By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) ‘If We Shadows Have Offended’ is the opening line of Puck’s closing speech from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In summary, the speech sees Puck (also known as Robin Goodfellow) seeking forgiveness from the audience if the fairies (including Puck himself) have ‘offended’ any […]
Tag: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
A Summary and Analysis of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) The diarist Samuel Pepys wasn’t a fan of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Seeing a performance of the play in 1662, he wrote in his diary that it was ‘the most insipid ridiculous play that ever I saw in my life’ (though he adds […]
Five Fascinating Facts about A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Curious trivia about Shakespeare’s classic play 1. The first known piece of criticism of the play was an entry in the diary of Samuel Pepys. Pepys, who saw A Midsummer Night’s Dream performed in 1662, recorded in his famous diary that the play was ‘the most insipid ridiculous play that […]