A Midsummers Night’s Dream uses an abundance of magical imagery, quirky characters and entrancing language to entertain the audience with a story that is simultaneously a romance and a fairy story, set primarily over the course of one night in the woods. The whole text is available as a Folger Digital edition here.

The seemingly chaotic plot draws heavily on carnival, mischief and magic - but it also draws us into a world that reveals common concerns about finding human connection, fun and inspiration, as this article argues.

As with all of Shakespeare’s plays, A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream has roots in different sources, mythical motifs, and other stories. This page offers a fascinating overview of Shakespeare’s inspirations for his most topsy-turvy play.

In turn, the play has sparked many more creations - see this article for details on the visual art Shakespeare’s magical fairies and spell-binding language inspired.

Although Shakespeare’s language can be tricky to get to grips with when you’re reading or watching his work. Jame’s Baldwin’s essay “Why I Stopped Hating Shakespeare” offers a brilliant argument for why Shakespeare’s language still resonates.


A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream has been discussed and reimagined countless times since it first appeared. Read about its extensive staging history in this piece by the Royal Shakespeare Company.

As this article details, the story remains up for all types of interpretation; and has taken as many surprising forms as its characters. Visit this page to discover more about a particularly experimental recent staging, which reveals the radical nature of the story.

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