A Midsummer Night's Dream is William Shakespeare's most popular comedy, delighting readers for centuries. As this edition aptly reveals, the play is a lighthearted and absurd romp centering on universal themes like love and all of its complications. This edition begins with notes on staging the play, including ideas about set design and costuming.

The plot of A Midsummer Night's Dream focuses on three parallel stories: the trials and experiences of two sets of lovers camping in a magical forest, the world of the Fairy King and Queen and their elves, and a group of rough craftsmen attempting to stage a production of "Pyramus and Thisby" for the wedding of the Duke of Athens.

A Midsummer Night's Dream illustrates Emily Dickinson's quote "the heart wants what it wants" when a love quadrangle develops between Lysander, Demetrius, Helena and Hermia. There is unrequited love, love at first sight and love on the run, with the mischievous Puck the trickster elf who acts as Cupid among the unsuspecting couples. Meanwhile there is a play-within-the-play, as a group of actors rehearse a hilariously bad play in the woods. The king and queen of the fairies intervene, casting magical spells on the players.

English majors and those who love poetry will appreciate Shakespeare's style in this play, where the noble characters often speak in unrhymed "iambic pentameter" or blank verse, and the lovers communicate in rhyming verse. All readers will enjoy discovering the origins of popular phrases like "[t]hough she be but little, she is fierce!" and "[t]he course of true love never did run smooth." Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream will charm and entertain everyone .

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