What is A Midsummer Night's Dream?
Q: What is A Midsummer Night's Dream?
A: A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play by William Shakespeare.
Q: When was the play written?
A: The exact date of when the play was written is unknown, but it is generally accepted that it was written in either 1595 or 1596.
Q: How did Shakespeare come up with the character of Puck?
A: Shakespeare found a description of Puck in Reginald Scot's The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584).
Q: Who were the sources for Shakespeare's work?
A: Shakespeare's sources included works by Plutarch, Apuleius, Ovid, Geoffrey Chaucer, and Edmund Spenser.
Q: For what occasion may have been the play written?
A: It is believed that the play may have been written for either Elizabeth Vere’s aristocratic marriage in 1595 or Elizabeth Carey’s aristocratic marriage in 1596.
Q: Where does most of the action take place?
A: Most of the action takes place at night in the woods near Athens.
Q: How has A Midsummer Night's Dream been adapted over time?
A: The play has been made into movies on numerous occasions and Benjamin Britten wrote an opera based on it. George Balanchine and Frederick Ashton also created ballets about it and Felix Mendelssohn composed music for it which includes an "Overture" and a "Wedding March".
