Seven Ages

Comedy · c. 1595

Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night's Dream

The perfect comedy.

Track this play
By the Seven Ages editors2 min read · Contains affiliate links

Four lovers flee into a wood outside Athens and into the middle of a quarrel between the fairy king and queen; a troupe of amateur actors rehearses nearby; Puck is dispatched with a love potion and poor aim. Everything tangles, everything resolves, and the amateurs’ play-within-a-play is the funniest scene Shakespeare wrote.

It is the most staged, most adapted, most beloved of the comedies for good reason: moonlit, musical, and structurally flawless. If you are introducing anyone to Shakespeare — including yourself — start here.

Which edition?

Typeset series plate: Arden Shakespeare, Third Series — A Midsummer Night's Dream. A designed placeholder, not a picture of the book's cover.ARDEN SHAKESPEARE,THIRD SERIESA MidsummerNight's Dream

1Arden Shakespeare, Third Series

Ed. Sukanta Chaudhuri · Bloomsbury, 2017

The newest full edition — global in reach, generous on the play’s afterlives.

Amazon
Typeset series plate: Oxford World’s Classics — A Midsummer Night's Dream. A designed placeholder, not a picture of the book's cover.OXFORD WORLD’SCLASSICSA MidsummerNight's Dream

2Oxford World’s Classics

Ed. Peter Holland · Oxford University Press, 1994

Holland on dreams, doubling, and the mechanicals — the most purely enjoyable introduction.

Amazon
Front cover: The New Cambridge Shakespeare — A Midsummer Night's Dream.

3The New Cambridge Shakespeare

Ed. R. A. Foakes · Cambridge University Press

Compact, reliable, and alert to the play’s darker corners.

Amazon
Front cover: Folger Shakespeare Library — A Midsummer Night's Dream.

4Folger Shakespeare LibraryFirst read? Start here

Ed. Barbara Mowat & Paul Werstine · Simon & Schuster

The best first Shakespeare there is, in the friendliest format.

Amazon

Cover images from Open Library.

Midsummer Night's Dream on stage

Midsummer Night's Dream on screen

Typeset plate for the screen adaptation A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935), directed by Max Reinhardt, William Dieterle. A designed placeholder, not a picture of the poster.1935A MidsummerNight's DreamMAX REINHARDT, WILLIAMDIETERLE

1A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)

Film · dir. Max Reinhardt, William Dieterle

Typeset plate for the screen adaptation A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999), directed by Michael Hoffman. A designed placeholder, not a picture of the poster.1999A MidsummerNight's DreamMICHAEL HOFFMAN

2A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)

Film · dir. Michael Hoffman

Seven Ages recommends editions on their merits and takes no payment for placement. As an Amazon Associate, Seven Ages earns from qualifying purchases.

Reading Midsummer Night's Dream this year?

Mark it in your record when you finish — one seat, kept for decades.

Track Midsummer Night's Dream