A Midsummer Night's Dream
Shakespeare's most enchanting comedy weaves together three separate worlds — the Athenian court, the fairy kingdom, and a group of working-class actors — in a single night of magical confusion in a wood near Athens.
At a Glance
- Genre: Comedy
- Approximate date: c. 1595–1596 (possibly written for a noble wedding)
- Setting: Athens and an enchanted wood nearby
- Source: Ovid's Metamorphoses; Chaucer's Knight's Tale; classical mythology
- Acts: 5
Dramatis Personæ
| Character | Description |
|---|---|
| THESEUS | Duke of Athens; about to marry Hippolyta |
| HIPPOLYTA | Queen of the Amazons; betrothed to Theseus |
| EGEUS | Father to Hermia; demands she marry Demetrius |
| HERMIA | In love with Lysander; defies her father |
| LYSANDER | In love with Hermia; elopes with her into the wood |
| HELENA | In love with Demetrius; Hermia's friend |
| DEMETRIUS | Loves Hermia; later enchanted into loving Helena |
| PHILOSTRATE | Master of the Revels to Theseus |
| OBERON | King of the Fairies; quarrels with Titania |
| TITANIA | Queen of the Fairies; enchanted into loving Bottom |
| PUCK (ROBIN GOODFELLOW) | Oberon's mischievous fairy servant |
| PEASEBLOSSOM, COBWEB, MOTH, MUSTARDSEED | Fairies attending Titania |
| PETER QUINCE | Carpenter; director of the mechanicals' play |
| NICK BOTTOM | Weaver; actor; given a donkey's head |
| FRANCIS FLUTE | Bellows-mender; plays Thisbe |
| TOM SNOUT | Tinker; plays Wall |
| SNUG | Joiner; plays Lion |
| ROBIN STARVELING | Tailor; plays Moonshine |
Plot Summary
Act I: Egeus brings Hermia before Theseus: she must marry Demetrius or die. Hermia and Lysander plan to elope through the woods. They tell Helena, who (hoping to regain Demetrius's affection) betrays the secret to him. Peter Quince calls a rehearsal of "Pyramus and Thisbe" for the Duke's wedding entertainment.
Act II: In the fairy wood, Oberon and Titania quarrel over a changeling Indian boy. Oberon sends Puck to fetch a magical flower whose juice, dropped on sleeping eyelids, causes infatuation with the first creature seen. Oberon plans to enchant Titania. He instructs Puck to also enchant Demetrius (so he will love Helena). Puck mistakes Lysander for Demetrius and enchants him instead; Lysander wakes and pursues Helena.
Act III: The mechanicals rehearse in the wood; Puck transforms Bottom's head into a donkey's head. Bottom, with his new head, wanders into Titania's bower; she wakes, enchanted by the flower, and falls in love with him. Oberon, discovering Puck's error, also enchants Demetrius. Now both men love Helena, who thinks they're mocking her. Hermia is bewildered and furious.
Act IV: Oberon, satisfied that he has obtained the changeling boy from the besotted Titania, releases her from the spell. He and Titania are reconciled. Puck removes Bottom's head. Oberon removes the spells from the four lovers. Theseus and Hippolyta find them asleep and wake them; the lovers can barely remember the night's events. Bottom wakes alone, reflecting on his "most rare vision."
Act V: At court, Theseus chooses "Pyramus and Thisbe" for the evening's entertainment. The mechanicals perform their play-within-a-play — hilariously incompetent and earnest. Bottom as Pyramus, Flute as Thisbe. The court watches with gentle mockery. After the humans retire, Oberon and Titania bless the house. Puck delivers the epilogue, suggesting the whole play may have been a dream.
Key Themes
- Dream and reality — the wood is where rational order dissolves; the lovers cannot fully remember or account for what happened
- Love as madness — the lovers' passion is repeatedly compared to lunacy
- The imagination — Theseus's speech on "the lunatic, the lover, and the poet" links artistic creation to irrational vision
- Theatre and illusion — the mechanicals' play-within-a-play reflects on the nature of theatrical performance
- Social hierarchy — the worlds of court, fairy, and artisan are distinct but intertwined
Notable Quotations
"The course of true love never did run smooth." *(Lysander, I.i)*
"Lord, what fools these mortals be!" *(Puck, III.ii)*
"I know a bank where the wild thyme blows... / Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine." *(Oberon, II.i)*
"The lunatic, the lover, and the poet / Are of imagination all compact." *(Theseus, V.i)*
LibriVox Recording
A Midsummer Night's Dream audiobook on LibriVox — Free public domain recording. (Multiple versions available)
Cross-references
- Comedies — genre context
- The Tempest — Prospero's magic and control echoes Oberon's
- Romeo and Juliet — written around the same time; the Pyramus and Thisbe subplot parodies its tragic scenario
- Twelfth Night — another comedy built on confused romantic desire