A Midsummer’s Night Dream was written and first performed in the mid 1590’s. Shakespeare used the device of magic extensively in this early comedy. There are four separate but intertwined plots. The main plot is the marriage of Duke Theseus of Athens to Hippolyta, the Amazonian queen. Theseus is looking forward to his wedding and has ordered his master of the revels to prepare a wonderful wedding feast. While Theseus waits, he is approached by Egeus, father of Hermia. Egeus wants Hermia to marry Demetrius, who loves Hermia. Hermia, however, wants to marry Lysander. Under Athenian law, a woman must marry according to her father’s wishes. This annotated edition includes a biography and critical essay.

National Sylvan Theatre, Washington Monument grounds, The Community Center and Playgrounds Department and the Office of National Capital Parks present the ninth summer festival program of the 1941 season, the Washington Players in William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," produced by Bess Davis Schreiner, directed by Denis E. Connell, the music by Mendelssohn is played by the Washington Civic Orchestra conducted by Jean Manganaro, the setting and lights Harold Snyder, costumes Mary Davis.

Twelfth Night is the only one of Shakespeare’s plays to have a double title – the other title being What You Will. This play is a comedy with an intricate plot and dozens of jokes to keep an audience entertained. It was written circa 1601 and the setting is Illyria, a fictional country. Shakespeare’s inspiration for the story came from Riche his Farewell to Militarie Profession, written in 1581 by Englishman Barnabe Riche. The Duke of Illyria is one Orsino. Illyria appears to be a place where very little is happening and the inhabitants are somewhat bored. When the play begins, Orsino is courting Countess Olivia. Olivia, however, is in no mood for courting, as she has just lost her brother and is mourning her loss. Even so, her uncle Sir Toby Belch is matchmaking. He thinks she would make a suitable mate for the dubious buffoon Sir Andrew Aguecheek. Sir Andrew and Sir Toby spend much of their time drinking with a clown named Feste. This annotated edition includes a biography and critical essay.

This volume traces the modern critical and performance history of this play, one of Shakespeare's most-loved and most-performed comedies. The essay focus on such modern concerns as feminism, deconstruction, textual theory, and queer theory.

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This carefully crafted ebook: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The Unabridged Play) + The Classic Biography: The Life of William Shakespeare” is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents. A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and Hippolyta. These include the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of six amateur actors, who are controlled and manipulated by the fairies who inhabit the forest in which most of the play is set. Life of William Shakespeare is a biography of William Shakespeare by the eminent critic Sidney Lee. This book was one of the first major biographies of the Bard of Avon. It was published in 1898, based on the article contributed to the Dictionary of National Biography. William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, the authorship of some of which is uncertain. Sir Sidney Lee (1859 – 1926) was an English biographer and critic. He was a lifelong scholar and enthusiast of Shakespeare. His article on Shakespeare in the fifty-first volume of the Dictionary of National Biography formed the basis of his Life of William Shakespeare. This full-length life is often credited as the first modern biography of the poet.