A Midsummer Night's Dream

By William Shakespeare and Mint Editions

The marriage between a duke and Amazon queen sparks a massive celebration, which leads to a congregation of woodland residents, Fairyland creatures and surprising lovers. Set in Athens, A Midsummer Night’s Dream follows unsuspecting couples as they fall prey to a supernatural ploy.

Four plots simultaneously take place during the wedding preparations for Theseus, the duke of Athens and Hippolyta, the Amazon queen. Four young people, Hermia, Demetrius, Helena and Lysander, are struggling under the weight of unrequited love and politics. A performance troupe, led by the overhearing Nick Bottom, is rehearsing for the reception. Meanwhile, Oberon, king of the fairies and his queen, Titania have a disagreement that leads to a fantastical error. Oberon commands Puck, a sprite, to apply a magical juice to the eyelids of Titania in hopes that she will fall in love with the first thing she sees. He also applies it to Hermia, Demetrius, Helena and Lysander. Unfortunately, it forces both men to fall in love with Helena, leaving Hermia further isolated.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of William Shakespeare’s most popular and aesthetically pleasing plays. The woodland backdrop and the unexpected romance makes for a delightfully entertaining read. The emotionally charged characters are the driving force behind this multifaceted story.

With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is both modern and readable.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mint Editions
• Release date: Feb 23, 2021
• ISBN: 9781513276816

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare is the world's greatest ever playwright. Born in 1564, he split his time between Stratford-upon-Avon and London, where he worked as a playwright, poet and actor. In 1582 he married Anne Hathaway. Shakespeare died in 1616 at the age of fifty-two, leaving three children—Susanna, Hamnet and Judith. The rest is silence.

Book preview

ACT I

Scene I

Athens. A room in the Palace of Theseus

Enter Theseus, Hippolyta, Philostrate and Attendants.

THESEUS: Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour

Draws on apace; four happy days bring in

Another moon; but oh, methinks, how slow

This old moon wanes! She lingers my desires,

Like to a step-dame or a dowager,

Long withering out a young man’s revenue.

HIPPOLYTA: Four days will quickly steep themselves in night;

Four nights will quickly dream away the time;

And then the moon, like to a silver bow

New bent in heaven, shall behold the night

Of our solemnities.

THESEUS: Go, Philostrate,

Stir up the Athenian youth to merriments;

Awake the pert and nimble spirit of mirth;

Turn melancholy forth to funerals;

The pale companion is not for our pomp.

(Exit Philostrate)

Hippolyta, I woo’d thee with my sword,

And won thy love doing thee injuries;

But I will wed thee in another key,

With pomp, with triumph, and with revelling.

Enter Egeus, Hermia, Lysander and Demetrius.

EGEUS: Happy be Theseus, our renownèd Duke!

THESEUS: Thanks, good Egeus. What’s the news with thee?

EGEUS: Full of vexation come I, with complaint

Against my child, my daughter Hermia.

Stand forth, Demetrius. My noble lord,

This man hath my consent to marry her.

Stand forth, Lysander. And, my gracious Duke,

This man hath bewitch’d the bosom of my child.

Thou, thou, Lysander, thou hast given her rhymes,

And interchang’d love-tokens with my child.

Thou hast by moonlight at her window sung,

With feigning voice, verses of feigning love;

And stol’n the impression of her fantasy

With bracelets of thy hair, rings, gauds, conceits,

Knacks, trifles, nosegays, sweetmeats (messengers

Of strong prevailment in unharden’d youth)

With cunning hast thou filch’d my daughter’s heart,

Turn’d her obedience (which is due to me)

To stubborn harshness. And, my gracious Duke,

Be it so she will not here before your grace

Consent to marry with Demetrius,

I beg the ancient privilege of Athens:

As she is mine I may dispose of her;

Which shall be either to this gentleman

Or to her death, according to our law

Immediately provided in that case.

THESEUS: What say you, Hermia? Be advis’d, fair maid.

To you your father should be as a god;

One that compos’d your beauties, yea, and one

To whom you are but as a form in wax

By him imprinted, and within his power

To leave the figure, or disfigure it.

Demetrius is a worthy gentleman.

HERMIA: So is Lysander.

THESEUS: In himself he is.

But in this kind, wanting your father’s voice,

The other must be held the worthier.

HERMIA: I would my father look’d but with my eyes.

THESEUS: Rather your eyes must with his judgment look.

HERMIA: I do entreat your Grace to pardon me.

I know not by what power I am made bold,

Nor how it may concern my modesty

In such a presence here to plead my thoughts:

But I beseech your Grace that I may know

The worst that may befall me in this case,

If I refuse to wed Demetrius.

THESEUS: Either to die the death, or to abjure

For ever the society of men.

Therefore, fair Hermia, question your desires,

Know of your youth, examine well your blood,

Whether, if you yield not to your father’s choice,

You can endure the livery of a nun,

For aye to be in shady cloister mew’d,

To live a barren sister all your life,

Chanting faint hymns to the cold fruitless moon.

Thrice-blessèd they that master so their blood

To undergo such maiden pilgrimage,

But earthlier happy is the rose distill’d

Than that which, withering on the virgin thorn,

Grows, lives, and dies, in single blessedness.

HERMIA: So will I grow, so live, so die, my lord,

Ere I will yield my virgin patent up

Unto his lordship, whose unwishèd yoke

My soul consents not to give sovereignty.

THESEUS: Take time to pause; and by the next new moon

The sealing-day betwixt my love and me

For everlasting bond of fellowship,

Upon that day either prepare to die

For disobedience to your father’s will,

Or else to wed Demetrius, as he would,

Or on Diana’s altar to protest

For aye austerity and single life.

DEMETRIUS: Relent, sweet Hermia; and, Lysander, yield

Thy crazèd title to my certain right.

LYSANDER: You have her father’s love, Demetrius.

Let me have Hermia’s. Do you marry him.

EGEUS: Scornful Lysander, true, he hath my love;

And what is mine my love shall render him;

And she is mine, and all my right of her

I do estate unto Demetrius.

LYSANDER: I am, my lord, as well deriv’d as he,

As well possess’d; my love is more than his;

My fortunes every way as fairly rank’d,

If not with vantage, as Demetrius’;

And, which is more than all these boasts can be,

I am belov’d of beauteous Hermia.

Why should not I then prosecute my right?

Demetrius, I’ll avouch it to his head,

Made love to Nedar’s daughter, Helena,

And won her soul; and she, sweet lady, dotes,

Devoutly dotes, dotes in idolatry,

Upon this spotted and inconstant man.

THESEUS: I must confess that I have heard so much,

And with Demetrius thought to have spoke thereof;

But, being over-full of self-affairs,

My

Reviews for A Midsummer Night's Dream

[thedivineoomba · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As a play, this is great to watch, especially with a cast that understands the text and can play up to the brilliant comedy of Shakespeare. But, as someone who is reading it as literature, it becomes a much darker entity. From the pranks pulled on Titania, Hermia's possible sentence of death if she doesn't marry Demetrius. I was surprised at how how Shakespeare handled the tradesmen's play of Pyramus and Thisbe, Hippolyta and Theseus make gentle fun at the players. The best parts of the story really is the the play within a play - As for this specific edition - I liked the information about Shakespeare, his theater, his day to day life. It even accounts for Shakespeare's education. I found the explanation of certain phrases and words paired WITH the actual play very useful, although at times, it was more distracting than not.

[mickyfine · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Well this audio production of one of my favourite Shakespearean comedies is a mixed bag. The cast is great but some of the direction/sound choices are not so good. Any time a production writes music for one of Shakespeare's songs it has the potential to get weird and this version does for sure. And while I've listened to audio productions of plays that have significant physical comedy elements and do it well, this one missed more than a hit. It took me longer than it should have to realize that Bottom's transformation into an ass had occurred. I also think they cut down Puck's speeches, which I will never forgive as he's my favourite. Ultimately, a good play but not served well by this production.

[arewenotben · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Saw at the Young Vic, London. Haven't read this since High School, think it needs a strong production to make it really sing - the play within a play is a riot though.

[bobbybslax · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's a consistently fun romance with a larger dose of humor than some of his plays, which I appreciated.

[thornton37814 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This classic Shakespeare comedic play features two men in love with the same woman who both end up falling for another woman after Puck errs. Shakespeare, who often incorporates elements of fantasy, included faeries in the play. There's even a play within the play in this one. It's not my favorite Shakespeare play, but it's a good one.

[pilgrimjess · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

" The course of true love never did run smooth."This is one of Shakespeare's most performed comedies and as such probably one of his best known. Consequently I'm not going to going to say anything about the plot. I personally studied this whilst at school as part of an English Literature course and despite my callow years I remember enjoying. However, I haven't read it since.Now, far too many decades later, I read Bernard Cornwell's novel 'Fools and Mortals' which centres around a speculative and fictional première of the play. Having really enjoyed reading that book decided to revisit the original. Once again I found it a highly enjoyable read which made me smile and a piece of true genius.

[clq_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I've been meaning to catch up on various Shakespeare plays that "everyone" has read, and after finishing a book and having no immediate plans for what to read next, A Midsummer Night's Dream was conveniently waiting for me on my Kindle.In short, I didn't really like reading it much. I can see how it would probably work much better on stage, but read as a book it didn't really do much for me.If I ever get the opportunity to see it on stage I probably will, and I'll be prepared to be pleasantly surprised at how well it can work as a play.That said, I do enjoy poems, and I found the lyrical nature of the dialogue, the rhythm and the rhyme, to be quite fun. But as a story I just didn't really appreciate it as much as I had expected.

[fredacochran · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Read it in high school. Loved it, it was funny

[deckla_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Perfect comedy.

[meandmybooks-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Well, what do you know? Third time wasn't the charm with this one – between reading it during my own education and with my kids for theirs, this is more like my fifth go with this play – but it's finally growing on me! I've always thought of this as “that stupid play with the lovers, the donkey, and all the irritating fairies,” but this time it seemed less stupid! I give the credit, as usual this year, to the amazing Marjorie Garber. Her essay, in Shakepeare After All, on this play was particularly good. Having just read “Romeo and Juliet” last week, I could fully appreciate the parallels she drew between the two plays, and she persuasively illustrated the ways the themes of love and envy, dreams and rationality, transformation and imagination give depth, meaning, and coherence to the play that I just hadn't seen before. The lovers are still silly and Theseus is still obnoxious, sure, but the play isn't quite the silly fluff I'd previously thought. A solid four stars.As well as Garber's book, my reading was enhanced by an audio performance from L.A. Theatre Works (2013) and the BBC's creative retelling of the play from their “Shakespeare Retold” series. The notes in the Folger Shakespeare Library (Updated) edition are quite adequate without being excessive, though in the mass market paperback edition I have the inside margin is so skimpy that the text threatens to disappear into the gutter.

[antao-3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Physics of the Impossible: "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare, Burton Raffel, Harold Bloom Published 2005.

I have had a most rare vision. I have had a dream, past the
wit of man to say what dream it was. Man is but an ass, if
he go about to expound this dream. Methought I was—
there is no man can tell what. Methought I was—and
methought I had—but man is but a patch’d fool, if he
will offer to say what methought I had. The eye of man
hath not heard, the ear of man hath not seen, man’s hand
is not able to taste, his tongue to conceive, nor his heart
to report, what my dream was.
(4.1.203–212)

(Paraphrase: I had the strangest dream. It is outside of the abilities of mankind to explain it: a man is as foolish as a donkey if he tries to about to expound this dream. Methought I was—there explain the dream of mine. I thought I was – well no one can really say what exactly. I thought I was – and I methought I had, -- but man is but a patched fool, if thought I had – but someone would be an idiot to say what I thought I had).

I remember watching the play for the first time in Quinta da Regaleira, Sintra in 2002 (staged by Rui Mário). Shakespeare has always been an over-riding need for me. I don't have the ability to act, though I do write betimes, but there's nothing like the thrill of a life performance, like the one I watched in 2002.

The rest of this review can be found elsewhere.

[composingcomposer · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"If we shadows have offended,/Thing but this--and all is mended--/That you have but slumber'd here/While these visions did appear./And this weak and idle theme,/No more yielding but a dream,/Gentles, do not reprehend;/If you pardon, we will mend./And, as I'm an honest Puck,/If we have unearned luck/Now to' scape the serpent's tongue,/We will make amends ere long;/Else the Puck a liar call:/So, good night unto you all./Give me your hands, if we be friends,?/And Robin shall restore Amends"

By ending the play with this quote, Shakespeare seems to leave it for us to decide whether the events that occurred in the woods, or if they were dreams. Perhaps this play is what inspired Louis Carroll and Frank L. Baum to do the same in their famous stories.

Everything that happens in the woods is somewhat confusing--for the characters at least. We know more-or-less what is going on, being party to Puck and Oberon's doings, but, as will sometimes happen in a dream, the characters are buffeted by abrupt changes to themselves, and those they care about. One moment Demetrius is cruel to Helena, the next he loves her. At one time Lysander loves Hermia, then claims to despise her, then back again. No wonder the characters were confused. These kind of character changes only happen in dreams, or if a person is crazy.

Every character in the play is victim to Oberon's whims, including Puck, and every character is the subject of Puck's gaffe or impishness. Oberon wants Titania's changeling. A child to whom she is attached because she was friends with his mother, and so Oberon devises a cruel game to trick Titania into giving the child to him. Along the way he decides to help Helena, but tells Puck only to find a man in Athenian clothing to enchant into love with Helena, so Puck finds Lysander, who then upsets Helena by claiming to love her, and breaks Hermia's heart. Demetrius and Lysander could have hurt one another--therefore further breaking their lady's hearts--in the turmoil that followed.

Bottom is the subject of Titania's manipulated love and Puck's parody on the two of them. Through that the rest of Bottom's troupe is also victim, being frightened, and having their practice interrupted (maybe their play wouldn't have been so painful to read if they had been able to practice more).

A Midsummer Night's Dream has got to be the most popular Shakespearean play there is. It's one of the one's that I became familiar with through Jim Weiss (though this is my first time reading the actual play) and it has been brought into books and movies, it has been adapted into movies. It has become a ballet via Felix Mendelssohn (part of which is a violinist's nightmare,) an opera by Benjamin Britten, and has shorter pieces written for it by Henry Purcell and Ralph Vaughn-Williams.

(Please note that this review was written as a discussion post in an online Shakespeare class.)

[cathywoolbright · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Every read of this classic reveals another tongue in cheek pun. This humorous comedy of errors deals with love, romance, fairies in an enchanted forest, a traveling actors' troupe that passes itself as professional, but offers comic relief, mistaken identity, and of course parents at the crux who will not let true love have its way. Just a simple, straightforward Shakespearean tale. Enjoy!

[kristina_brooke-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love sharing Shakespeare with my 5 year old. This is a very good children's version of one of my favorites. She loved it and was scolding Puck for being such a bad boy!

[mrsdanaalbasha · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have read this book twice and I really like it, it even might be my favorite among Shakespear books, for some reason the song "Strange And Beautiful (I'll Put A Spell On You)" Lyrics by Aqualung always reminds me of this book:

I've been watching your world from afar
I've been trying to be where you are
And I've been secretly falling apart... Unseen
To me, you're strange and you're beautiful
You'd be so perfect with me
But you just can't see
You turn every head but you don't see me

I'll put a spell on you
You'll fall asleep
When I put a spell on you
And when I wake you I'll be the first thing you see
And you'll realize that you love me

Sometimes the last thing you want comes in first
Sometimes the first thing you want never comes
But I know that waiting is all you can do
Sometimes

I'll put a spell on you
You'll fall asleep
When I put a spell on you
And when I wake you I'll be the first thing you see
And you'll realise that you love me

I'll put a spell on you
You'll fall asleep
Cause I put a spell on you
And when I wake you I'll be the first thing you see
And you'll realize that you love me

[soulflower1981 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While I am not a huge Shakespeare fan I did find this particular play to be pretty darn good. I enjoyed the fact that there was this mix of fantasy with ideas that we can all relate to with unrequited love. It was fascinating to see how Shakespeare made fun of his own play "Romeo and Juliet" within the story as well. There is such a great woven story here that anyone that enjoys reading plays should read this. This was another book that I had to read for my Theatre course.

[jennaelf · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Nothing is funnier than the reversal of social degrees, is it?

C'mon, the mighty Titania falls in love with a working class sod who has the head of an ass! AND his name is Bottom!

Shakespeare, you cheeky bastard.

[jljaina · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lyrical and mesmerizing! I got a dramatized audio copy of this book. It really brings this story to life!

A very different love story for the ages. Couplings, love triangles, love quads, and love chases. It is all here. Thank you fantasy forest for all this wonderful chaos. Some parts a whimsical, others near tragic, some comedy. You never know what the next scene will hold.

When just listening to this, it can take a bit to follow the story at first. I had no idea who anyone was and names are not mentioned enough to quickly catch on. The only indication to the setting is the sounds you here. It really is just like listening to a play. They even have a full cast for the audio so each character is voiced by someone new. While it makes it far more enjoyable it just made things take a little longer.

I finally got to learn where several famous quotes and expressions came from. Hearing certain lines brought a smile to my face. Now I just need to read the print version of this book so I can be sure I didn't miss anything. I now have a mental soundtrack to go with it.

[meditationesmartini · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"The course of true love never did run smooth"; but oh my friends and neighbours, when was love ever "true"? This is the jolly cynic's Romeo and Juliet, with English country faire elements displaced to Theseus's Athens (itself a place that hardly did exist) and the mythological, metaphysical backdrop, the ridiculous-but-still-great-and-terrible Olympians, disinvited from the party in favour of the fairies, magnificent and dreadful but still ridiculous (it sounds like the same thing as the gods but it's actually the opposite): Oberon, equal parts virile intensity and cat-chasing-his-tail; Titania, majestic and intoxicating and yet you also just want to pat her on the head; Puck, with all the mystique of a trickster spirit and all the bathos of a cigar-smoking baby. Lord, what fools these immortals be!They elevate the humans as the humans drag them into the mundane, to the benefit of the action in both cases. Just a quartet of pretty young goofballs bouncing through the sacred groves on a wave of hormonal exuberance, as the rules get mixed up and upside-downed and love-potion-number-nined till it's all reduced to the lowest common denominator. Bucolic rumpus--pratfalls and sex. They seem too quick and alive for the law to catch up with them, and indeed Theseus and Hippolyta do present a fairly mellow or enlightened face on disciplining authority, as the king reassures us that EVEN IF things fall over the precipice and go all two-households-both-alike-in-dignity on us, Hermia can choose forcible cloisterment over death--but is this really such a comfort? We see Demetrius and Lysander play fistfights for laughs and never think about how close either of them is to braining himself on a rock, the other being strung up. Skulking around somewhere in the background is always the deeply unfunny Egeus, the patriarch with filicide in his fist.The estimable Bottom and his bunch of goony players (special shout out to Wall--I see you, Wall!) bring it all home by staging the tragic romance of Pyramus and Thisbe farcically for a bunch of complacent chuckleheads who don't know that they're in a play themselves, and that comedy and tragedy are a mere knife-edge apart. And ever if we manage to keep it light and nobody falls on a dagger, love fades and everyone you know will one day still certainly die. The comic dignity of the man with the donkey's head sums up the message quite nicely: The play's an ass, and it is a matter of life and death that we keep it that way. Laugh at that! No, I mean it!

[cebellol · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Still one of my favorites, but I am reminded that some plays can be read and some are better watched. This is one that is better on the stage, but that doesn't mean that it shouldn't be experienced in some way or another. I got a little twisted up a couple times because some of the names are similar & I wasn't paying complete attention to who was supposed to be reading.

[charleshollis · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I wish I could have been more fair with my grade for this book. The concept of condensing and rewording Shakespeare's plays into a format that a much younger audience could understand is certainly valuable. This series serves the laudable purpose of introducing the Bard to an elementary age audience, the benefit of which is an even earlier exposure to good literature. I will say that this would be a middle school audience would be too old for this book as they would be ready for the real thing, or at least an unabridged translation. I would also add that the book, understandably so, didn't deal very much in nuance, or interpretations. I know that the main action in the story centers upon the young lovers in the forest, and Titania and her being bewitched to fall for Bottom by Oberon's machinations, however, there are glaring thematic omissions. The biggest of these missteps would have to be the (author's? editors?) decision not to focus upon the forest itself, specifically the fact that this isn't an ordinary forest, but rather a magical realm of fae beings. Instead of presenting the woods as being a separate world (Shakespeare's intent) its presentation was rather mundane. Furthermore, there is something to be said about promoting Puck. In this version, Puck is presented as mixing up the lovers due to carelessness rather than out of the agency of mischief. Still, the book was solid and I would recommend it to elementary classes.

[rbeene-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It's Shakespeare. Wonderful story but I prefer his tragedies.

[mstrust · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Hermia's father brings her before Theseus to be judged, as Hermia refuses to marry her father's choice, Demetrius. Instead she loves Lysander, who loves her back. With the threat of death if Hermia doesn't follow her father's wishes, the couple run into the woods, but are pursued by Demetrius and the girl who loves him, Helena. Also in the woods are the King and Queen of the Fairies and their followers. When the King attempts to smooth love's way for the mortals, he makes things much worse.Not one of my favorites from Shakespeare, but I can see where it would be a great choice for the stage. Romance in the forest and fairies would be difficult to resist

[aliceanna-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Far too contrived for my reading enjoyment. I'm certain that it is charming when performed on stage, but the premise wore thin upon reading. I really had no feel for the characters and cared little for their fate.

[writercity · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One of my favorite Shakespeare tales that give me a new laugh every time. I've re-read it and love the characters of Helena and Hermia more every time.

[dmtcer-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was on a Shkespeare kick!

[grytajme · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was a stagehand for this. Incredibly fun.

[leslie398 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

While I liked the overall plot, I found this to be one of the plays in which Shakespeare's language is hard for me. I have seen some of the film versions (most notably the 1935 movie with Olivia de Havilland & Jimmy Cagney and the BBC Production with Helen Mirren as Titania) & seeing the action does help (especially in the 'humorous' parts!).One thing that I noticed in reading this was how unpleasant I found Oberon to be.

[seraphinac.b4 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In "A Midnight's Summer Dream", there are four lovers, Lysander and Hermia, and Demetrius and Helena. Hermia wishes to marry Lysander but Demetrius is also in love with her. Hermia's father, Egeus, wants her to marry Demetrius. If she refuses, she could receive the full extent of the law and be executed. Nevertheless, Hermia and Lysander plan to flee Athens the next night and marry in the house of Lysander's aunt. They tell Helena, who was once engaged to Demetrius, who still loves him even though he dumped her for Hermia. Helene wanting to regain Demetrius's love, tells him about Lysander and Hermia escaping. Demetrius follows Lysander and Hermia while Helena follows Demetrius. Fairy king, Oberon, notices how cruelly Demetrius acts towards Helena. Oberon orders Puck, a fairy messenger, to spread the juice of a magic flower on Demetrius's eye lids so that the first person he sees, he will love. Puck mistakes Lysander for Demetrius and when Lysander wakes up he immediately falls in love with Helena, who was the first person he saw. Later that night, Puck tries to fix his mistake, but it ends up that they both now love Helena. The next night Puck succeeds in making Lysander love Hermia, and Demetrius love Helena. Theseus, a duke, and Hippolyta, the queen of the Amazons, find them sleeping and take them to Athens to be married. Overall, this book was lacking. I thought this because it was dull. I found it dull because you would know what happened next. it didn't have any cliffhangers. I thought it was slow to get to the climax... if there was one. Shakespeare wrote using strong literal and metaphorical language, which makes it confusing. It was not my cup of tea.

[kerrilea-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A great story of romance with enough trickery to make it fantastical. He loves her but she loves him, and nothing is ever clear when you're in the middle of it all!

This is an easy-to-read for anyone who is new to Shakespeare, play formats, or both. I highly recommend this for a fun look into romance and the drama that naturally ensues. It seems that we all have our own Fae dictating the rules of our hearts, sometimes.