Author(s): William Shakespeare

Classic Books

A Midsummer Night's Dream is arguably the best-known of William Shakespeare's comedies. It is certainly the most widely performed and adapted in modern times, thanks to its exotic themes of young love, magic, song and dance. A consequence is that the beauty of the original words can be lost amidst the distortions of so many theatrical and screen versions. To read the play is to be reminded of just what an extraordinary creation it is. On the page, it is an easy, lyrical extended poem aglow with expressiveness and a narrative direction that is by no means torturous or bizarre.