LibGuides: A Midsummer Night's Dream: Home

A Midsummer Night's Dream- Overview

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a whimsical comedy by William Shakespeare that explores love, magic, and mistaken identities. The play is set in a magical forest where four Athenian lovers and a troupe of amateur actors find themselves entangled in the mischievous schemes of Oberon and Puck, the fairy king and his servant.

When Oberon and Puck use magic to manipulate the affections of the lovers, it leads to confusion, chaos, and comic misunderstandings. Meanwhile, a group of actors preparing a play for the Duke's wedding also become unwittingly involved in the enchantments. Ultimately, the magic is undone, the lovers' relationships are restored, and the play ends in celebration with the Duke’s marriage to Hippolyta.

Through its playful exploration of love's irrationality and the power of illusion, A Midsummer Night’s Dream highlights the boundaries between fantasy and reality, and the unpredictability of human desires.

Finding Resources in Accessit

Here are some books that you may find useful during your studies. Search the Bennies catalogue Accessit for more, or browse the Non-fiction collection NFS.

A Midsummer Night's Dream Graphic Novel by William Shakespeare
ISBN: 9781562549220
Publication Date: 2010-08-21
Themes: Adapted Classics, Low Level Classics, Graphic Novels, Illustrated, William Shakespeare, Fiction, Tween, Teen, Young Adult, Hi-Lo, Hi-Lo Books, Hi-Lo Solutions, High-Low Books, Hi-Low Books, ELL, EL, ESL, Struggling Learner, Struggling Reader, Special Education, SPED, Newcomers, Reading, Learning, Education, Educational, Educational Books. Midsummer Night's Dream takes place in mythical Athens. The theme of the story is that love has no laws and is blind and unpredictable. William Shakespeare wrote many great comedies and tragedies. This story, an entertaining fantasy, takes the reader through a romantic farce on a midsummer's eve, during a time of great rejoicing amongst the elves and fairies who live in the woods. Puck, Oberon, Theseus, Hermia, Demetrius, Helena, Bottom, and Lysander are just a few of the characters in this timeless, world-famous comedy. This series features classic Shakespeare retold with graphic color illustrations. Educators using the Dale-Chall vocabulary system adapted each title. Each 64-page, eBook retains key phrases and quotations from the original play. Research shows that the more students read, the better their vocabulary, their ability to read, and their knowledge of the world. A
A Midsummer Night #nofilter by William Shakespeare; Brett Wright
ISBN: 9780553538823
Publication Date: 2016-01-05
A Midsummer Night's Dream, one of the greatest stories ever told . . . in texts?! Imagine: What if the fairies and star-crossed lovers of the forest had smartphones? A classic is reborn in this fun and funny adaptation of one of Shakespeare's most famous plays! Four lovers who can't decide who they have a crush on. One mischievous fairy with a love potion. Total chaos in the fairy world, the human world, and everywhere in between!
A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare; Harold A. Brooks
ISBN: 9781903436608
Publication Date: 1979-09-06
A Midusmmer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's most popular plays and is widely performed and adapted This edition provides a clear and authoritative text, detailed notes and commentary on the same page as the text plus a full introduction discussing the critical and historical background to the play and appendices presenting sources and relevant extracts. The Arden Shakespeare is the established edition of Shakespeare's work. Justly celebrated for its authoritative scholarship and invaluable commentary, Arden guides you a richer understanding and appreciation of Shakespeare's plays.

Infographic

SORA

Download a copy of a Midsummer's Night's Dream audiobook here.

RSC

In STORY: A simple overview of the story

In CHARACTERS: Basic character descriptions

In LANGUAGE: Key language terms

In STAGING: Facts about the settings

LitCharts

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

SparkNotes-Midsummer Night's Dream

Summary of Play

Course Hero-Midsummer Night's Dream

In A Midsummer Night's Dream, most of the story happens in a magical forest where strange and magical things happen. In Shakespeare’s time, people believed that on Midsummer’s Eve, magical creatures and people could meet. But in the play, it looks like everything happens the night before May Day, which is a spring holiday.

Oberon, the fairy king, says that when the four friends leave the forest, everything might feel like a dream. Puck, Oberon’s helper, also says that if the story upset anyone, they should think of it as just a dream. There’s magic, spells, and people quickly changing who they love, making it all feel like a dream.