A Midsummer Night's Dream

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1. ACT I.

   Duke Theseus prepares to wed Hippolyta. Egeus drags his daughter Hermia in to demand she marry Demetrius, on pain of death or the cloister; Hermia and Lysander resolve to elope through the wood. Helena, who loves Demetrius, betrays the plan to him. Meanwhile the Athenian craftsmen meet to cast 'Pyramus and Thisbe' for the duke's wedding feast.

   1. Scene 1 — Athens. A room in the Palace of THESEUS.

      Theseus and Hippolyta count the days to their wedding. Egeus asks the duke to enforce 'the ancient privilege of Athens' against his daughter Hermia, who loves Lysander rather than the father's chosen Demetrius; Theseus gives her four days to obey, die, or take vows of chastity. Hermia and Lysander plan to elope by way of a wood outside the city; they confide in Helena, who decides to win Demetrius's gratitude by telling him.

   2. Scene 2 — The Same. A Room in a Cottage.

      Peter Quince the carpenter assembles his fellow tradesmen to cast 'The Most Lamentable Comedy and Most Cruel Death of Pyramus and Thisbe' for the duke's wedding revels. Bottom the weaver, given the lover Pyramus, eagerly volunteers to play every other part as well; Quince barely contains him. They agree to rehearse the next night in the wood, by moonlight.

2. ACT II.

   In the wood, Puck and a fairy reveal the quarrel between Oberon and Titania over a changeling boy. Oberon sends Puck to fetch a flower whose juice will make Titania dote on the next creature she sees, and to use the same charm to make Demetrius love Helena; Puck misapplies the juice to Lysander, who wakes and abandons Hermia for Helena.

   1. Scene 1 — A wood near Athens.

      Puck meets one of Titania's fairies and recounts the fairy king and queen's quarrel over an Indian boy. Oberon and Titania enter and dispute; she leaves, and Oberon sends Puck for the love-in-idleness flower whose juice will charm Titania. Spying Demetrius rejecting Helena's pursuit, Oberon orders Puck to anoint 'the Athenian' to make him love her in turn.

   2. Scene 2 — Another part of the wood.

      Titania's fairies sing her to sleep with a lullaby and Oberon squeezes the flower's juice on her eyelids. Lysander and Hermia, lost in the wood, lie down to rest apart; Puck, finding 'an Athenian' in Athenian dress, anoints Lysander by mistake. Helena, pursuing Demetrius, stumbles on the sleeping Lysander and wakes him; he instantly forsakes Hermia and chases Helena, who is sure she is being mocked. Hermia wakes alone and frightened.

3. ACT III.

   The craftsmen rehearse and Puck gives Bottom an ass's head; the newly woken Titania falls in love with him. Oberon, learning of Puck's mistake, anoints Demetrius too; now both men pursue Helena, who along with Hermia believes herself wronged. Oberon sends Puck to lead the lovers astray in fog until they sleep, then anoints Lysander with the antidote.

   1. Scene 1 — The Wood. The Queen of Fairies lying asleep.

      The craftsmen meet in the wood to rehearse; Bottom worries the play's violence will frighten the ladies and they add absurd disclaiming prologues. Puck, finding them, gives Bottom an ass's head and scatters the others. Titania, waking to Bottom's braying, declares herself in love with him and orders her fairies — Peasblossom, Cobweb, Moth, and Mustardseed — to attend him.

   2. Scene 2 — Another part of the wood.

      Puck reports Titania's enchantment to Oberon, who learns the wrong Athenian was charmed and anoints Demetrius too. Demetrius wakes and joins Lysander in praising Helena, who is now sure both men are mocking her; Hermia accuses Helena of stealing Lysander, and the women trade insults about Hermia's short stature and Helena's tallness. As the men go off to duel, Oberon orders Puck to fog the wood, lead them apart until exhausted, and apply the antidote to Lysander's eyes only.

4. ACT IV

   In the morning Oberon releases Titania, who is horrified at her dotage on an ass-headed Bottom. Theseus, Hippolyta, and Egeus, out hunting, find the four lovers asleep; the right pairs are reconciled and the duke overrules Egeus, inviting all to marry at court. Bottom wakes and resolves to ask Quince to make a ballad of his 'most rare vision.' At Quince's house the craftsmen lament the lost Bottom; he returns triumphantly to tell them their play is chosen.

   1. Scene 1 — The Wood.

      Titania pampers ass-headed Bottom until both sleep; Oberon, who now has the changeling boy, releases her with the antidote. The fairies vanish. Theseus, Hippolyta, and Egeus, on a morning hunt, find the four lovers asleep; the men, the love-juice still working on Demetrius, now want the women they should. Theseus overrules Egeus and invites the lovers to be married alongside him. Bottom wakes alone, his ass's head gone, and resolves to call his dream 'Bottom's Dream, because it hath no bottom.'

   2. Scene 2 — Athens. A Room in QUINCE'S House.

      At Quince's house in Athens the craftsmen worry that Bottom is lost and their play with him. Bottom bursts in to announce that their play is chosen for the wedding and orders everyone to ready their costumes.

5. ACT V

   At the wedding feast Theseus picks the craftsmen's 'Pyramus and Thisbe' over the other entertainments; the court mocks the performance throughout. After the marriages, Oberon, Titania, and the fairies bless the three couples' beds, and Puck steps forward to assure the audience that, if it has offended, they may think of the whole play as a dream.

   1. Scene 1 — Athens. An Apartment in the Palace of THESEUS.

      Theseus and Hippolyta dismiss the lovers' story as 'more strange than true' and call for entertainment. From Philostrate's list Theseus chooses the craftsmen's 'tedious brief' play; Bottom as Pyramus, Flute as Thisbe, Snout as Wall, Starveling as Moonshine, and Snug as Lion stumble through it while the court mocks. After bedtime, Oberon, Titania, and the fairies enter to bless the marriages.

   2. Scene 2

      Puck delivers the famous epilogue: if the play has offended, the audience should think they 'have but slumbered here while these visions did appear,' and reward the actors with applause.

Characters

• Theseus major

  Duke of Athens, the play's voice of ducal authority. Betrothed to Hippolyta after defeating her Amazons in war, he opens and closes the play by presiding over weddings and revels.

• Hippolyta supporting

  Queen of the Amazons, betrothed to Theseus after he 'wooed her with his sword.' Watches the Athenian lovers' confusion and the mechanicals' play with a more sympathetic eye than her duke.

• Egeus supporting

  Hermia's father, who demands the 'ancient privilege of Athens' to marry her to Demetrius or have her put to death. His will is the engine that drives the lovers into the wood.

• Hermia protagonist

  Daughter to Egeus, in love with Lysander. Small in stature and fierce in spirit, she defies her father and flees with Lysander into the wood, where she is briefly abandoned and learns Helena has been her rival.

• Lysander major

  An Athenian youth in love with Hermia. Elopes with her into the wood; falls under Puck's love-juice and pursues Helena instead; restored at dawn by Oberon's antidote.

• Demetrius major

  An Athenian youth claiming Hermia by her father's gift, though he had previously courted Helena. Anointed by Oberon to undo his earlier wrong, he wakes restored to Helena.

• Helena major

  Daughter of Nedar, in love with Demetrius and tormented by his neglect. Tall where Hermia is short, she follows Demetrius into the wood and ends the night courted by both men, sure she is mocked.

• Philostrate minor

  Theseus's Master of the Revels, who brings the list of available entertainments before the duke chooses 'Pyramus and Thisbe.'

• Oberon major

  King of the Fairies, quarreling with Titania over a changeling boy. Commands Puck to fetch the love-in-idleness flower whose juice drives the lovers' confusion, then sets all to rights.

• Titania major

  Queen of the Fairies, estranged from Oberon over a mortal child she has sworn to raise. Enchanted by the love-juice, she dotes on the ass-headed Bottom until Oberon releases her.

• Puck major

  Oberon's mischievous spirit, also known as Robin Goodfellow. Mistakes Lysander for Demetrius when applying the love-juice, sets the night's confusion in motion, and delivers the play's final apology to the audience.

• A Fairy minor

  An unnamed servant of Titania who meets Puck at the start of Act 2 and provides the audience's first glimpse of the fairy world.

• Peasblossom minor

  One of Titania's four named attendant fairies (with Cobweb, Moth, and Mustardseed), assigned to wait on Bottom.

• Cobweb minor

  One of Titania's four named attendant fairies, sent by Bottom to fetch the honey-bag of a bee.

• Moth minor

  One of Titania's four named attendant fairies. In Elizabethan English 'moth' was pronounced like 'mote,' a speck of dust.

• Mustardseed minor

  One of Titania's four named attendant fairies, summoned by Bottom to help Cobweb scratch his ass-eared head.

• First Fairy minor

  An unnamed fairy of Titania's train who sings her to sleep and answers Puck's call during the night's enchantments.

• Second Fairy minor

  An unnamed fairy of Titania's train, joining the lullaby and answering Puck's call.

• Third Fairy minor

  An unnamed fairy of Titania's train, joining the lullaby and answering Puck's call.

• Fourth Fairy minor

  An unnamed fairy of Titania's train, joining the lullaby and answering Puck's call.

• Quince major

  Peter Quince the carpenter, the put-upon director and scriptwriter of the mechanicals' play 'Pyramus and Thisbe.' Speaks the Prologue at the wedding.

• Bottom major

  Nick Bottom the weaver, a confident amateur actor cast as Pyramus. Given an ass's head by Puck, he is briefly adored by Titania, and remembers it on waking as 'a most rare vision.'

• Flute supporting

  Francis Flute the bellows-mender, cast as Thisbe over his protests about his beard ('I have a beard coming').

• Snug supporting

  Snug the joiner, 'slow of study,' cast as Lion. Famous for breaking character to reassure the ladies that he is not a real lion.

• Snout supporting

  Tom Snout the tinker, cast as Pyramus's father and then reassigned to play Wall in the production.

• Starveling supporting

  Robin Starveling the tailor, cast as Thisbe's mother and then reassigned to play Moonshine, lantern and dog in hand.

• All chorus

  A choric line spoken in unison — by the assembled mechanicals, or by the chorus of fairies during Titania's lullaby.

• Prologue (Quince) minor

  Quince, in character as the Prologue, introducing the mechanicals' play before the Athenian court.

• Pyramus (Bottom) minor

  Bottom in character as the doomed lover Pyramus in the mechanicals' interlude. The role he has dreamed of since Act 1 Scene 2.

• Thisbe (Flute) minor

  Flute in character as Pyramus's beloved Thisbe in the mechanicals' interlude.

• Wall (Snout) minor

  Snout in character as the Wall that divides the lovers in the mechanicals' interlude.

• Moonshine (Starveling) minor

  Starveling in character as Moonshine in the mechanicals' interlude, carrying a lantern, thornbush, and dog.

• Lion (Snug) minor

  Snug in character as the Lion in the mechanicals' interlude, careful to assure the ladies he is not really fierce.

Cross-references

• Folger Shakespeare
• MIT plain text
• Wikipedia