A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy by William Shakespeare, written in the mid-1590s and first printed in a quarto edition in 1600. Set in Athens and in an enchanted wood nearby, it weaves together several plots: the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta, the tangled love of four young Athenians, the quarrel of the fairy king Oberon and queen Titania, and the clumsy rehearsal of a play by a group of working men. The mischievous spirit Puck uses a magic flower to confuse the lovers, and the weaver Bottom is turned into a creature with the head of a donkey. The play mixes poetry, farce and fantasy. It has been performed continuously since Shakespeare's time and inspired Mendelssohn's music and many later adaptations.
Before and after
- 7 December 1598Birth of Gian Lorenzo Bernini
- 1599Birth of Diego Velázquez
- 22 March 1599Birth of Anthony van Dyck
- 25 April 1599Birth of Oliver Cromwell
- 1600Publication of A Midsummer Night's Dream
- 1600Publication of The Merchant of Venice
- from c. 1600s to 1890sDahomey
- from 1600 to 1611Polish–Swedish War of 1600–11
- 1600Rise of Baroque music
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The era
This moment belongs to the Early modern world (1500 CE to 1760 CE), voyages, printing and new ideas. You can also browse everything in the 16th century.