Summary
A Midsummer Night's Dream begins when Egeus, Hermia,
Lysander, and Demetrius appear before Theseus to ask him to settle their
differences. Hermia wants to marry Lysander and Lysander wants to marry
Hermia, but Demetrius also wants to marry Hermia. Egeus wants Hermia
to marry Demetrius even though he has already broken one girl's heart.
Theseus
tells Hermia that she must either marry Demetrius,
enter a nunnery, or be put to death. Rather than choose one of these
options, she decides to escape to the forest with Lysander. Helena
thwarts their plan by telling Demetrius what they did. She hopes that by
telling him this, she will regain his favor.
Meanwhile, Oberon and Titania, the fairy king and queen, are having an argument about a small Indian boy who is presently with Titania. To take revenge on Titania, Oberon orders Puck to find Titania while she is sleeping to put a love potion on her eyes so that when she wakes, she will fall in love with some vile creature.
MEANWHILE, a group of workmen go to the forest to rehearse a play for the Duke's wedding feast. None of the men possess sparkling intelligence, especially the hero of the "play" Bottom. As a joke, Puck gives Bottom a donkey's head and makes him the creature that Titania falls in love with.
Oberon has seen Helena chasing Demetrius through the
woods while he runs from her. Feeling sorry for Helena, he tells Puck
to put the love potion in Demetrius' eyes. Oberon tells Puck that he
will know the youth by his Athenian clothes.
Puck sees Lysander and Hermia sleeping, but
lying far apart. He assumes that this is the unlucky girl and puts
the potion on Lysander's eyes. Lysander wakes up and, seeing Helena,
falls in love with her. Now Lysander is in love with Helena, Helena
is in love with Demetrius, Demetrius is in love with Hermia, and Hermia loves
Lysander.
Oberon eventually discovers Puck's mistake and puts the potion on Demetrius' eyes so that both men are in love with Helena. After a series of misadventures, the spells are removed from Bottom, Titania, and Lysander, but a spell is left on Demetrius. The play ends with a triple wedding: Theseus and Hippolyta, Lysander and Hermia, and Demetrius and Helena. At the wedding feast, Bottom's group performs the tragedy of Pyramus and Thisby to mixed reviews. Puck closes out the night with an apology to the audience, telling them that if they do not care for what has transpired, they can remember it as a dream.
Characters
Theseus - He is the Duke of Athens. He is
a character who represents authority, based on the Greek hero.
Hippolyta - She is Theseus' bride and Queen of the Amazons. Her love for Theseus represents rational love.
Egeus - Egeus is a member of the Duke's court. As Hermia's father, he objects to her love for Lysander and wants her to marry Demetrius.
Hermia - Egeus' daughter is a spirited, petite brunette who will defy her father and Theseus to be with the man she loves.
Lysander - He loves Hermia, and is a romantic and a realist.
Demetrius - He is Hermia's suitor, with her father's approval. Formerly Helena's lover, he broke her heart.
Helena - Hermia's childhood friend, she is a tall blonde who is in love with Demetrius.
Oberon - King of Faerie, he is handsome, jealous, and moody. He is currently quarreling with his queen over custody of an Indian boy.
Titania - Titania is Queen of Faerie. She is concerned with beauty,
sweetness, and
pleasantness.
Puck/Robin Goodfellow - As Oberon's jester, he contributes to the romantic confusion of the play.
Bottom - A weaver, he plays "Pyramus" in the Duke's play. As a joke, Puck gives him an 's head and makes Titania fall in love with him.
Francis Flute - He plays an embarrased "Thisby" but his regular job is as a bellows-maker.
Tom Snout - The most visually comic player, he plays the "Wall" and is usually a tinker.
Snug - His intelligence makes him a perfect "Lion" but he is actually a joiner.
Lines
"The course of true love never did run smooth."
Lysander Act I scene i
"...the jaws of darkness do devour it up.
So quick bright things come to confusion."
Lysander Act I scene i
"Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind,
And therefore is winged Cupid painted
blind.
"
Helena Act I scene i
"Let me play the lion too!...
I will roar, that I will make the Duke say,
'Let him roar again!...'"
Bottom Act I scene ii
"Over hill, over dale, through bush, through briar."
Fairy Act II scene i
"Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania!"
Oberon Act II scene i
"
...once I sat upon a promontory,
And heard a mermaid, on a dolphin's back,
Uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath,
That the rude sea grew civil at her song,
And certain stars shot madly from their spheres,
To hear the sea maid's music."
Oberon Act II scene i
"And the imperial votress passed on,
In maiden meditation, fancy-free."
Oberon
Act II scene
i
"I'll put a girdle round about the earth in forty minutes!"
Puck Act II scene i
"I know a bank where the wild thyme blows..."
Oberon Act II scene i
"What hempen homespuns have we swaggering here?"
Puck Act III scene i
"And yet, to say the truth, reason and love
Keep little company together nowadays."
Bottom Act III scene i
"I go, I go...look at how I go!
Swifter than arrow from the Tartar's bow!"
Puck Act III scene ii
"Lord, what fools these mortals be!"
Puck Act III scene ii
"...So we grew together,
Like to a double cherry, seeming parted,
But yet an union in partition.
Two lovely berries molded on one stem."
Helena Act III scene ii
"Jack shall have Jill, nought shall go ill,
The man shall have his mare again,
And all shall be well!"
Puck Act III scene ii
"...Besides the groves,
The skies, the fountains, every region near
Seemed all one mutual
cry.
I never heard
So musical a discord, such sweet thunder."
Hippolyta Act IV scene i
"Methought I was...and methought I had..."
Bottom Act IV scene i
"Lovers and madmen have such seething brains...
The lunatic, the lover and the poet
Are of imagination all compact...
And, as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen
Turns them to shapes, and give to airy "nothing"
A local habitation and a name."
Theseus Act V scene i
"I see a voice...I can hear my Thisby's face!"
Pyramus/Bottom Act V scene
i
"O dainty duck! O dear!"
Pyramus/Bottom Act V scene i
"Ay, that left pap, where heart doth hop!"
Pyramus/Bottom Act V scene i
"The iron tongue of midnight hath told twelve.
Lovers, to bed. Tis almost fairy time!"
Theseus Act V scene i