Episode 151

Having finished with Ben Jonson’s biography we can now go back in time just a little to work through Shakespeare’s and Jonson’s plays in more detail.  By the early 1590s was then the man of the theatrical moment, no longer the young upstart, but the proven playmaker and ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ surely did nothing but enhance that reputation and it has been popular ever since.

A brief synopsis of the play

The dating of the play

Suggested settings for the play as a wedding celebration

The sources for the play

Biblical influences

Publication of the play

The central themes of the play

The darker elements of the play

Theseus and Hippolyta and the setting of the play

The blindness of desire and passion

The question of the nature of attraction

The four lovers as exemplars of romantic love

The significance of the play within the play

The role of the rude mechanicals

How the play within the play tells us something about theatre practice at the time

Barriers to love – including a wall

A brief performance history of the play

Links to ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream: An Illustrated Handbook and Encyclopaedia' by Rachel Aanstad:

UK link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Midsummer-Nights-Illustrated-Handbook-Encyclopedia/dp/B09PKSTL1S/ref=sr_1_2

US link : https://www.amazon.com/Midsummer-Nights-Illustrated-Handbook-Encyclopedia/dp/B09PKSTL1S/ref=sr_1_2

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