Introduction – Part 1

About the lecture

In this lecture we begin our introduction to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, focusing in particular on: (i) where the play comes in Shakespeare’s career, and the plays that Shakespeare had written up to 1595/6; (ii) the prevalence of ‘metatheatre’ in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, particularly the play-within-a-play; (iii) the play’s balancing of genres, with tragedy turning into comedy (the play-within-a-play) and comedy almost turning into tragedy (the main action of the play); (iv) the connected concepts of free, forbidden and forced love – both in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and in other works by Shakespeare; and (v) love in Shakespeare, including love that ends in death (Romeo and Juliet), love that destroys the world (Antony and Cleopatra), love that has to be rejected (Hamlet) and the love (or lack of it) that exists between father and daughter (King Lear).

About the lecturer

John McRae is Special Professor of Language in Literature Studies and Teaching Associate in the School of English at Nottingham University, and holds Visiting Professorships in China, Malaysia, Spain and the USA. He is co-author of The Routledge History of Literature in English with Ron Carter, and also wrote The Language of Poetry, Literature with a Small 'l' and the first critical edition of Teleny by Oscar Wilde and others.