in Penguin Shakespeare & He could mingle sublimity with pathos bitterness with joy & peace with love& Aldous Huxley

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The entire play translated into plain English! " The course of true love never did run smooth;" With its mix of real people who stumble into a fairy kingdom (with it's own problems!) it's little wonder that this play is one of the best loved & most performed of all his masterpieces ...

The entire Shakespeare play
- unabridged! The course of true love never did run smooth; With its mix of real people who stumble
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The entire play translated into plain English! The course of true love never did run smooth; With its mix of real people who stumble into a fairy kingdom (with it's own problems!) it's little wonder that this play is one of the best loved & most performed of all Shakespeare's masterpieces ...

A Midsummer Night's Dream is perhaps the best loved of Shakepeare's plays It brings together aristocrats workers & fairies in a wood outside Athens & from there the enchantment begins Simple & engaging on the surface it is none the less a highly original & sophisticated work remarkable for both its literary & its theatrical mastery It is one of the very few of Shakespeare's plays which do not draw on narrative sources which suggests that it reflects his deepest imaginative concerns to an unusual degree In his introduction Peter Holland pays particular attention to dreams & dreamers & to Shakespeare's construction of a world of night & shadows Both here & in his commentary he explores the play's extensive performance history to illustrate the wide range of interpretations of which it is capable ABOUT THE SERIES For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features including expert introductions by leading authorities helpful notes to clarify the text up-to-date bibliographies for further study & much more ...

Please note this is a region 2 DVD & will require a region 2 or region free DVD player in order to play A stellar cast headed by Michelle Pfeiffer & Kevin Kline bring Shakespeare&s most romantic comedy to life When two pairs of star-crossed lovers a troop of inept amateur actors a feuding pair of supernatural sprites & a love potion gone awry all come together in an enchanted moonlit forest the result is an unequalled mixture of merriment & magic Also starring Calista Flockhart Stanley Tucci & Rupert Everett Actors Kevin Kline Michelle Pfeiffer Rupert Everett Stanley Tucci Calista Flockhart Directors Michael Hoffman Writers Michael Hoffman William Shakespeare Producers Michael Hoffman Ann Wingate Arnon Milchan Leslie Urdang Nigel Goldsack Format PALLanguage English Subtitles Dutch French Spanish Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired German English Region Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe Read more about DVD formats) Aspect Ratio 169
- 2351 Number of discs 1
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Please note this is a region 2 DVD region B Blu-ray & will require a region 2 or region free DVDBlu-ray player in order to play Maxine Peake John Hannah & Matt Lucas star in this modern BBC adaptation of Shakespeare&s play In Athens tyrannical ruler Theseus (Hannah) plans his wedding to Hippolyta (Eleanor Matsuura) while an amateur theatre group led by Bottom (Lucas) prepare their production of a celebratory play in a surrounding forest But deep in the Athenian woods King of the Fairies Oberon (Nonso Anozie) & his Queen Titania (Peake) are involved in a bitter dispute which makes Oberon resort to magic in a desperate bid to humiliate her Their quarrel spills over into the rehearsals of the play & also affects four young lovers who are visiting the forest leaving Oberon & his servant Puck (Hiran Abeysekera) to try & make amends for their misdeeds ...

Please note this is a region 2 DVD & will require a region 2 or region free DVD player in order to play Maxine Peake John Hannah & Matt Lucas star in this modern BBC adaptation of Shakespeare&s play In Athens tyrannical ruler Theseus (Hannah) plans his wedding to Hippolyta (Eleanor Matsuura) while an amateur theatre group led by Bottom (Lucas) prepare their production of a celebratory play in a surrounding forest But deep in the Athenian woods King of the Fairies Oberon (Nonso Anozie) & his Queen Titania (Peake) are involved in a bitter dispute which makes Oberon resort to magic in a desperate bid to humiliate her Their quarrel spills over into the rehearsals of the play & also affects four young lovers who are visiting the forest leaving Oberon & his servant Puck (Hiran Abeysekera) to try & make amends for their misdeeds ...

A raucous suspenseful silly comedy starring jungle favourites Monkey Zebra Frog & Lion … & a bottom-biting bush baby! In this raucous jungle caper something MIGHTY with SUPER-DUPER ship-shape-sharp teeth keeps biting Frog Monkey & Zebra … right on their bottoms! “ Ya-hoooooo!” So guarding their beautiful behinds the trio run as fast as they can through the jungle They’re looking for big brave King Lion who just might know what to do… Delicious drama builds before the bottom-biting creature’s identity is finally revealed in this hilarious tale brought brilliantly to life by the read-aloud sound effects of Ronda Armitage & the exuberant magnificent art of Dinosaurs Don’t Have Bedtimes illustrator Nikki Dyson ...

A raucous suspenseful silly comedy starring jungle favourites Monkey Zebra Frog & Lion … & a bottom-biting bush baby! In this raucous jungle caper illustrated by Dinosaurs Don&t Have Bedtimes& Nikki Dyson something MIGHTY with SUPER-DUPER sharp teeth keeps biting Frog Monkey & Zebra … right on their bottoms! “ Ya-hoooooo!” So guarding their beautiful behinds the trio run as fast as they can through the jungle They’re looking for big brave King Lion who just might know what to do… Delicious drama builds before the bottom-biting creature’s identity is finally revealed in this hilarious tale brought brilliantly to life by the read-aloud sound effects of Ronda Armitage & the exuberant magnificent art of Nikki Dyson ...