A Midsummer Night's Dream

by William Shakespeare Comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream takes place in Athens. Theseus, the Duke o Athens, is planning his marriage !ith "ippolyta, and as a result he is a planning a large esti#al. $geus enters, ollo!ed by his daughter "ermia, her belo#ed %ysander, and her suitor Demetrius. $geus tells Theseus that "ermia re uses to marry Demetrius, !anting instead to marry %ysander. "e asks or the right to punish "ermia !ith death i she re uses to obey. Theseus agrees that "ermia's duty is to obey her ather, and threatens her !ith either entering a nunnery or marrying the man her ather chooses. %ysander protests, but is o#erruled by the la!. "e and "ermia than decide to lee by night into the !oods surrounding Athens, !here they can escape the la! and get married. They tell their plan to "elena, a girl !ho is madly in lo#e !ith Demetrius. "oping to gain a#or !ith Demetrius, "elena decides to tell him about the plan. Some local artisans and !orkmen ha#e decided to per orm a play or Theseus as a !ay to celebrate his !edding. They choose &yramus and Thisbe or their play, and meet to assign the roles. Nick 'ottom gets the role o &yramus, and (lute takes the part o Thisbe. They agree to meet the ne)t night in the !oods to rehearse the play. *obin +ood ello!, a puck, meets a airy !ho ser#es ,ueen Titania. "e tells the airy that his -ing .beron is in the !oods, and that Titania should a#oid .beron because they !ill /uarrel again. "o!e#er, Titania and .beron soon arri#e and begin arguing about a young boy Titania has stolen and is caring or. .beron demands that she gi#e him the boy, but she re uses. .beron decides to play a trick on Titania and put some pansy 0uice on her eyes. The magical 0uice !ill make her all in lo#e !ith irst person she sees upon !aking up. Soon a ter &uck is sent a!ay to etch the 0uice, .beron o#erhears Demetrius and "elena in the !oods. Demetrius deserts "elena in the orest, lea#ing her alone. .beron decides that he !ill change this situation, and commands *obin to put the 0uice onto Demetrius's eyes !hen he is sleeping. "e then inds Titania and drops the 0uice onto her eyelids. *obin

goes to ind Demetrius, but instead comes across %ysander and accidentally uses the 0uice on him. 'y accident "elena comes across %ysander and !akes him up. "e immediately alls in lo#e !ith her and starts to chase her through the !oods. Together they arri#e !here .beron is !atching, and he reali1es the mistake. .beron then puts the pansy 0uice onto Demetrius's eyelids, !ho upon !aking up also alls in lo#e !ith "elena. She thinks that the t!o men are trying to torment her or being in lo#e !ith Demetrius, and becomes urious at their protestations o lo#e. The !orkmen arri#e in the !oods and start to practice their play. They constantly ruin the lines o the play and mispronounce the !ords. .ut o ear o censorship, they decide to make the play less realistic. There ore the lion is supposed to announce that he is not a lion, but only a common man. 'ottom also eels obliged to tell the audience that he is not really going to die, but !ill only pretend to do so. &uck, !atching this silly scene, catches 'ottom alone and puts an asses head on him. When 'ottom returns to his troupe, they run a!ay out o her. %ysander and Demetrius prepare to ight one another or "elena. &uck inter#enes and leads them through the !oods in circles until they collapse onto the ground in e)haustion. "e then brings the t!o !omen to same area and puts them to sleep as !ell. .beron inds Titania and releases her rom the spell. "e then tells the audience that 'ottom !ill think is all a dream !hen he !akes up. "e urther releases %ysander rom the spell. Theseus arri#es !ith a hunting party and inds the lo#ers stretched out on the ground. "e orders the hunting horns blo!n in order to !ake them up. The lo#ers e)plain !hy they are in the !oods, at !hich point $geus demands that he be allo!ed to e)ercise the la! on "ermia. "o!e#er, Demetrius inter#enes and tells them that he no longer lo#es "ermia, but rather only lo#es "elena. Theseus decides to o#erbear $geus and let the lo#ers get married that day !ith him. Together they return to Athens. 'ottom !akes up and thinks that he has dreamed the entire episode. "e s!i tly returns to Athens !here he meets his riends. Together they head o#er to Theseus's palace. Theseus looks o#er the list o possible entertainment or that e#ening and settles on the play o ear. 'ottom then comes across Titania, and succeeds in !aking her up. She alls in lo#e !ith him due to the 0uice on her eyes, and takes him !ith

&yramus and Thisbe. 'ottom and the rest o his company per orm the play, a ter !hich e#eryone retires to bed. &uck arri#es and starts to s!eep the house clean. .beron and Titania brie ly bless the couples and their uture children. A ter they lea#e &uck asks the audience to orgi#e the actors is they !ere o ended. "e then tells the audience that i anyone disliked the play, they should imagine that it !as only a dream.