A Midsummer Night's Dream

The Oxford Shakespeare

Edited by Peter Holland

Oxford World's Classics

A highly original and sophisticated work, remarkable for both its literary and its theatrical mastery.
One of the very few of Shakespeare's plays which do not draw on narrative sources.

New to this Edition:

Includes an introduction that looks at dreams and dreamers, tracing the materials out of which Shakespeare constructs his world of night and shadows.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

The Oxford Shakespeare

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Edited by Peter Holland

Description

A Midsummer Night's Dream is perhaps Shakespeare's most popular play, particularly as a first introduction to Shakespeare for children--filled as it is with a marvelous mixture of aristocrats, workers, and fairies. Simple and engaging on the surface, it is none the less a highly original and sophisticated work, remarkable for both its literary and its theatrical mastery. It is one of the very few of Shakespeare's plays which do not draw on narrative sources, which suggests that it reflects his deepest imaginative concerns to an unusual degree.

For this edition, Peter Holland's introduction looks at dreams and dreamers, tracing the materials out of which Shakespeare constructs his world of night and shadows.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

The Oxford Shakespeare

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Edited by Peter Holland

Oxford World's Classics

Author Information

Peter Holland is Wilson University Lecturer in Drama at the Faculty of English, Cambridge University. He is also a drama reviewer for BBC radio and the TLS, a Syndic of Cambridge University Press, and a Governor of the Royal Shakespeare Company; he has published widely on theatre generally and Shakespeare in particular

A Midsummer Night's Dream

The Oxford Shakespeare

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Edited by Peter Holland

Oxford World's Classics

From Our Blog

Monthly etymology gleanings for June 2012

By Anatoly Liberman Many thanks to those who responded to the recent posts on adverbs, spelling, and cool dudes in Australia. I was also grateful for friendly remarks on the Pippi post and the German text of Lindgren Astrid's book (in German, spunk, the Swedish name of the bug with green wings, as I now know, remained spunk).

Posted on June 27, 2012

Read the blog post

Wedding Music

The summer wedding season is in full swing and many of us will have attended a ceremony or two by the time it's over. My little sister was married on July 15, and the months leading up to the event were very busy ones for my family members, who planned and prepared the entire event themselves.

Posted on July 31, 2012

Read the blog post

Two English apr-words, part 2: 'Apricot'

By Anatoly Liberman Fruits and vegetables travel from land to land with their names. Every now and then they proclaim their country of origin. Such is the peach (though of course not in its present-day English form), whose name is a borrowing of Old French peche (Modern French pªche), ultimately from Latin Persicum malum 'Persian apple.' It follows that the noun peach began its life as an adjective. To a modern speaker of French and English the distance between pªche ~ peach and persicum (with its phonetic pit gone) is unbridgeable, but Swedish persika, Dutch perzik, and Russian persik are quite transparent.

Posted on August 8, 2012

Read the blog post