A midsummer night's dream

The title of this article is ambiguous. For more meanings, see A Midsummer Night's Dream (disambiguation) .

Landscape with a Thunderstorm (Pyramus and Thisbe). Nicolas Poussin 1651. Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main

A Midsummer Night's Dream ( Early Modern English A Midsummer nights dreame ) is a comedy by William Shakespeare . The play takes place in ancient Athens and in an enchanted forest adjacent to the city. It covers the narrated time of three days and nights and deals with the circumstances of the wedding of a ruling couple. The Midsummer Night's Dream was written probably in 1595 or 1596, first performed before 1598 and appeared in 1600 in a Quartoausgabe in print. The piece is one of Shakespeare's most frequently performed works. In the English-speaking countries it is a classic for school and amateur theater productions.

Overview

Storylines

Four actions are interwoven in the piece. The main story is the preparation of Theseus and Hippolyta's wedding at the court of Athens. Linked to this are the experiences of the craftsmen who rehearse a play for the prince's solemnity in the neighboring forest of Athens. Right at the beginning the conflict about the marriage of two aristocratic couples is introduced. In the forest of Athens, the two couples and the craftsmen meet fairies and elves and are drawn into the effects of a marriage quarrel between the elven couple Oberon and Titania.

main characters

The stage company in Shakespeare's comedy consists of four groups: the ruling couple, the lovers, the elves and the artisans. Theseus is the Duke of Athens. He got engaged to Hippolyta , Queen of the Amazons. Egeus is a nobleman and father of Hermia. The nobleman Lysander is in love with Hermia. Demetrius is preferred by Egeus for his daughter Hermia. Hermia, however, the daughter of Egeus, is in love with Lysander and friends with Helena , who in turn is in love with Demetrius. Philostratus is the master of ceremonies at the court of Theseus.

Oberon , the king of the elves, is in dispute with his wife Titania , the queen of the elves. Puck , also Robin Goodfellow , is Oberon's court jester. Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Moth and Mustardseed serve the elf queen. The carpenter Peter Quince will play the prologue in the piece. Nick Bottom , the weaver, plays Pyramus, Francis Flute , the bellows flicker, plays Thisbe, Pyramus' lover. Tom Snout , the tinker, is the wall, Robin Starveling , the tailor, plays the moonlight and Snug , the carpenter, plays the lion.

German names

Since the translation of the work into German by Christoph Martin Wieland in 1762 under the title Ein St. Johannis Nachts-Traum and then by Schlegel from 1798, some of the names have been translated into German. Puck becomes Puk (Wieland) or Droll (Schlegel) and the four elves are called bean blossom, spider web , mite and mustard seeds (Wieland) or bean blossom, cobweb, moth and mustard seeds (Schlegel). The Germanization from Peter Quince to Peter Squenz first occurs in Andreas Gryphius' adaptation from 1657. It is adopted by Wieland and Schlegel. Nick Bottom means note ; Francis Flute turns into slack ; Tom Snout to Schnauz ; Robin Starveling to Schlucker and Snug to Schnock . Somewhat different from the older translations, the craftsmen are given suitable German first names in the newer editions: Niklas Zettel, Franz Flaut, Tom Schnauz and Matz Schlucker .

Told the time and places of the action

The work takes place at an indefinite time in summer. There are allusions to St. John's Day and the so-called Rite of May . The two main locations are the Court of Athens and the Enchanted Forest.

action

Act I.

[Scene 1] Theseus and Hippolyta want to get married. The wedding should take place within four days of the new moon night. Theseus entrusts his master of ceremonies Philostratus with the preparations. The wealthy Athenian Egeus has an audience with the duke. He brings his daughter Hermia and the two young courtiers Lysander and Demetrius with him. Egeus has chosen Demetrius as his son-in-law, but Hermia refuses. She wants to marry Lysander. Egeus asks Theseus to punish his daughter with death for disobedience in accordance with Athenian law. Theseus decides that Hermia should look up to her father like a god. He gives her four days before the new moon to obey. Until then, she must either marry Demetrius or choose between the death penalty and a life in exile. Then the Duke asks Egeus and Demetrius for a confidential talk. Meanwhile, Lysander and Hermia agree to flee Athens. They let Hermia's friend Helena, who is in love with Demetrius, know about their plans and want to meet in the forest the next day. Helena decides to reveal the plan to Demetrius. [Scene 2] Six Athenian artisans meet to perform the "deeply tragic comedy" of Pyramus and Thisbe at the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta . Peter Quince is the game master, he distributes the roles. The weaver Nick Bottom would like to play all roles, he will give the lover Pyramus. The bellows flicker Franz Flaut has to take on Pyramus' lover Thisbe. Robin Starveling will play Thisbe's mother, Tom Snout Pyramus' father and Peter Quince himself will play Thisbe's father. Snug will give the lion. The game master admonishes the actors to memorize their roles and makes a list of the props himself. Then they arrange to meet for a rehearsal the following evening in the castle forest, a mile from town.

Act II

[Scene 1] Two ghosts meet in the forest near the castle: Puck, also known as Robin Gutfreund, the court jester of the elf king Oberon, and a fairy, servant of the fairy queen Titania. With crude jokes about a “full-eaten stallion” and the “sagging breasts of the woman's base”, they announce the arrival of their masters, who are leading a custody battle over an Indian child. When the rulers and their entourage meet, a wild argument breaks out immediately. As a result, it becomes clear what motive the two have to arrive uninvited for Theseus' wedding in Athens. The couple accuse each other of being unfaithful, and both of them enumerate each other's lovers with crude words (“Neidhammel”, “Aas”). It quickly turns out that Oberon had a relationship with the “plump Amazon”, the “shotgun woman” Hippolyta and Titania had a love affair with the “womanly hero” Theseus. While Titania unmovedly denies her adultery ("all imagination"), she verbally blames her husband for the bad weather ("The whole evil brood comes from our quarrel"). Oberon doesn't give in. He wants the Indian boy, his wife refuses without further ado (“Elves, we're going, I saw it coming”). She feels obliged to the mother of the child. This died at his birth. Oberon seeks retribution. He assigns Puck to procure the love-in-idleness flower that was struck by Cupido's arrow. Your juice causes a love frenzy. If dripped on a sleeper's eyelid, they wake up and fall in love with the closest living creature they see, even if it is a wild animal. So Titania is supposed to "atone" for her insolence. While Oberon is waiting for Puck, Demetrius arrives in the forest. He looks for Lysander and Hermia with the intention of killing Lysander only to be killed by Hermia. Helena follows him. She is madly in love with Demetrius ("Treat me like your puppy, despise me, hit me."). But this rejects them harshly ("You are playing with my hate."). The elf king observes the argument between the two and on his return gives Puck the task of looking for a young Athenian who is being followed by a woman. He should drizzle some of the juice onto his eyelids. Oberon himself wants to find Titania and enchant her too. He knows where she wants to stay. There are green snakes romping about, in whose presence - Oberon hopes - the magic will give them horrible thoughts. [Scene 2] Titania and her entourage prepare for the night. With their singing, the elves drive away all animals that could cause terror (snakes, newts, spiders) and call the nightingale to protect the fairy queen's sleep. Oberon finds Titania and with a curse ("Wake up only when a monster is in your presence") drizzles the nectar of the magic flower into her eyes. Hermia and Lysander are lost. They prepare a camp for the night, and Hermia resists the advances of her lover ("So lie on gap until the turn of the day"). While they sleep, Puck finds the two, mistakenly mistaking Lysander for the young Athenian he is looking for, and rubs the nectar on his eyelids. Helena is still chasing Demetrius and tripping over the sleeping Lysander. He wakes up, falls in love with her and follows her through the forest. Shortly thereafter, Hermia wakes up from a nightmare ("I dreamed that a snake was eating my heart"). She is shocked to find that Lysander has disappeared and moves on alone in fear of death.

Act III

[Scene 1] In the meantime the craftsmen have come to their rehearsals. Robin fears that the bloodshed will frighten the audience (“We should leave out all the mess”). One is also concerned about the appearance of the lion ("Bringing a lion among women is a very bad thing"). Bottom therefore suggests explaining to the audience in a prologue that everything is just an act (“Madam […] they don't tremble!”). The game master Peter Quince notes two more difficulties: "How do we bring the moonlight into a room?" And "We must have a wall in the great hall.", Because a wall separates the lovers who secretly meet at night by moonlight. The solution is that someone has to introduce the moon and one or the other has to play the wall. Puck arrives and watches the craftsmen. During a break from playing Nick Bottom, he turns his head into that of a donkey. When he appears on his cue, his horrified friends flee ("God help you [...] you are enchanted"). Bottom takes courage by singing. Titania wakes up. She prevents him from trying to escape and orders the fairies to serve him. [Scene 2] Puck tells Oberon of Titania's enchantment ("The queen now loves human cattle"). Oberon is extremely satisfied. However, Puck made a mistake with the two lovers, which is now being noticed. Oberon orders Puck to get Helena and uses the remedy on Demetrius himself. When Helena appears, Demetrius wakes up and falls in love with her. Now both Lysander and Demetrius love Helena. Puck really likes the fact that people make a mockery of each other (“Two men and one woman - that gives a good show”). Hermia appears and accuses Demetrius of murdering Lysander. Oberon recognizes the chaos and orders Puck to undo it. Lysander swears his love to Helena under the influence of the spell, Demetrius does the same. When Hermia arrives, the argument spreads because the enchanted Lysander insults his lover ("black slut, leech, emetic"). After Helena accuses her friend Hermia of treason ("And now you're tearing up our old love ..."), both clash violently ("Liebeselster, Püppchen"). When the four diverge in an argument, Oberon insinuates his court jester to have used the joke on purpose. He orders him to end the mess before night falls. Puck chases the couple until they fall asleep close to each other, exhausted, and casts the spell again on Lysander. He says goodbye with a crude comment: "Every stallion gets his mare - all the best."

Act IV

[Scene 1] Bottom and Titania are lying in the flower bed of the elf queen. The elves bring sweets to the weaver, and finally both of them fall asleep. In an enchanted state ("I'm slowly sorry for her madness") Titania, without hesitation, gave the Indian prince to Oberon. As a “reward”, this frees you from the effects of the love nectar. After Titania wakes up, she is frightened ("I loved a donkey without shame"). Puck frees Bottom from his donkey head ("Glotz through your own pupil again!") And the elf rulers make up. They plan to be present at Theseus' celebration undetected and to bless the newlyweds. The next morning Theseus, Hippolyta and Egeus prepare for the hunt and talk about the wonderful barking of their dogs ("There has never been a more harmonious sound in the world, so soft the thunder."). The hunting party finds the two couples who, thanks to the skillfully used magic, are now happily in love. Theseus determines that Demetrius and Helena as well as Lysander and Hermia will celebrate their wedding with him and rejects Egeus' excessive demand for revenge ("I want the right, I want the head, the head right!") For disobedience. Bottom, too, wakes up from his sleep and thinks he is still in the theater rehearsal (“When my cue comes, call me ...”). Then he remembers the events of the previous night. Peter Sequence is supposed to write a ballad about it, which he calls "Zettel's dream". [Scene 2] The craftsmen wait sadly for Bottom (“If he doesn't come, the piece is in the bucket”) and fear that he is completely “cuddled”. When he does show up, there is a big reunion and Bottom encourages everyone to do their best (“Don't eat garlic because we are supposed to breathe sweet breath”).

Act V

[Scene 1] Theseus and Hippolyta talk before the start of the play about the fairy magic that the lovers reported ("... and think how easily the fantasy turns every bush into a bear out of fear."). Theseus asks his master of ceremonies Philostrat which pastime is planned. The first choice is the piece Centaurs in Battle . Theseus does not want to hear any praise for Hercules at his wedding, especially since it is sung by a eunuch. The "howling of the drunken Bacchantes when they tore Orpheus to pieces out of anger" is dismissed as outdated and "The mourning of the nine muses for the death of art" is simply unsuitable for a wedding. In the end all that remains is the piece by the squat craftsman, a “tragic pleasure”. Despite the objections of Philostratus (“No, gracious prince, that's not for you!”) Theseus wants to see this piece (“… nothing can go completely wrong, for which duty and simplicity honestly strive.”). Then Theseus and Hippolyta discuss the appropriate behavior of a manorial audience towards the actors ("Where fiery enthusiasm fails, respect only sees the will, not the deed."). The master of ceremonies opens the game.

The game in the game

The performance is repeatedly interrupted by comments from the audience - mostly mocking on the part of the men and understanding on the part of the women. It begins with a prologue by the game director, which is misleading, followed by a commented dumb show (the pantomime game) in which the piece is presented in silence beforehand. The actual performance is again introduced by a prologue, Tom Snout, the actor on the wall, explains his role in the game. Then Bottom and Flute appear as Pyramus and Thisbe, who awkwardly describe their nocturnal rendezvous blocked by the wall. Snug and Robin Starveling also introduce their appearance as Lion and Moonlight with a prologue. Thisbe follows them and the disaster takes its course: She flees from Leo in the moonlight, loses her cloak and Leo tears Thisbe's cloak with "red saliva". Pyramus finds Thisbe's bloodstained cloak, believes the mistress is dead, and stabs himself. Thisbe finds the dead Pyramus and stabs himself. The piece closes with praise from Theseus: "Very remarkably presented."

Six speeches conclude: Theseus sends the couples to bed, Puck and the army of elves clean up the palace, Oberon - followed by Titania - leads the elves' dance. Then the elven rulers bless the house and the lovers. Finally, Puck comes on stage again and speaks directly to the audience. He asks if he did not like the piece, to regard it as a dream, and to applaud if it was satisfied: Give me your hands, if we be friends and Robin shall restore amends.

Literary templates and cultural references

“Pyramus and Thisbe”, colored woodcut, translation by Heinrich Steinhöwel, printed by Johannes Zainer, Ulm approx. 1474

In contrast to most of Shakespeare's other plays , no direct template can be found for A Midsummer Night's Dream , similar to Love's Labor's Lost and The Tempest . The play essentially consists of four storylines that can be assigned to the respective sources: the ruler's wedding, the aristocratic confusion of love, the intrigues of the fairy world and the “piece in a piece” of the craftsmen. The theme of the ruler's wedding goes back to Plutarch's Bíoi parálleloi and Chaucer's The Knight's Tale . Plutarch's parallel biographies were translated relatively freely from Greek into French by Jacques Amyot in 1559 and from French into English by Sir Thomas North in 1579. Shakespeare also used the material in The Two Noble Kinsmen . The aristocratic confusion of love has similarities with the couples from Sidney's Arcadia . The intrigues of the fairy world result from elements from Spenser's epic The Faerie Queene , Robert Greene's comedy James IV , the French novel poem Huon de Bordeaux , which was published around 1534 to 1540 in the English translation by John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berner , Ovid's Metamorphoses (probably only the name Titania ) as well as orally transmitted folk tales, from which Puck and the elves in particular come from. Elves had previously appeared poetically on stage in the comedies Endimion, The Man in the Moone (around 1588) and Galathea (around 1585) by John Lyly . The magical plant Anacamfritis in Lyly Euphues and his England (1580), the potential to induce a miraculous Liebestollerei, also could Shakespeare have served as inspiration for the scene II.1 in which Oberon Puck placed the order, the magic flower love-in-idleness to procure. According to various researchers, the disputes about their love and marital relationship between Pluto and Proserpine in Chaucer's story The Merchant's Tale from the Canterbury Tales may have inspired Shakespeare to shape the figures of the elven-ruling couple and their conflict.

The piece in a piece

At the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta, the artisans perform the play of Pyramus and Thisbe . It goes back to Ovid's account in Book IV of The Metamorphoses .

Pyramus was and Thisbe, the most beautiful of the young men, was the one, and
the other was praised before the oriental maidens.

Shakespeare and his contemporaries knew this story primarily through Golding's translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses , first published in 1567 . Shakespeare could read Ovid in the Latin original, but like Spenser also used the English translation. That he knew the Latin text can be seen from the fact that the name of the fairy queen Titania only occurs in Ovid, not in Golding's translation. Individual elements of the narrative, such as Thisbe's lost cloak (instead of a veil) or the scratch in the wall (“crannied hole”) appear in this formulation only in Golding. Although Shakespeare used Ovid as the primary source for his title characters in the play, the story of Pyramus and Thisbe was well known to contemporaries. Chaucer took it on as a dream vision as early as 1385/86 in his poem The Legend of Good Women ; In 1584 the poem New Sonet of Pyramus and Thisbe by I. Thomson appeared in the collection Handefull of Pleasant Delites by Clement Robinson , which may have moved Shakespeare to the last words of the dying lovers (v. 1, 274-306 and 326 –346) to choose a stanza form.

Nick Bottom's experiences

Dog-eared Midas. (Hendrik de Clerck, approx. 1620)

The motif of metamorphosis is characteristic of Ovid's Metamorphoses . The fact that Bottom's head is turned into the head of a donkey finds a counterpart in the story of Midas in Book XI of Ovid's Metamorphoses. There it is reported how the god Apollo transformed the head of Midas into a donkey's head:

Otherwise he remains a human being; condemned by the only limb, he
carries his ears away from the slowly striding donkey.

Some authors suggest that Shakespeare knew this story in the version of Lyly's tale "Midas". Bottom's transformation into a donkey could also have come from other sources. Apuleius ' collection of stories Metamorphoseon libri XI is known under the title "The golden donkey" (Asinus aureus). It was translated into English by William Adlington in 1566 . There Apuleius reports in the third book of Metamorphoses in Chapter 17 how the narrator Lucius hopes to transform himself into a bird, but is completely transformed into a donkey by Photis, a witch's maid, but with a magic ointment. Similar to Shakespeare's work, the transformed person in this figure becomes an object of female desire due to his large phallus and experiences various sexual relationships. In Reginald Scot's tale The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584), a young man is also transformed from a witch into a donkey.

The motif of the love affair between Bottom and the Fairy Queen finds its counterpart in the story of the adventures of Sir Thopas from Book 7 of the Canterbury Tales :

Original version (explanation in square brackets):
Me dreemed all this night, pardee,
An elf-queen shall my lemman [sweetheart] be
and sleep under my gore [garment].

Modernized version:
… I dreamed last night
That I had caught a bright
Elf-queen under the sheets.

German translation:
I had - Pardautz! - last night a dream
that an elf queen would be my love
and sleep under my sheet.

text

There are three early prints of the piece. The first quarto (Q1) appeared in 1600 and in Pollard's terminology is a so-called “good quarto”. Eight copies of him have survived. The first quarto was reprinted in 1619 as part of the so-called " Pavier Quartos " with an incorrect backdate. The version of the piece in the First Folio (F1) contains numerous bugs and improvements that were made in Q2, and it is therefore believed that this was used as a template for the folio version.

The first quarto (Q1) of 1600

Title page of the first quarto from 1600.

On October 8, 1600, an entry was made in the Stationers' Register on behalf of Thomas Fisher. It reads: 8 Octobris [1600] Thomas Fyssher Entered for his copie vnder the handes of mr [Master] Rodes and the Wardens A booke called A mydsomer nightes dreame. vjd. It is believed that the edition was produced by the printer Richard Bradock. The front page says: A Midsommer nights dreame. As it has been sundry times published , by the Right honora- ble, the Lord Chamberlaine his seruants. Written by William Shakespeare. Imprinted at London, for Thomas Fisher , and are to be soulde at his shoppe, at the Signe of the White Hart, in Fleete street. 1600. Because of the correct entry and the fact that the text is of good quality, it is believed that the printing was authorized by Shakespeare's theater company. Individual authors have suggested that a stereotypical process was used in printing , an opinion that was rejected by others, and that only a single typesetter was involved in the production. The artwork was probably a handwritten draft by Shakespeare, a so-called foul paper . The indications for this are, on the one hand, incomplete stage directions, for example the appearance of Puck in 3/1/97 is missing. The note is only inserted in the Capell edition. In addition, there are variable names for speakers. So Puck is sometimes called Robin Goodfellow (Robin Gutfreund), Titania is called (Queen), in January 5, 107 and from 205 is called Theseus (Duke - Duke) and Hippolyta (Duchess - Duchess). Occasionally there are also abbreviated stage directions , such as in 3.1 : Enter the Clownes ; or in 4.1.101 : Enter Theseus and all his traine. Position 4. 2: Enter Quince, Flute, Thisby and the rabble is particularly striking. where the names of the craftsmen (Quince and Flute, Squenz and Flaut) are mixed with the speaking role of the piece in the piece (Thisby, Thisbe) and the other characters Starveling (Schlucker) and Snout (Schnauz) are called rabble. In addition to inconsistencies in stage instructions and speaker designations, the unusual spelling of certain words is pointed out. In this quarto there are similarities in the use of the double O ("oo") in the words prooue, hoord, boorde, shooes, mooue etc. with the spelling of Shakespeare's hand D in the manuscript of Sir Thomas More . Taken together, these textual properties are seen as evidence of the high authority of the first four-high edition of the piece. Of all the pieces by Shakespeare that are available as quarto and folio versions at the same time, the Midsummer Night's Dream is therefore the best-preserved text.

The second quarto (Q2) from 1619

Title page of the second quarto from 1619

The second quarto appeared in 1619. The title page reads: A Midsommer nights dreame. As it hath beene sundry times likely acted, by the Right Honorable , the Lord Chamberlaine his seruants. Written by William Shakespeare. Printed by Iames Roberts, 1600. The last line with the date “1600” and the name of James Roberts is a forgery. This was discovered by Pollard and others in the early 20th century. In 1619, William Jaggard had ten quartos printed on behalf of the publisher Thomas Pavier, presumably without owning the rights . These have become known in science under the name False Folio or "Pavier-Quartos". They include seven Shakespeare plays ( Henry V, Lear, Merchant of Venice, Merry Wifes of Windsor, A Midsummer Night's Dream, 2 Henry VI and 3 Henry VI ), with Pericles a joint work by Shakespeare and Wilkins , a play by Thomas Middleton ( A Yorkshire Tragedy ) and the anonymously printed work The Life of Sir John Oldcastle . The background to the project has not been fully clarified. It is possible that Jaggard originally planned to bind the quarto individual editions into a complete edition, but was prevented by a letter from Lord Chamberlaine to the Stationers' Company on May 3, 1619, and as a result the already printed copies were prepared as if they were identical copies of the original editions.

Q2 is a largely unchanged reprint of the first edition. The text was adapted especially at the beginning of Act V. There are incorrect verses in lines 1–84. Lines V. 1. 5–8 are given as an example:

Quarto 1 version :
Such shaping phantasies, that apprehend more,
Then coole reason euer comprehends. The lunatick
The louer, and the Poet are of imagination all compact.

Quarto-2-Version :
Such shaping phantasies, that apprehend more
Then coole reason euer comprehends.
The Lunaticke, the Louer, and the Poet,
Are of imagination all compact.

Folio version :
Such shaping phantasies, that apprehend more
Then coole reason euer comprehends.
The Lunaticke, the Louer, and the Poet,
Are of imagination all compact.

German translation :
The imagination blossoms, fables
More than a clear head can understand.
Crazy people, poets, lovers are
simply imagined (...)

You can see here that the folio version does not follow Q1, but Q2 and thus takes over corrections of the later print. Although Q2 improves the errors of Q1 (I. 1. 4 “wanes” instead of “waues”), far more errors are reproduced, so that modern editors do not recognize Q2 as a text authority.

The folio (F1) edition of 1623

Title page of the Midsummer Night's Dream from the First Folio of 1623

In the First Folio, the Midsummer Night's Dream is included in the first section as the eighth item on pages 145 to 162 after the folio count (facsimile count: pp. 163-180). F1 was set after a Q2 issue and corrected against a prompt book version of Q1. As a result, the corrections to Q1 and Q2 mostly concern stage instructions. The changes to the names of the speakers by Egeus in Act V should be emphasized. Also noteworthy is the addition and explanation of the appearance of Bottom after his enchantment, which is completely absent in Q and is specified by F1: Enter Piramus with the Aces head. (Act III. 1. 97). In some places, F1 also inserts errors. With the addition: Exit all but Wall in Act V. 1. 150, the instruction would have to be three lines later in Act V. 1. 153: Exit Lyon, Thisbie and Mooneshine. changed accordingly, which was not done.

Individual stage instructions give indications of a special performance practice. The appearances of Puck and Oberon in Act III. 1 and IV.1 doubled, which suggests that the characters in question spend a long time on stage to watch what is happening, without there being any indication that a gallery was being used for this. The instruction at the end of Act III. 2,464 : They sleepe all the act. was interpreted as an indication of a short bridging break between individual acts. F1 inserts the stage direction in Act V. 1. 125: Tawyer with a Trumpet before them. It is William Tawyer, a servant of John Heminges and musician in the service of Lord Chamberlain's Men, who died in 1625. The expansion of the stage directions is seen in research as a strong indication that a prompt version ( prompt book ) was used as a print template .

Dating

Introductory remarks on the dating

Palladis Tamia. Title page of the first edition.

In dating Shakespeare's plays (as well as those of other Elizabethan writers), it is believed that three steps must be considered: writing, performing, and printing. The production steps were usually carried out in this order. First the author wrote a rough draft (English "foul paper"). A play had to be approved by the censor (" Master of the Revels ") before the first performances . It was the task of the bookkeeper, the director of a theater group, to have the manuscript approved for performance by the Master of the Revels. If the play was performed at court, the censor also made a note in the accounts of the "Revels Office" containing the date of the performance and the name of the work. Unfortunately, for Shakespeare's time, these notes only exist for the years 1604/05 and 1611/12. In Shakespeare's time, the "Master of the Revels" (until 1610) was Edmund Tilney and then George Buck. Next, a member of the theater group (possibly a professional scribe) made a fair copy of the rough draft. This was provided with technical additions and the speaking roles (“actors' copies”) were copied from the prompt book . The actors were given their roles, learned them by heart and after (probably only one) rehearsal the play was performed until it was "played back" - the audience stayed away. Sometimes shortened versions were made for touring. When there was no more money to be made with performances, the text was released for printing by the theater group (because the play belonged to the theater group and not the author) and the copyright was sold to an editor. To do this, the work had to be entered in the Stationers Register (the guild book of booksellers and printers). This was usually done with an exact date, the name of the new rights holder and the (usually only approximate) title of the work. Such a text could then appear in print (usually as a single edition) with a year as a date, whereby it should be noted that in Elizabethan times the turn of the year was calculated at the end of February and not at the end of December.

Terminus ante quem

Two secure late dates can now be reconstructed for Shakespeare's Midsummer Night 's Dream . The entry in the Stationers' Register was made on October 8th, 1600. The first quarto was published with the same year. This means that the latest saved date is known in the production sequence outlined above. Since Francis Meres mentions the work in his list of twelve plays by Shakespeare in Palladis Tamia , there is a second point in time by which the Midsummer Night's Dream was known with great certainty, and must therefore have been performed. It is the entry of Palladis Tamia in the Stationers' Register on September 7, 1598.

Terminus post quem

Extract from Palladis Tamia with the list of the 12 works of Shakespeare, which Meres was known in 1598.

A relatively certain early date for the composition of the Midsummer Night's Dream can also be reconstructed. Many scholars are of the opinion that Peter Quince's remark in I, 2, 67 f .:

An you should do it too terribly you would fright
the Dutchess and the ladies that they would shriek, ...

If you roar too terribly, you would
scare the Duchess and the ladies into screeching ...

could relate to a real event. It is possibly the baptism in honor of the newborn Prince Henry Frederick at the Scottish court on August 30, 1594. At this festival, a carriage was originally supposed to be pulled by a lion, which was not done because of the suspected danger. Assuming that Shakespeare had this event in mind, August 1594 would be the earliest possible date for the completion of the composition of Midsummer Night's Dream .

Limitation of the writing time and the premiere date

So while the year of the (presumably) first printing is fixed as is the latest possible time for a performance, the exact date of the actual premiere of the Midsummer Night's Dream is not known. Only an approximate period of time can be given for the drafting time. To narrow down this information, the following indications are discussed in Shakespeare research.

In II, 1, 88-114, Titania speaks in detail about bad weather. Some authors have seen this as an indication of poor harvests, especially in 1596. The announcement of a piece with the title: “The mourning of the nine muses for the death of the art that died because of emaciation.” (V, 1, 52–54) was used for closer dating. An attempt was made to link this to the death of an impoverished poet, and Robert Greene (deceased 1592) was brought into play. Peter Holland commented on these considerations succinctly: in England the weather is always bad and poor poets die at all times.

A much discussed assumption is that the Midsummer Night's Dream is an event-related work because of the framework plot with the wedding celebrations of Theseus and Hippolyta and was written and premiered for the wedding of a noble couple. From the opening scene I, 1, 2 f .: "four happy days only on the night of the new moon" and the note in II, 1, 158: "He aimed sharply at the Vestal Virgin, who is enthroned in the west." It was concluded that it was about a wedding that took place at the new moon and at which Queen Elizabeth was present. Only the weddings of William Stanley , the Earl of Derby, to Elizabeth Vere, the daughter of the Earl of Oxford, in June 1594 or the wedding of Sir Thomas Berkeley and Elizabeth Carey on February 19, 1596 would probably come into question. The assumption that The Midsummer Night's Dream is a commissioned work for a noble wedding, is usually rejected by contemporary scholars with the note that the title page of the first quarto expressly says: "It has been sundry times publickely acted." It has been publicly performed many times . Attention is also drawn to the performance practice that pieces that were performed for private purposes were never given publicly. For the only really possible wedding celebration in February 1596, there is no evidence that the queen was present, nor that a play was performed.

The argumentation for the limitation of the production time of the Midsummer Night's Dream, which is considered to be the most sound in research today, is stylistic similarities which suggest that the piece belongs in a series with the early works with a lyrical character. The linguistic relationship with Romeo and Juliet is particularly pointed out here. The controversial question is whether the Midsummer Night's Dream came about before or after Romeo and Juliet . There is agreement, however, that Shakespeare worked on both plays at about the same time.

Summary appraisal of the evidence for dating

The commentators on the reference editions consistently indicate 1595–1596 as the drafting period. The German-speaking authors of higher-level academic secondary literature also state 1595/96. The authors of the Oxford Shakespeare Complete Edition tend to the somewhat earlier drafting time between 1594 and 1595 (shortly before or shortly after Romeo and Juliet ), those of the Oxford Companion state 1595 (shortly after Romeo and Juliet .).

Performance history

Henry Marsh: The Wits. (1662).

The play was most likely performed during Shakespeare's lifetime. Francis Meres mentions it in 1598 in his list of Shakespeare plays known to him. He probably knew a performance. The front page of the first quarto reads “As it has been sundry times publickely acted”, which makes multiple performances before the first publication date highly likely.

17th century

The Fairy Queen. Title page of the opera's libretto (1692).

The English diplomat and Secretary of State Dudley Carleton is one of the correspondents of John Chamberlain, a well-known letter writer of the Elizabethan period who corresponded with numerous important personalities. In a letter of January 15, 1604 to Chamberlain, he reports on a "play of Robin Goodfellow". This reference is usually interpreted by scholars to mean that it is a Midsummer Night's Dream and that the play was performed at court. Clearly documented by records is a performance of the work at Hampton Court Palace on October 17, 1630, which probably took place in the large banquet hall.

In 1661, a farce is (Engl. Droll ) by Robert Cox , entitled The Merry Conceited Humours of Bottom the Weaver published. The piece was first published as a single edition and then as part of a collection. Cox was a well-known actor and writer of short amusing plays in England in the 17th century. The stationer Henry Marsh published a collection of his drolls in 1662 . After Marsh's death, the editor Francis Kirkman expanded this collection and published it in 1673 under the title The Wits, or Sport for Sport . Kirkman stated that the hoaxes featured in The Wits were written by Cox for performances at the Red Bull Theater. This collection also includes Cox's piece by Bottem the Weaver , with the note: "Sundry times Acted In Publique and Private". This proves the popularity of Shakespeare's play.

On September 29, 1662, Samuel Pepys saw a performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream . He noted in his diary that it was "the most insipid ridiculous play that ever I saw in my life" (the stupidest and most ridiculous piece that I have seen in my life.). Pepys' reaction to the performance of the work that he had seen reflects the taste of the time, which was shaped by the ideas of neoclassicism that were taken over from France with a rigid set of rules of poetic doctrines for authors and dramatists that supposedly came from antiquity . As a result, Shakespeare's comedy disappeared from the repertoire of the English stage for about 30 years and was then performed in shortened adaptations for a long time. It all started with Henry Purcell's opera The Fairy-Queen in the 17th century . The piece was premiered on May 2, 1692 in an arrangement by Thomas Betterton .

18th century

The next 100 years of performance practice of the Midsummer Night's Dream are characterized by shortened adaptations (cherrypicking) in the style of Purcell and consistently inferior quality. The best-known example is David Garrick's The Fairies from 1755. The work was performed anonymously and saw eleven performances. The composer of the music was the Handel student John Christopher Smith . For the libretto, Garrick shortened the text by three-quarters of the length of Shakespeare's play. Horace Walpole wrote a damning criticism of this. In 1763, George Colman, in collaboration with Garrick, wrote an adaptation entitled A Fairy Tale , the performance of which was a debacle.

While the above adaptations focus on the storylines surrounding the fairy world, there are a number of works in which the history of the artisans has been rewritten. One of them is Johann Friedrich Lampes' satirical opera Pyramus and Thisbe from 1745.

19th century

At the beginning of the 19th century, the tradition of musical adaptations in England continued with Frederick Reynolds' works. He created a series of adaptations starting with the Midsummer Night's Dream in 1816. The composer Henry Rowley Bishop wrote the music. Reynolds' work begins a series of increasingly spectacular stagings of the work in an antiquated style, using contemporary music and opulent ballet scenes. The highlights of this staging fashion were the hugely successful performances by Charles Kean in 1856 and Herbert Beerbohm Tree in 1900. Kean allegedly brought over 90 ballet dancers onto the stage for the finale. A pleasure boat was brought to the stage in the 1888 Broadway production of Augustine Daly's Midsummer Night's Dream . The following year Frank Benson employed two dozen dancers for Bottom's Metamorphosis, Beerbohm Tree brought live rabbits to the stage and Max Reinhardt placed real trees in the theater at a performance in Berlin in 1905.

The German premiere was staged in 1843 by Ludwig Tieck as a romantic-poetic fairy tale play and completed with incidental music by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy . In contrast, Max Reinhardt repeatedly emphasized his anti-romantic view and interpretation of the play in his theater productions from 1905 until his first film adaptation of the work in 1935.

20th century

H. Granville Barker, 1906. Photo by Alvin Langdon Coburn .

Some of the spectacular performances were extraordinary commercial successes; over 220,000 tickets were sold for Beerbohm Trees' production. Soon there was also a countermovement. While Tieck created an authentic production in Germany as early as 1843, Harley Granville-Barker used the entire text in an unabridged performance in 1914 at the Savoy Theater in London. There was no ballet and one reviewer noted that the adult performers of the elves were reminiscent of Cambodian dancers and moved like Nijinski . The criticism was mostly negative, so that other important productions were conventional. These include the 1932 production of William Bridges-Adams and Tyrone Guthrie's “Victorian” production with Vivien Leigh as Titania from 1937.

Important productions on the German stage, based on the anti-romantic view of Max Reinhardt's play, were created in 1940 under the direction of Otto Falckenberg and in 1952 under the direction of Gustav Rudolf Sellner with incidental music by Carl Orff .

In the second half of the 20th century, three productions in particular shaped the staging style. In 1954, George Devine directed the first unconventional representation in the second half of the century. Peter Hall's 1959 production in Stratford then prepared the highly controversial production by Peter Brook from 1970 (also in Stratford).

Brooks' production, which was initially acclaimed and only later seen increasingly critically, was strongly influenced by the anti-pastoral reinterpretation or reinterpretation of the Midsummer Night's Dream by the Polish literary critic and literary scholar Jan Kott , who had previously interpreted this work by Shakespeare as a story of "animal and violent sexuality": Shakespeare's bestiary is not romantic, but disgusting: it would later reappear in a similar form in Francisco Goya's Caprichos and in the textbooks of psychoanalysis .

In his staging, which shaped the subsequent performance practice for a long time and whose effects are still noticeable today, Brooks leveled the considerable differences between the groups of figures as well as the locations and drew Theseus and Oberon as well as Hippolyta and Titania into one figure each together. While in the previous performance practice, according to the actual text proportions in the work, the fairy world on the one hand and the world of lovers and craftsmen on the other were the focus of interest, Brook shifted the focus of his staging drastically, in Kott's sense, to Oberon and Theseus, to their ruling power to accentuate.

More recent German theatrical productions, such as the 1978 productions by Dieter Dorn or 1992 by Leander Haußmann , were also heavily influenced by Peter Brooks' role model. In more recent German-language stage performances, there is also a trend towards multicultural performance practice, for the first time in 1992 under the direction of Robert Lepage or in 1995 under the direction of Karin Beier .

The countless performances of the work not only on English or European stages since the end of the 20th century prove the continuing, as before, unbroken popularity and fascination of the work with the audience up to the present day.

Adaptations

Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Deutsche Oper Berlin 2020

A Midsummer Night's Dream has often been adapted as a ballet . The piece provided the basis for various operas , such as The Fairy Queen (1692) by Henry Purcell and A Midsummer Night's Dream (1960) by Benjamin Britten . The incidental music of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy also became very well known , after its ostracism in Germany 1933–1945 the incidental music of Carl Orff .

As a musical with a German text of Heinz Rudolf Kunze and music by Heiner Lürig was A Midsummer Night's Dream in 2003-2006 and 2010-2014 Herrenhausen listed. There was a performance of the musical by Kunze and Lürig in summer 2018 at the Württembergische Landesbühne Esslingen .

Modern writers have also referred to the Midsummer Night's Dream; For example, Botho Strauss conjured up today's spirit of the work in his play Der Park after Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1983/1984 . The 1992 published novel Lords and Ladies of Terry Pratchett is in much of a parody of the work. One of the most famous film adaptations is A Midsummer Night's Dream , directed by William Dieterle and Max Reinhardt from 1935, which was cast in her film debut with James Cagney , Ian Hunter , Joe E. Brown , Mickey Rooney and Olivia de Havilland , among others . The film received two Academy Awards. A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999), directed by Michael Hoffman , was released as a newer version . With his film adaptation A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy , the American director Woody Allen tried in 1982 to transfer Shakespearian material into the present.

swell

• Geoffrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales. A retelling by Peter Ackroyd. Penguin Books, London 2009, ISBN 978-0-14-144229-7
• Geoffrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales. A Selection. Penguin Books, London 1969, ISBN 978-0-14-062374-1

Text output

English

• Charlton Hinman, Peter WM Blayney (Ed.): The Norton Facsimile. The First Folio of Shakespeare. Based on the Folios in the Folger Library Collection. 2nd Edition. WW Norton, New York 1996, ISBN 0-393-03985-4
• John Jowett, William Montgomery, Gary Taylor, Stanley Wells (Eds.): The Oxford Shakespeare. The Complete Works. 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2005, ISBN 978-0-19-926718-7
• Harold F. Brooks (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Arden Shakespeare. Second series. Bloomsbury, London 1979, ISBN 978-1-903436-60-8
• Sukanta Chauduri (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Arden Shakespeare. Third Series. Bloomsbury, London 2017, ISBN 978-1-4081-3349-1
• Reginald A. Foakes (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The New Cambridge Shakespeare. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1984, 2003 reissue, ISBN 978-0-521-53247-1
• Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994, ISBN 978-0-19-953586-6
• Barbara Mowat, Paul Werstine (Eds.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. Folger Shakespeare Library. Simon & Schuster, New York 1993, ISBN 978-0-7434-8281-3
• Wolfgang Clemen (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. With new and Updated Critical Essays and a Revised Bibliography. Signet Classics, 2nd rev. New York edition 1998, ISBN 0-451-52696-1 .
• Jonathan Bate, Eric Rasmussen (Eds.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The RSC Shakespeare. Macmillan, Houndmills 2008, ISBN 978-0-230-21789-8

English and German

• William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. Bilingual edition. German by Frank Günther. 10th edition. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-423-12480-5
• William Shakespeare. Complete Works. English German. Zweiausendeins, Frankfurt 2010, ISBN 978-3-86150-838-0
• Wolfgang Franke (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. A midsummer night's dream. English German. Reclam, Stuttgart 2012, ISBN 978-3-15-009755-7

literature

Lexicons

• Anthony Davies: A Midsummer Night's Dream. In: Michael Dobson, Stanley Wells (Eds.): The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001, ISBN 978-0-19-280614-7 , pp. 296-299.

Overview representations

• Hans-Dieter Gelfert : William Shakespeare in his time. CH Beck, Munich 2014, ISBN 978-3-406-65919-5 , pp. 277-282.
• Margareta de Grazia, Stanley Wells (Ed.): The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2001, ISBN 978-0-521-65881-2
• Jan Kott : Shakespeare today. Alexander, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-89581-313-9 , pp. 255-282.
• Ina Schabert (Ed.): Shakespeare Handbook. Time, man, work, posterity. 5th, revised and supplemented edition. Kröner, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-520-38605-2 , pp. 399-405.
• Ulrich Suerbaum : Shakespeare's Dramas. Francke, Tübingen / Basel 2001, ISBN 3-8252-1907-0

Introductions

• Harold Bloom : Shakespeare. The invention of the human. Berlin Verlag, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-8270-0325-3 , pp. 223-254.
• Anthony D. Cousins: Shakespeare. The Essential Guide to the Plays. Firefly Books, Buffalo 2011, ISBN 978-1-55407-928-5 , pp. 88-95.
• Andrew Dickson: The Rough Guide to Shakespeare. 2nd edition, Penguin Books, London 2009, ISBN 978-1-85828-443-9 , pp. 253-264.
• Marjorie Garber : Shakespeare after all. Anchor Books, New York 2004, ISBN 978-0-385-72214-8 , pp. 213-237.
• Ulrich Suerbaum: The Shakespeare Guide. Reclam, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 978-3-15-017663-4 , 3rd revised and supplemented edition 2015, ISBN 978-3-15-020395-8 , pp. 109–120.
• Martin White: The Shakespeare Handbooks. A Midsummer Night's Dream. A Guide to the Text and the Play in Performance. Palmgrave Macmillan, New York 2009, ISBN 978-1-4039-4538-9

Investigations on individual topics

• Alexander Leggatt: The Cambridge Companion to Shakespearean Comedy. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2002, ISBN 978-0-521-77942-5 .
• Jay L. Halio: A Midsummer Night's Dream: A Guide to the Play. Greenwood Press London 2003, ISBN 0-313-32190-6 .
• Michael Hattaway: The comedies on film . In: Russell Jackson (Ed.): The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare on Film. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2007, ISBN 978-0-521-68501-6 , pp. 87-101.
• Stanley Wells, Gary Taylor: William Shakespeare: A Textual Companion . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1987, ISBN 978-0-393-31667-4 , pp. 279-287.
• Jonathan Bate : Shakespeare and Ovid. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1993, ISBN 0-19-818324-0 , pp. 129-144.

Edition comments

• Harold F. Brooks (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Arden Shakespeare. Second series. Bloomsbury, London 1979, ISBN 978-1-903436-60-8 , pp. XXI-CXLIII.
• Reginald A. Foakes (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The New Cambridge Shakespeare. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1984, 2003 reissue, ISBN 978-0-521-53247-1 , pp. 1-48.
• Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994, ISBN 978-0-19-953586-6 , pp. 1-16.
• Barbara Mowat, Paul Werstine (Eds.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. Folger Shakespeare Library. Simon & Schuster, New York 1993, ISBN 978-0-7434-8281-3 , pp. XIII-LIII and Catherine Belsey : A Midsummer Night's Dream: A Modern Perspective pp. 181-190.
• Jonathan Bate, Eric Rasmussen: William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The RSC Shakespeare. Macmillan, Houndmills 2008, ISBN 978-0-230-21789-8 , pp. 1-18, 85-150.
• William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. Bilingual edition. German by Frank Günther. 10th edition. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-423-12480-5 ; therein: Frank Günther: From the translation workshop. Rhyming and inconsistent about a Midsummer Night's Dream (pp . 167–170) and Sonja Fielitz : A Midsummer Night's Dream (pp. 184–203).

Didactic materials

• Linda Buckle (Ed.): A Midsummer Night's Dream, Cambridge School Shakespeare. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2010, ISBN 978-1-107-61545-8
• Fiona Banks, Paul Shuter (Eds.): A Midsummer Night's Dream, Globe Education Shakespeare. Hodder Education, London 2014, ISBN 978-1-4441-3666-1

Web links

• A St. John's Night Dream German translation by Christoph Martin Wieland.
• A Midsummer Night's Dream German translation, Schlegel-Tieck version.
• A Midsummer Night's Dream English text based on The Arden Shakespeare. Second series.
• British Library Shakespeare in Quartos A Midsummer Night's Dream 1st Quarto 1600.

supporting documents

Note on the citation of the literature used.

Due to the discrepancies between folio and quarto-based editions and in order to enable comparisons with academic text editions, the text of Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream" is based on the annotated bilingual edition by Frank Günther and possibly parallel to the edition of the Oxford Shakespeare series in the edition quoted by Peter Holland. In individual cases, the complete edition The Oxford Shakespeare is also given, which is based on the folio version. The synopsis refers to: Michael Dobson and Stanley Wells: The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare . The number "I, 1, 118" means: 1st act, 1st scene, line 118.

1. ↑ Ina Schabert (Ed.): Shakespeare Handbook. Kröner, Stuttgart 2009. pp. 824 f.
2. ↑ Ina Schabert (Ed.): Shakespeare Handbook. Kröner, Stuttgart 2009. pp. 828-831.
3. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. P. 6 f.
4. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. I, 1, 1–251. Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 I, 1, 1-251.
5. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. I, 1, 1–19.
6. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. I, 1, 22–45.
7. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. I, 1, 47.
8. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. I, 1, 83–90.
9. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. I, 1, 123–126.
10. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. I, 1, 156–168.
11. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. I, 1, 202 f.
12. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. I, 1, 214–223.
13. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. I, 1, 246.
14. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. I, 2, 1–101. Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 I, 2, 1-100.
15. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. I, 2, 11 f.
16. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. I, 2, 6: "Here is the scroll of every man's name ...".
17. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. I, 2, 52–59.
18. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. I, 2, 89–101.
19. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. II, 1, 1–268. Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 II, 1, 1-268.
20. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. II, 1, 1–59.
21. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. II, 1, 45–50.
22. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. II, 1, 21 f.
23. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. II, 1, 60–63.
24. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. II, 1, 60–80.
25. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. II, 1, 81–117.
26. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. II, 1, 122–145.
27. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. II, 1, 146–187.
28. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. II, 1, 188–244.
29. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. II, 1, 205.
30. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. II, 1, 21.
31. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. II, 1, 260–266.
32. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. I, 2, 1–162. Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 II, 2, 1-162.
33. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. II, 2, 1–32.
34. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. II, 2, 33–40.
35. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. II, 2, 41 f.
36. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. II, 2, 59–67.
37. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. II, 2, 72–89.
38. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. II, 2, 90–150.
39. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. II, 2, 151–162.
40. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. III, 1, 1–188. Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 III, 1, 1-191.
41. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. III, 1, 13.
42. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. III, 1, 28.
43. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. III, 1, 37.
44. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. III, 1, 43–65.
45. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. III, 1, 110.
46. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. III, 1, 119 and 127–131.
47. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. III, 1, 140 and 152.
48. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. III, 2, 1–463. Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 III, 2, 464. Michael Dobson, Stanley Wells (Eds.): The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001. III, 2, 1-414. III, 3, 1-48.
49. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. III, 2, 6.
50. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. III, 2, 42.
51. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. III, 2, 118 f.
52. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. III, 2, 43–87.
53. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. III, 2, 88–101.
54. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. III, 2, 122–176.
55. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. III, 2, 257–264.
56. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. III, 2, 198–219.
57. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. III, 2, 282–285.
58. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. III, 2, 346; 484-452 and 463.
59. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. IV, 1, 1–216. Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 IV, 1, 1-215.
60. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. IV, 1, 1-44. Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 IV, 1, 1-44.
61. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. IV, 1, 61 f. Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 IV, 1, 61 f. "And because the child is mine now, I want to take the disgusting caricature out of her eyes."
62. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. IV, 1, 75–101. Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 IV, 1, 75-101.
63. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. IV, 1, 102–126. Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 IV, 1, 102-126.
64. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. IV, 1, 176–185. Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 IV, 1, 176-185.
65. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. IV, 1, 199–216. Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 IV, 1, 198-215.
66. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. IV, 2, 1-40. Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 IV, 2, 1-40.
67. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. IV, 2, 1–22. Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 IV, 2, 1-22.
68. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. IV, 2, 30–40. Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 IV, 2, 30-40.
69. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. V, 1, 1-425. Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 V, 1, 429.
70. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther. 10th edition. Munich 2009. V, 1, 1–27. Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 V, 1, 1-27.
71. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther. 10th edition. Munich 2009. V, 1, 28-84. Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 V, 1, 28-84.
72. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther. 10th edition. Munich 2009. V, 1, 44-47.
73. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther. 10th edition. Munich 2009. V, 1, 48-51.
74. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther. 10th edition. Munich 2009. V, 1, 52-55.
75. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther. 10th edition. Munich 2009. V, 1, 56-60.
76. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther. 10th edition. Munich 2009. V, 1, 77-84.
77. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther. 10th edition. Munich 2009. V, 1, 85-105.
78. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther. 10th edition. Munich 2009. V, 1, 106 f.
79. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther. 10th edition. Munich 2009. V, 1, 108-118.
80. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther. 10th edition. Munich 2009. V, 1, 126-150.
81. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther. 10th edition. Munich 2009. V, 1, 154–336.
82. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther. 10th edition. Munich 2009. V, 1, 154-164.
83. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther. 10th edition. Munich 2009. V, 1, 167-201.
84. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther. 10th edition. Munich 2009. V, 1, 215-259.
85. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther. 10th edition. Munich 2009. V, 1, 263-297.
86. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther. 10th edition. Munich 2009. V, 1, 313–336.
87. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther. 10th edition. Munich 2009. V, 1, 108-349. Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 V, 1, 108-353.
88. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther. 10th edition. Munich 2009. V, 1, 350-425. Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 V, 1, 354-429.
89. ↑ Ina Schabert (Ed.): Shakespeare Handbook. Kröner, Stuttgart 2009. p. 400 f. See also Wolfgang Clemen (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. With new and Updated Critical Essays and a Revised Bibliography. Signet Classics, 2nd rev. New York edition 1998, A Note on the Source of A Midsummer Night's Dream , pp. 89 ff.
90. ↑ See Jay L. Halio: A Midsummer Night's Dream: A Guide to the Play. Greenwood Press London 2003, ISBN 0-313-32190-6 , pp. 19 f.
91. ↑ See Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 p. 32. See also Günter Juergensmeier (Ed.): Shakespeare und seine Welt. Galiani, Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3869-71118-8 , p. 224, and Jay L. Halio: A Midsummer Night's Dream: A Guide to the Play. Greenwood Press London 2003, ISBN 0-313-32190-6 , pp. 18 f.
92. ↑ See Jay L. Halio: A Midsummer Night's Dream: A Guide to the Play. Greenwood Press London 2003, ISBN 0-313-32190-6 , p. 18.
93. ^ Ovid Metamorphoses Book IV
94. ^ RA Foakes (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The New Cambridge Shakespeare. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. p. 7.
95. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. V, 1, 141.
96. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. V, 1, 156.
97. ^ RA Foakes (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The New Cambridge Shakespeare. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. p. 10.
98. ↑ See Jay L. Halio: A Midsummer Night's Dream: A Guide to the Play. Greenwood Press London 2003, ISBN 0-313-32190-6 , p. 22 f.
99. ↑ Metamorphoses Book 11, No. 2 Midas v. 179.
100. ^ RA Foakes (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The New Cambridge Shakespeare. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. p. 5.
101. ^ RA Foakes (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The New Cambridge Shakespeare. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. p. 10.
102. ^ RA Foakes (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The New Cambridge Shakespeare. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. p. 10. See also Günter Jürgensmeier (Ed.): Shakespeare and his world. Galiani, Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3869-71118-8 , pp. 224, 228 and 234f. Scots' work Shakespeare may also have provided references to Robin Goodfellow (Puck / Droll) and the elves, who otherwise would have been known to him from oral tradition. See also Jay L. Halio: A Midsummer Night's Dream: A Guide to the Play. Greenwood Press London 2003, ISBN 0-313-32190-6 , pp. 20-22.
103. ↑ Harold F. Brooks (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Arden Shakespeare. Second series. Bloomsbury, London 1979. S. LXI.
104. ↑ Geoffrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales. A Selection. Penguin Books, London 1969. pp. 168-177; v. 76 f.
105. ↑ Geoffrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales. A retelling by Peter Ackroyd. Penguin Books, London 2009. p. 343.
106. ^ Stanley Wells, Gary Taylor: William Shakespeare: A Textual Companion. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1987. p. 279.
107. ^ Walter Greg: The Shakespeare First Folio. (1955) p. 11.
108. ↑ Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 p. 115. Stanley Wells, Gary Taylor: William Shakespeare: A Textual Companion. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1987. p. 279.
109. ↑ Harold F. Brooks (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Arden Shakespeare. Second series. Bloomsbury, London 1979. pp. Xxi. Translation: October 8 [1600] Thomas Fisher of Master Rhodes and the Guardians (the Stationers' overseers) registered a book (for the foregoing) entitled A Midsummer Night's Dream .
110. ↑ Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 p. 113.
111. ↑ Harold F. Brooks (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Arden Shakespeare. Second series. Bloomsbury, London 1979. pp. Xxi. Translation: A Midsummer Night's Dream. As it has been publicly performed several times by the truly honorable Lord Chamberlaine's Men Written by William Shakespeare. Printed in London, for Thomas Fischer , for sale (available) in his shop, in the house "Zum Weißen Hirsch" in Fleet Street . 1600.
112. ↑ Harold F. Brooks (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Arden Shakespeare. Second series. Bloomsbury, London 1979. pp. Xxi. As can be seen from the records in the Stationers' Register , Fischer paid half a shilling ( sixpence ) for the entry of the first work he published. Although it is unclear how he came into possession of the manuscript for printing, it is believed that he lawfully acquired it. See Jay L. Halio: A Midsummer Night's Dream: A Guide to the Play. Greenwood Press London 2003, ISBN 0-313-32190-6 , p. 1.
113. ^ Robert K. Turner: Printing Methods and Textual Problems in A Midsummer Night's Dream Q1 . in: Studies in Bibliography 15 (1962) pp. 33–55. Quoted from: Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994. p. 113.
114. ^ Peter WM Blayney: The Texts of "King Lear" and their Origins. Cambridge 1982. pp. 92 f.
115. ^ Stanley Wells, Gary Taylor: William Shakespeare: A Textual Companion. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1987. p. 279.
116. ↑ Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 p. 113. Stanley Wells, Gary Taylor: William Shakespeare: A Textual Companion. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1987. p. 279. Jay L. Halio: A Midsummer Night's Dream: A Guide to the Play. Greenwood Press London 2003, p. 2 f.
117. ^ Charlton Hinman, Peter WM Blayney (Ed.): The Norton Facsimile. The First Folio of Shakespeare. Based on the Folios in the Folger Library Collection. WW Norton, New York 1996. p. 170.
118. ↑ Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 p. 183.
119. ↑ Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 p. 114.
120. ↑ Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 p. 114.
121. ↑ Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 p. 114.
122. ↑ Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 p. 144: All the evidence makes Q1 an unusually authoritative text (...).
123. ↑ Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 p. 112.
124. ^ Translation: A Midsummer Night's Dream. As it has been publicly performed several times by the truly honorable servants of Lord Chamberlaine. Written by William Shakespeare. Printed by Iames Roberts, 1600.
125. ↑ Ina Schabert (Ed.): Shakespeare Handbook. Kröner, Stuttgart 2009. p. 211.
126. ↑ Ina Schabert (Ed.): Shakespeare Handbook. Kröner, Stuttgart 2009. p. 211. See also Jay L. Halio: A Midsummer Night's Dream: A Guide to the Play. Greenwood Press London 2003, p. 4.
127. ↑ Michael Dobson, Stanley Wells (Ed.): The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001. pp. 361 f.
128. ↑ MND Q1 pg. 50.
129. ↑ MND Q2 pg. 50.
130. ^ Charlton Hinman, Peter WM Blayney (Ed.): The Norton Facsimile. The First Folio of Shakespeare. Based on the Folios in the Folger Library Collection. WW Norton, New York 1996. p. 177.
131. ^ William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. German by Frank Günther , 10th edition, Munich 2009. p. 135.
132. ↑ Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 p. 115.
133. ↑ Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 p. 115. See also Jay L. Halio: A Midsummer Night's Dream: A Guide to the Play. Greenwood Press London 2003, p. 4 f.
134. ^ Charlton Hinman, Peter WM Blayney (Ed.): The Norton Facsimile. The First Folio of Shakespeare. Based on the Folios in the Folger Library Collection. WW Norton, New York 1996. p. 170.
135. ^ Charlton Hinman, Peter WM Blayney (Ed.): The Norton Facsimile. The First Folio of Shakespeare. Based on the Folios in the Folger Library Collection. WW Norton, New York 1996. p. 178.
136. ↑ Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 p. 116.
137. ↑ Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 p. 212.
138. ^ GE Bentley: The Jacobean and Caroline Stage. Oxford 1941-1968. Vol II, p. 590. Jay L. Halio: A Midsummer Night's Dream: A Guide to the Play. Greenwood Press London 2003, p. 4 f.
139. ↑ Ann Thompson, Neil Taylor (Eds.): William Shakespeare: Hamlet. The Arden Shakespeare. Third Series. Volume 1. Thomson Learning, London 2006. p. 44.
140. ↑ Ina Schabert (Ed.): Shakespeare Handbook. Kröner, Stuttgart 2009. p. 194.
141. ↑ Michael Dobson, Stanley Wells (Ed.): The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001. p. 283.
142. ↑ Ina Schabert (Ed.): Shakespeare Handbook. Kröner, Stuttgart 2009. p. 107.
143. ↑ Michael Dobson, Stanley Wells (Ed.): The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001. p. 377, article: Revels Office and accounts .
144. ↑ Ina Schabert (Ed.): Shakespeare Handbook. Kröner, Stuttgart 2009. p. 195.
145. ↑ Ina Schabert (Ed.): Shakespeare Handbook. Kröner, Stuttgart 2009. p. 107.
146. ↑ Ina Schabert (Ed.): Shakespeare Handbook. Kröner, Stuttgart 2009. pp. 198 f.
147. ↑ Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 p. 113.
148. ^ EK Chambers: William Shakespeare. 1903. Vol. II, pp. 193-195 and Vol. IS 244 f. Quote: "for comedy, witnes his Gentlemen of Verona , his Errors his Love labor lost , his Love labor won , his Midsummers night dreame , & his Merchant of Venice ."
149. ↑ Harold F. Brooks (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Arden Shakespeare. Second series. Bloomsbury, London 1979. pp. Xxxiv.
150. ↑ Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 p. 150.
151. ↑ Sidney Thomas: The Bad Weather in A Midsummer Night's Dream . MLN 64 (1949) pp. 319-22.
152. ↑ Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 p. 111.
153. ↑ Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 p. 111.
154. ↑ Michael Dobson, Stanley Wells (Ed.): The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001. p. 296. Likewise, Jay L. Halio: A Midsummer Night's Dream: A Guide to the Play. Greenwood Press London 2003, ISBN 0-313-32190-6 , p. 14 f. In this context, Halio goes into further wedding occasions discussed in the literature, which he classifies as unlikely or speculative.
155. ↑ WJ Lawrence: A Plummet for Bottoms Dream. In: The Fortnightly Review, NS 3 (1922) p. 834. Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 p. 112. Likewise, Jay L. Halio: A Midsummer Night's Dream: A Guide to the Play. Greenwood Press London 2003, ISBN 0-313-32190-6 , p. XI.
156. ↑ Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 p. 112. The renowned German Shakespeare researcher and editor Wolfgang Clemen also regards the various attempts to assign the work to the definitive occasion of a specific, historically occurring wedding as purely speculative. See Wolfgang Clemen (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. With new and Updated Critical Essays and a Revised Bibliography. Signet Classics, 2nd rev. New York edition 1998, Introduction , pp. Lxiv ff.
157. ↑ Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 p. 110: “all that matters is that the two plays were clearly beeing worked on at roughly the same moment.”
158. ^ Margareta de Grazia and Stanley Wells (eds.): The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2001. p. 303: New Cambridge, Oxford, Arden.
159. ↑ Peter Holland (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994 p. 110. Harold F. Brooks (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Arden Shakespeare. Second series. Bloomsbury, London 1979. pp. Xxxiv. Reginald A. Foakes (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The New Cambridge Shakespeare. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. p. 4.
160. ↑ Ina Schabert (Ed.): Shakespeare Handbook. Kröner, Stuttgart 2009. S. 399. Ulrich Suerbaum: The Shakespeare leader. Reclam, Stuttgart 2006. p. 113.
161. ↑ Michael Dobson, Stanley Wells (Ed.): The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001. p. 401.
162. ↑ Michael Dobson, Stanley Wells (Ed.): The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001. p. 296.
163. ^ EK Chambers: William Shakespeare. A Study of Facts and Problems. 2 Vols., 1930. II, p. 329.
164. ^ RA Foakes (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The New Cambridge Shakespeare. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. p. 12.
165. ↑ Jay L. Halio: A Midsummer Night's Dream: A Guide to the Play. Greenwood Press London 2003, ISBN 0-313-32190-6 , p. 101. See also Gary Jay Williams: Our Moonlight Revels: “A Midsummer Night's Dream” in the Theater. University of Iowa Press, Iowa City 1997, p. 36, and Jay L. Halio: Shakespeare in Performance: A Midsummer Night's Dream. 2nd edition Manchester University Press, Manchester 2003, p. 13.
166. ↑ Michael Dobson, Stanley Wells (Ed.): The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001. p. 298.
167. ^ RA Foakes (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The New Cambridge Shakespeare. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. p. 12.
168. ↑ Michael Dobson, Stanley Wells (Ed.): The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001. p. 95
169. ↑ Michael Dobson, Stanley Wells (Ed.): The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001. p. 116.
170. ↑ Michael Dobson, Stanley Wells (Ed.): The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001. p. 95.
171. ^ RA Foakes (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The New Cambridge Shakespeare. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. p. 12.
172. ↑ See Jay L. Halio: A Midsummer Night's Dream: A Guide to the Play. Greenwood Press London 2003, p. 104 f.
173. ↑ Michael Dobson, Stanley Wells (Ed.): The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001. p. 298.
174. ^ RA Foakes (Ed.): William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream. The New Cambridge Shakespeare. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. p. 13.
175. ↑ Michael Dobson, Stanley Wells (Ed.): The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001. p. 298.
176. ^ Andrew Dickson: The Rough Guide to Shakespeare. 2nd edition, Penguin Books, London 2009. p. 260. In his description of the performance history, Halio points out that for almost two hundred years between 1642 and 1840 the work was neither performed on English nor on European stages in a complete, unabridged or adapted form has been. See Jay L. Halio: A Midsummer Night's Dream: A Guide to the Play. Greenwood Press London 2003, p. 103.
177. ↑ Michael Dobson, Stanley Wells (Ed.): The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001. p. 135.
178. ^ Andrew Dickson: The Rough Guide to Shakespeare. 2nd edition, Penguin Books, London 2009. p. 260.
179. ↑ Michael Dobson, Stanley Wells (Ed.): The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001. p. 135. A Fairy Tale in Two Acts Taken from Shakespeare (1763)
180. ↑ Michael Dobson, Stanley Wells (Ed.): The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001. p. 250.
181. ↑ Michael Dobson, Stanley Wells (Ed.): The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001. p. 379.
182. ^ Andrew Dickson: The Rough Guide to Shakespeare. 2nd edition, Penguin Books, London 2009. p. 260.
183. ^ AD Cousins: Shakespeare. The Essential Guide to the Plays. Firefly Books, Buffalo 2011. p. 94.
184. ^ Andrew Dickson: The Rough Guide to Shakespeare. 2nd edition, Penguin Books, London 2009. pp. 260 f.
185. ↑ Cf. Ina Schabert (Ed.): Shakespeare Handbook. Kröner, 5th, revised and supplemented edition, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-520-38605-2 , p. 404 f.
186. ^ AD Cousins: Shakespeare. The Essential Guide to the Plays. Firefly Books, Buffalo 2011. p. 94.
187. ^ Andrew Dickson: The Rough Guide to Shakespeare. 2nd edition, Penguin Books, London 2009. p. 261.
188. ↑ Cf. Ina Schabert (Ed.): Shakespeare Handbook. Kröner, 5th, revised and supplemented edition, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-520-38605-2 , p. 405.
189. ↑ Jan Kott: Shakespeare today. New edition, Berlin, Cologne 2013, p. 268 ff.
190. ↑ For details on the Brooks staging and the underlying conception of the work by Jan Kott, see Günther Jarfes' critical account: A Midsummer Night's Dream. In: Interpretations · Shakespeare's Dramas. Philipp Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-15-017513-5 , pp. 70-98, here pp. 73-77. See also Ulrich Suerbaum : The Shakespeare Guide. Reclam, Ditzingen 2006, ISBN 3-15-017663-8 , 3rd rev. Edition 2015, ISBN 978-3-15-020395-8 , pp. 119 f. and Ina Schabert (Ed.): Shakespeare Handbook. Kröner, 5th, reviewed and supplemented edition, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-520-38605-2 , p. 405. Jan Kott described Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream as "brutal and violent" (p. 178) and saw the main theme as one “Passing through animality” (p. 180). His conclusion was: “The world is mad and love is mad. In this universal madness of Nature and History, brief are the moments of happiness ”(p. 190). See Jan Kott: Shakespeare our Contemporary. London 1965 (German Shakespeare today. Translated from Polish by Peter Lachmann, Munich 1964. New edition with a foreword by Peter Brook, Berlin and Cologne 2013, ISBN 978-3-89581-313-9 .) The inadequate text basis and the absurdity of this Jan Kott's reading was already pointed out and thoroughly verified in the subsequent literary discourse by John Russell Brown in 1974 (see John Russell Brown: Free Shakespeare. , London: Heinemann 1974, especially p. 45; extended new edition New York et al. 1998); Regardless of this, a far-reaching consensus has developed in the field of theater about the allegedly existing sexual foundation of the dream . In his critical presentation of this younger practice of reception of the work, Jarfes points out that today's world of illustrators and media, in which sexuality occupies a central place, is inadmissibly projected into the world of Shakespeare's comedy. With this, however, the meaning of Shakespeare's work laid out in the course of the play is completely turned on its head. See Günther Jarfes: A Midsummer Night's Dream. In: Interpretations · Shakespeare's Dramas. Philipp Reclam jun. Verlag, Stuttgart 2000, p. 75 ff.
191. ↑ Cf. Ina Schabert (Ed.): Shakespeare Handbook. Kröner, 5th, reviewed and supplemented edition, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-520-38605-2 , p. 405. See the theater review in the mirror on Robert Lepage's productions : Robert Guckindieluft . In: Der Spiegel, November 9, 1992, accessed on February 8, 2018. See also the review of Karin Beier's production in the Berliner Zeitung : Düsseldorf: A polyglot “Midsummer Night's Dream” on the stage Common tongue or Europe speaks Shakespeare . In: Berliner Zeitschrift, November 6, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
192. ↑ Jay L. Halio: A Midsummer Night's Dream: A Guide to the Play. Greenwood Press London 2003, p. 120 ff.
193. ↑ shakespeare-herrenhausen.de: "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
194. ↑ https://www.stuttgarter-nachrichten.de/inhalt.freiluft-musical-esslingen-der-sommernachtstraum-ein-grosser-irrtum.09b84951-bd18-413a-8e54-dc891d655cb1.html
195. ↑ https://www.swr.de/kunscht/ein-sommernachtstraum-musical-freilichtbuehne-esslingen/-/id=12539036/did=21668368/nid=12539036/q6smit/ - accessed on August 2, 2018
196. ↑ Cf. Ina Schabert (Ed.): Shakespeare Handbook. Kröner, 5th, revised and supplemented edition, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-520-38605-2 , p. 405.