A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare written in the mid-1590s.

Date and sources

It is not known exactly when A Midsummer Night's Dream was written or first performed, but it is assumed to be between 1594 and 1596. Some have theorized that the play might have been written for performance at the wedding of Sir Thomas Berkeley and Elizabeth Carey, in February, 1596.

Related Topics:
1594 - 1596 - Sir Thomas Berkeley - Elizabeth Carey

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There is no known source for the plot of A Midsummer Night's Dream, although individual elements can be traced to classical literature; for example, the story of Pyramus and Thisbe is told in Ovid's Metamorphoses and the transformation of Bottom into an ass is descended from Apuleius' The Golden Ass; Shakespeare would have studied both texts at school. In addition, Shakespeare would have been working on Romeo and Juliet at about the same time that he wrote the Dream, and it is possible to see Pyramus and Thisbe as a comic reworking of the tragic play.

Related Topics:
Pyramus and Thisbe - Ovid - Metamorphoses - Apuleius - The Golden Ass - Romeo and Juliet

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