List of Illustrations General editors’ Preface Preface INTRODUCTION STAGE, SCREEN, ART The play in its time: staging and casting British productions: Restoration to nineteenth century British productions: the twentieth century and after Europe Beyond Europe Other media: cinema, music, art SOURCES AND ANALOGUES: FAIRIES AND MORTALS Fairies and fairy lore Ovid: the classics and the fairies Pyramus and Thisbe Theseus and Hippolyta: Plutarch, Chaucer and Shakespeare THEMES AND DESIGNS Pastoral: the forest Dreamers and Lovers Patriarchy Carnival, class, court Theatre, art and illusion The comedy of compromise LANGUAGE AND VERSE A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM Appendix 1: Casting Chart Appendix 2:Date and Occasion Appendix 3: The Text Abbreviations and References Index

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