Sources A Midsummer Night's Dream

a midsummer night s dream act iv, scene i. engraving painting henry fuseli, published 1796

it unknown when midsummer night s dream written or first performed, on basis of topical references , allusion edmund spenser s epithalamion, dated 1595 or 1596. have theorised play might have been written aristocratic wedding (for example of elizabeth carey, lady berkeley), while others suggest written queen celebrate feast day of st. john. no concrete evidence exists support theory. in case, have been performed @ theatre and, later, globe. though not translation or adaptation of earlier work, various sources such ovid s metamorphoses , chaucer s knight s tale served inspiration. according john twyning, play s plot of 4 lovers undergoing trial in woods intended riff on der busant, middle high german poem.

according dorothea kehler, writing period can placed between 1594 , 1596, means shakespeare had completed romeo , juliet , had yet start working on merchant of venice. play belongs early-middle period of author, when shakespeare devoted attention lyricism of works.

according de vere family lore (which may or may not true), wedding of elizabeth de vere william stanley, sixth earl of derby, on june 26, 1594, @ court of greenwich, , occurring in presence of queen elizabeth, event occasion shakespeare s first performance of midsummer night s dream.