Jan 3, 2010

A Midsummer Night’s Dream | Did Shakespeare have a specific reason for writing this play?

A Midsummer Night's Dream was probably written in 1596, making it the last of Shakespeare's early comedies. Here he again explores the familiar themes art versus life, dreams versus reality within a stock comedy form of young couple(s) pitted against paternal authority. Shakespeare may have incorporated bits and pieces into A Midsummer Night's Dream that he had written years before but was unable to fit into his other early comedies. Nevertheless, most historians believe that the occasion for both the play's composition and of its dramatic complications is marriage. The...