"A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM" BY W.SHAKESPEARE AND A.S.BYATT’S NOVEL "THE CHILDREN’S BOOK"
The article presents the results of the research on Shakespearean allusions in A.S.Byatt’s novel “The Children’s Book”. Attention is drawn to some Shakespeare’s works which are alluded to in the novel. The focus of the analysis is on the dominant allusion to the play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” which determines behaviour patterns of some major characters in “The Children’s book’, clarifies the characters’ personal stories and provides a long-term perspective on the plot development in the novel. The difference between some types of theatrical performances of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in the novel (the puppet theatre and the theatre with real actors) complicates the semiotics of the literary text.