A Midsummer Night's Dream (Graphic Novel)

Summary:

 

What can be better than a well-renowned Shakespearean play adapted into a graphic novel format? A Midsummer Night's Dream is the tale of love gone wild to say the least. When a mischievious fairy, Puck, teams up with the Fairy King, Oberon, in a plot to convince the Queen Titiana to "give" over an Indian boy she captured, all things break loose. At the heart of the story, we meet two groups of young lovers, Hermia, who loves Lysander but is being forced to marry Demetrius by her father and the Athenian king, Theseus, and Helena who loves Demetrius, but whom does not return her love. In a plot to escape Hermia's fate, Lysander and she agree to meet in the woods and flee to a country where they will be allowed to marry. In the mean time, Helena confronts Hermia and finds out about her plan to run away. Helena tells Demetrius, and the two of them also flee to the woods in an attempt to foil the lovers' plan. In his plot to make the fairy queen fall in love with someone else so she will give up the Indian boy, Oberon has Puck put the juice of an enchanted flower over her eyes. He then hears a troubled Helena fleeing after the man she loves as he desperately tries to find his betrothed, Hermia, and the man she loves, Lysander. In an act of sympathy for Helena, Oberon also tells Puck to put the juice over Demetrius's eyes so that he will fall in love with Helena. But, Puck puts the juice over a sleeping Lysander's eyes instead. Lysander awakes, sees Helena, and falls in love with her, while Hermia sleeps. A group of play actors, who just so happen to be practicing in the woods, wanders nearby the sleeping fairy queen. Puck plays a trick by turning one of the actors, Nick Bottom, into a donkey. Titiana awakes, sees Bottom, and falls in love with him. Puck attempts to right his wrong by putting the juice over Demetrius's eyes as well. Demetrius awakes, sees Helena, and also falls in love with her. Hermia begins to search for her missing love, and hears the two men quarrelling over Helena. They threaten to fight, despite Hermia's claims that Lysander loves her truly. Oberon gets what he wants from the fairy queen and discovers the quarrelling lovers nearby. He instructs Puck to undo what has been done by creating a heavy mist and crushing a powder over the eyes of all the victims of his original plan. Find out if Puck succeeds in undoing what has been done or if all is at a loss in this exciting comedy. You won't want to miss it!

 

Personal Reflections

 

I am a huge fan of anything related to William Shakespeare. I, along with most historians, rank him as one of the greatest writers of all time. Who doesn't love a good story filled with swords, love, heartache, parties, and more? This play has it all! The graphic novel adaptation does add a small element of cheesiness, but it also makes it easier for young minds to understand the true plot of Shakespeare's play, which is, of course, written in Old English. The graphic novel maintains some of the same language and all of the basics of the plot. I loved this version of Shakespeare's classic play. I think it is the perfect way to introduce young minds to the endeavors of William Shakespeare. Read it today!