A Midsummer Night's Dream (Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Classics Series)

by William Shakespeare

Overview

"Lord, what fools these mortals be!"

Written in the 1590s reportedly for a wedding party attended by Queen Elizabeth I A Midsummer Night’s Dream has all the charm of an afternoon frolic in the countryside. Fairies and magical potions add to the delight as love is turned upside down.

Shakespeare moves us with the imagery and rhythms of his verse, and we revel in the sharpness of his insight into life, love, and the human condition. Memorable characters abound, playfulness and mischief control the plot, and the play-within-a-play remains one of the great scenes in English comedy.

To make A Midsummer Night’s Dream more accessible for the modern reader, our Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Classic includes a glossary of the more difficult words, as well as convenient sidebar notes to enlighten the reader on aspects that may be confusing or overlooked. In doing this, it is our intention that the reader may more fully enjoy the beauty of the verse, the wisdom of the insights, and the impact of the play.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781580495882
Publisher:	Prestwick House, Incorporated
Publication date:	01/28/2005
Series:	Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Classics
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	86
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.30(d)

About the Author

No writer will ever equal William Shakespeare's influence on the English language. Born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, "The Bard" was an actor and playwright who had staged his own shows in London by 1592. Though little is known about his early life, he forsooth proved himself a virtuoso for the ages. Expanding the boundaries of the English language, Shakespeare penned dozens of plays -- from enduring tragedies like Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and Othello, to bawdy comedies like A Midsummer Night's Dream -- plus more than 150 sonnets during his towering career. He shuffled off this mortal coil in 1616, but more than half a millennium later, his works are still read and produced around the world, including at a modern thatched-roof reconstruction of his troupe's Globe Theatre in London.