SHOW SUMMARY

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The action of A Midsummer Night's Dream takes place in a mythical Athens.  Theseus, the reigning Duke, has conquered the Amazons and has fallen in love with their beautiful queen, Hippolyta.  As the play opens, he proclaims that their wedding is to take place in five days.

At this point, Egeus, a weathly Athenian, brings his daughter Hermia before the Duke.  Having fallen in love with Lysander, a young man of whom her father disapproves, Hermia has refused to marry Demetrius, who is her father's choice.  Demetrius has been in love with Hermia's friend, Helena, but had abandoned her for Hermia.

Angered by Hermia's disobedience to his will, Egeus demands judgement on his daughter.  Regretfully, the Duke tells Hermia that according to Athenian law, she must marry Demetrius or die.  The only other alternative is a lie of chastity as a virgin priestess.  She has until the Duke's wedding day to decide.

After the others leave, Hermia and Lysander determine to meet in a wood near the city the following night.  Then they plan to leave the city and go to a place outside of Athenian jurisdiction where they can be married.  Helena, who is hopelessly in love with him, tries to win his favor by telling hi, of Hermia's plan to elope.  She is bitterly disappointed when Demetrius hurries away to stop the elopement, but she follows him.

In another part of Athens, a group of common laboring men, led by Peter Quince, a carpenter, are preparing a play to be given at the wedding feast of Theseus and Hippolyta.  The "star" of the group, Nick Bottom, a weaver, struts and boasts his ability to play any and all parts and is finally cast as the hero in a "most lamentable comedy" about "the most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisby."  All the parts are assigned and the rehearsal is set to take place the next night in the woods outside of Athens - the same wood in which Hermia and Lysander are to meet.

The night in question is Midsummer's Eve, a time of great rejoicing and mischief among the fairies who live in the wood.  Oberon, their King, and Titania, their Queen, have quarreled over possession of a little boy, the child of one of Titania's priestesses.  To resolve the quarrel, humble his proud Queen, and gain the boy for his own group of followers, Oberon enlists the aid of Puck (Robin Goodfellow).  This clever and mischievous fairy delights in playing tricks on mortals and is a faithful servant of Oberon.

By putting the nectar of a magic flower on the eyes of the sleeping Lysander, Puck causes him to fall in love with Helena and forsake Hermia.  Into this confusion come Bottom and his amateur acting troupe.  Puck turns Bottom's head into the head of an ass, frightening off all his friends and leaving the weaver alone.  He comes upon Titania, the Queen of the Fairies, and awakens her from her sleep.  Her eyes, like those of Lysander, have been anointed with the magic nectar, and she falls in love with the first creature she sees.  Her new love is, of course, Bottom - with his ass's head.

After playing various pranks on Titania, Bottom, and the two pairs of lovers, Oberon relents and has Puck set things right again.  Lysander and Hermia are reunited, and Demetrius, with the aid of the magic juice, rediscovers his love for Helena.  Titania and Bottom are released from their enchantments, and she agrees to give Oberon the little boy about whom they had quarrelled.

Unsure whether what occurred was fact or nightmare, the lovers come upon the Duke and his party hunting in the woods that morning.  After hearing their stories, he proclaims that to his wedding will be added those of the four young lovers.

Bottom awakens, is confused, but returns to Athens and, with his friends, prepares to give their play at the Duke's wedding.

After the triple wedding, the play, "Pyramis and Thisby," is presented as part of the entertainment.  It is performed so earnestly and so badly that the assembled guests are weak from laughter.  After the performance, the newlyweds adjourn to bed, and the fairies appear to confer a final blessing on the happy couple.