In writing this blog I am at a loss for words as I am not
sure how to incorporate the play’s themes/ideas/meaning • cultural influences
that may have impacted the playwright’s work • questions about the
understanding of genres of dramatic literature • the structure of the plot •
questions or insights about characterization • questions or insights about
potential staging issues, including directing, acting, designing, and producing since I do not understand the play.
A midsummer Night’s Dream was an extremely difficult, confusing read. I have never been a fan of Shakespeare as my
experiences are limited to watching plays with visual cues to help me along.
Reading the play was painfully horrific. I believe this is because initially I
had trouble keeping the characters straight and figuring out the story line. Once
I figured out the storyline in what I was reading is still did not make sense. I felt like I kept reading
and re reading lines. After reading the play I tried to find it online only to
find a swarm of plays claiming to be A Midsummer Night’s Dream only to find the
interpretation was nowhere near the verbiage in play we were required to read
in Drama.
The only thing that helped me understand the little that I
did from A Midsummer Night’s Dream being set in a world with fairies was the introduction on William Shakespeare,
A Midsummer Night’s Dream and A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Performance. From
this information I learned that the play was written during 1595-1596, was an
early comedy and is one of Shakespeare most beloved works.
Hey at least your honest haha. But it's okay, I really don't like Shakespeare that much either, the commentaries helped me a lot, also a lot of prior knowledge from previous teachers and professors stuck with me to better understand. His plays aren't for everyone, and I actually agree with the characters being hard to follow (I had to reread a some paragraphs a few times)
ReplyDeleteHi Tyler,
ReplyDeleteI believe the reason I had such a hard time with this play is because I was never forced to read it during high school. I believe that Shakespeare is definitely literature that must be addressed as a guided reading. Unfortunately as we are in an ACOR online class, guided reading is definitely out of the question. Don't get me wrong, the little that I understood was interesting. I believe maybe if we had a video of actors acting the play out may have helped. I have learned in life, when all else fails. Honesty is the best policy.