Midsummer Night's Dream

Author: Qiu Kuan An
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Publish Date: 2006-08-29
Features: A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's most creatively rich plays. Shakespeare blends Greek and Roman mythology with English folklore. The play depicts four layers of characters: ethereal and fantastical fairy king, fairy queen, fairy children, and fairies; the Duke and his new wife; two pairs of young lovers; and six vulgar craftsmen. Their relationships are intricate, and the quarrel in the fairy world causes anomalies in the celestial seasons and misfortunes in human affairs. In the end, the fairy king and fairy queen reconcile, and the two pairs of young lovers also marry after the Duke's wedding. The entire play is filled with humor, interspersed with music, dance, and the play-within-a-play, shrouded in the mysterious moonlight and shadows of a summer night, leading readers to enter a poetic, dreamlike, and fairyland-like world.