A Midsummer Night's Dream

William Shakespeare, Dr. Barbara A. Mowat, Paul Werstine

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9780743477543
• eBook ISBN: 9781476788548
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: British Drama
• Index: Literature

In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare stages the workings of love. Theseus and Hippolyta, about to marry, are figures from mythology. In the woods outside Theseus's Athens, two young men and two young women sort themselves out into couples—but not before they form first one love triangle, and then another.Also in the woods, the king and queen of fairyland, Oberon and Titania, battle over custody of an orphan boy; Oberon uses magic to make Titania fall in love with a weaver named Bottom, whose head is temporarily transformed into that of a donkey by a hobgoblin or "puck, " Robin Goodfellow. Finally, Bottom and his companions ineptly stage the tragedy of "Pyramus and Thisbe."The authoritative edition of A Midsummer Night's Dream from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers, includes: -Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play-Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play-Scene-by-scene plot summaries-A key to the play's famous lines and phrases-An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language-An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play-Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books-An annotated guide to further readingEssay by Catherine BelseyThe Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, is home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit Folger.edu.

A
MIDSUMMER
NIGHT’S DREAM

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ACT 1

<ACT 1>

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<Scene 1>

Enter Theseus, Hippolyta, <and Philostrate,> with others.

THESEUS
Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour	1
Draws on apace. Four happy days bring in	2
Another moon. But, O, methinks how slow	3
This old moon <wanes!> She lingers my desires	4
Like to a stepdame or a dowager	5
Long withering out a young man’s revenue.	6
HIPPOLYTA
Four days will quickly steep themselves in night;	7
Four nights will quickly dream away the time;	8
And then the moon, like to a silver bow	9
<New>-bent in heaven, shall behold the night	10
Of our solemnities.	11
THESEUS Go, Philostrate,	12
Stir up the Athenian youth to merriments.	13
Awake the pert and nimble spirit of mirth.	14
Turn melancholy forth to funerals;	15
The pale companion is not for our pomp.	16

<Philostrate exit...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Editors’ Preface
• Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
• Reading Shakespeare’s Language: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
• Shakespeare’s Life
• Shakespeare’s Theater
• The Publication of Shakespeare’s Plays
• An Introduction to This Text
• Characters in the Play
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream
• Textual Notes
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Modern Perspective, by Catherine Belsey
• Further Reading
• Key to Famous Lines and Phrases
• Commentary
• Copyright