Reflections on reading 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' by William Shakespeare

My favorite part of reading plays, what to read in August, and forecasting future plans for the fall reading season.

I’m keeping today’s post-reading reflection short so I can share more about my plans for fall—plus, I know the last two newsletters were full of quotes for close reading and thematic explorations. If you would like to discuss any of those questions—or your overall reading experience—in the comments today, I would love to hear from you.

My main takeaway from reading A Midsummer Night’s Dream this summer is simply that I love reading plays. Yes, I am a former theater kid who dreamed of dramaturgy and directing. And yes, I am a Shakespeare nerd. But above all, I love reading plays because they exemplify one of my core tenets of reading classic literature, a reminder I shared with my students and with our Novel Pairings community countless times over the years:

There is not a single, correct interpretation of literature.

It’s a freeing statement for students who never feel like they quite get a poem, or whose past teachers asked for one right answer about a book’s theme. It’s freeing for adults, too. We internalize what we learned in English classes, and it takes some undoing in order to enjoy classic literature and feel confident in our own interpretations.

Reading plays, particularly Shakespeare, reveals a vast array of analyses because actors and directors interpret the work on stage, and it is different every time.