A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night’s Dream – William Shakespeare

Evan’s ESS = 7 out of 10

Erin’s ESS = out of 10

Content = PG (Adult Concepts, Love Potions, Partial Animagi)

“The course of true love never did run smooth.”

“I have had a dream, past the wit of man to say what dream it was.”

Why:  Our first two encounters with Shakespeare this month, were experienced above the water, treading hastily, yet above the water nonetheless.  It is with sweet sorrow that we report A Midsummer Night’s Dream was experienced just below the surface.  We’d come up for a fantastic breath of fresh air, only for the complex plot to pull us back under.  Yes, we agree, the treading water metaphor has gone on far enough....

How to summarize a play that we only mildly comprehended ourselves... hummm?  There were several young people in love but depending on the effects of an enchanted flower, the recipient of said love varied.  There were some quarreling fairies and a dysfunctional band of stage performers.  Plus, someone was partially transformed into a Jackass.  Precious little beyond those facts can be confirmed or denied.

There is a tag line that comes to mind upon finishing this play.  What happens in the woodlands stays in the woodlands.  Had we been the young lovers waking up the following morning, we could have seen ourselves pleading; please, please, please tell me last night was only a dream.  Reading about the many misadventures, however, was at least fun.  As much as we could feel the weight of Shakespeare’s tragedies, we could certainly feel the humor and non-tragic spirit in this one. 

We may have been a little overdramatic with our intro (why does this always happen?), because there were parts of A Midsummer Night’s Dream that were really enjoyable.  We laughed on more than one occasion especially during the scenes involving Puck.  The personalities within the acting troupe were also interesting and we couldn’t help but feel sad following their final performance.  That being said, there were too many times we got lost amidst the changing love interests... 

Don’t forget to head on over to A Literary Odyssey for all your January Shakespeare needs!