The Story
What happens in a
Midsummer Night’s Dream
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
A note on using this summary
It’s always better, if you can, to first experience the play through the text – by reading it,
speaking it, performing it. It’s also wonderful, if you can, to see a live performance of
“Dream,” which is one of Shakespeare’s most
popular comedies.
This summary is designed as a roadmap for
times when you get a bit lost in the story, or
need a review. We’ve written the summary as
a running description of the imagined stage
action, rather than as a story version of the play.
of the moon, which will prove so important
throughout the play.
The Duke is impatient for the fun of the wedding. Hippolyta reassures him that the time
will go by quickly. Theseus instructs Philostrate,
his Master of the Revels (or party planner!),
to “stir up the Athenian youth to merriments”
– that is, to organize some fun parties to pass
the time before the big wedding day.
Then, a sudden interruption: In barges
Egeus, an important citizen of Athens, dragging with him Hermia, his daughter, and two
young men, Lysander and Demetrius.
There are some very good illustrated story versions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream; it has
inspired many retellings over the years. But
our emphasis here is on Shakespeare’s original
art – live performance on a stage. So in our
summary we keep the details fairly simple,
and speak of characters entering and exiting,
as upon the Globe stage.
Egeus greets the Duke, who asks what’s going
on. Egeus, “full of vexation,” complains that
his daughter is refusing to marry the man he
has chosen for her. He accuses Lysander of
stealing his daughter’s heart with love letters
and gifts and songs sung under her window,
and asks for “the ancient privilege of Athens”
– the power to choose whom his daughter will
marry.
Scene One (Act 1, scene 1)
According to the old law – if the Duke choose
to enforce it – Hermia has two options:
marry Demetrius, or… face death!
The play takes place in ancient Greece, in the
city of Athens and the forest around it. The action mostly takes place in one afternoon, the next
evening and morning, and then that following
evening.
The first characters we meet are Duke Theseus
of Athens and Hippolyta, the Amazon queen.
As the play begins, Theseus and Hippolyta
enter, talking of their upcoming wedding,
which will occur on the evening of the next
new moon – in four days. It’s a peaceful,
lyrical beginning, and introduces the image
The Duke subtly slips in another alternative,
which is to become a nun and never see a man
again. Hermia doesn’t jump for that option.
Hermia boldly stands up for the love she and
Lysander share, and tells the Duke she can
never love Demetrius. The Duke responds that
he cannot go against the old law. But realizing
that he is dealing with a strong-willed young
woman, Theseus asks her to “take time to
pause” and gives her until his wedding day to
make her decision.
Demetrius speaks up and asks Hermia to
give in to his love; then he turns to Lysander
and tells him to back off. Lysander fires back
with the first real joke of the play, a sarcastic
comment that says, in effect, “Hey Demetrius
– Egeus likes you so much, why don’t you let
me keep Hermia and you can marry the old
man!” Egeus, needless to say, does not think
that is funny.
Lysander then passionately speaks up for his
rights before the Duke and argues that he is
equal to Demetrius, with one vital difference:
Hermia loves him. Then, to demonstrate how
unworthy his rival is, Lysander reminds everyone that Demetrius once doted on Helena
before he began his pursuit of Hermia. Demetrius is silent, and, we can assume, embarrassed to have this mentioned before Egeus
and the Duke.
The Duke says he’d heard about Demetrius’s
inconstancy, and had meant to talk to Demetrius about it, but had been too preoccupied
with his upcoming wedding. Then he tells
Egeus and Demetrius to come with him for a
talk (perhaps as a way of giving the young lovers a chance to talk in private?). So Theseus
and Hippolyta leave with those two, leaving
Hermia and Lysander alone.
Hermia is devastated and on the verge of tears
– what will she do? Lysander comforts her
with stories of how “true love” is always difficult. Then he has a big, daring idea: “Let’s
run away!” He proposes that they elope and
get married. Hermia agrees, and they plan to
meet in the woods the next night.
Just then Helena wanders in, still moping over
Demetrius’s rejection. Hermia explains that
she’s pushed Demetrius away, but he won’t
leave her alone; then she breaks the news of
their plan to her best friend. The girls hug
and say goodbye, and Hermia and Lysander
run off to get ready for their escape the next
night.
Helena, left alone, complains about how some
people can be happier than others, and comments on the blindness of love, as captured in
the image of blindfolded Cupid, the god of
love. She feels sorry for herself, and seems to
hint that perhaps Hermia did give Demetrius
enough of a response to encourage him.
Then she too has a big, daring idea: She
will go tell Demetrius of Hermia’s plan. She
knows he’ll want to follow her, and perhaps
Helena will get a bit of attention as a reward
for her information. She’s so desperate she’ll
spill the secrets of her best friend!
So, the next night, Hermia and Lysander will
be running off into the woods… followed in
secret by Demetrius… who will be followed in
secret, no doubt, by… Helena!
Scene Two (Act 1, scene 2)
The scene shifts suddenly to from the Duke’s
palace to the working-class section of Athens.
We meet a group of craftsmen, who are now
off work. They are meeting to rehearse their
own little play for the Duke’s wedding. There
is a contest in Athens for the honor (and prize
money) of being selected as the top entertinment for the Duke’s wedding celebration.
The director is Peter Quince, a carpenter. He
has the play – “The most lamentable comedy
and most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisbe.”
“Pyramus and Thisbe” is a Romeo and Juliet story about two young lovers separated
by their families, who build a wall between
their houses. In the story, the lovers find a
hole in the wall and whisper plans to meet at
midnight. Thisbe, the girl, gets to the meeting place first, but is scared off by a lion, who
chews on her scarf. Pyramus
Pyramus, the boy, comes
late, and finds the bloody scarf, and thinks
Thisbe has been killed by the lion, and, feeling overwhelmed with grief, stabs himself in
the heart. Thisbe comes back, finds Pyramus
dead, and takes his sword and does the same.
It’s a sad story, but a beautiful play about
young love.
can play both Pyramus and Thisbe, changing
his voice between parts.
Quince enters first, or at least speaks first
(it’s also possible all the others are waiting
for him), asking, “Is all our company here?”
The crew is just meeting, probably just after
finishing work for the day. He is immediately
interrupted by Nick Bottom, a weaver, who
suggests that it is better to call them “generally” – he means “individually,” but makes the
first of his many malapropisms, or confusions
or word choice – “man by man, according to
the script.”
Next, he wants the Lion’s part, given to Snug,
and demonstrates what a great job he could do
with the roaring. When Quince wryly comments that overdoing it might frighten the ladies, Bottom quickly adjusts, saying he could
“aggravate” his voice (another word confusion)
to make it as gentle as a dove.
Also present are: Snug, the joiner; Tom
Snout, the tinker; Starveling, a tailor; and
Francis Flute, a bellows-mender, and the
youngest member of the company.
Quince holds up a scroll of “every man’s name
thought fit, through all Athens, to play in our
interlude before the Duke and Duchess, on
his wedding-day at night.” There is a competition in Athens to create the best entertainment for the Duke’s wedding reception, and
these fellows hope to be chosen.
Quince introduces the name of the play, “The
most lamentable comedy and most cruel
death of Pyramus and Thisbe,” which Bottom comments on as if he knows it, though
in a few moments he seems to not know
anything about the characters. Then Quince
begins assigning the roles. Bottom is eager to
take on a great dramatic role, and does a bit of
a melodramatic speech to show off his skill.
Then, as Quince hands out the other parts,
Bottom interjects to volunteer to take on
those also. The first is Thisbe, Pyramus’s lover,
a role assigned to young Francis Flute, who
complains, “Faith, let me not play a woman
– I have a beard coming!” (There is this law
in England at this time, you see, that women
cannot perform on the stage – so everyone accepts that women are played by teenage boys,
before they grow beards…) Bottom claims he
At this point, Quince loses patience and
exclaims, “You can play no part but Pyramus!”
Bottom has no response, but we can guess that
he is a bit miffed, because the rest of Quince’s
lines are more complimentary, as if he realized
he might lose Bottom and thus sink the play.
In the end, everyone is given “parts” – their
lines only, written out – and asked to learn
them quickly, by tomorrow night, and to meet
in the woods at midnight. Quince doesn’t
want any of the other groups stealing their
“devices,” or ideas. They part, with Bottom’s
demand ringing in their ears: “Take pains, be
perfect!”
Scene three (Act 2, scene 1)
It is finally night. For the first time, we are in
the woods outside of Athens. At night, it becomes the “fairy land,” controlled by the king
and queen of the fairies, Oberon and Titania.
Each has a “fairy train” of helpers. Oberon
primarily has Puck, a mischievous sprite and
trickster; Titania has four main fairies – Moth,
Mustardseed, Cobweb, and Peaseblossom
– and many others too.
Titania’s fairies appear for the first time. They
enter to do their nightly work for Titania,
sprinkling dewdrops and hanging them in the
“ears” of flowers.
Suddenly, Puck, also appearing for the first
time, encounters them and asks what they are
up to – “How now, spirit, whither wander you?”
Titania’s fairies tell him how they’ve been
“over hill, over dale” doing their nightly ritual
for the Fairy Queen. Then they tell Puck
that Titania is on the way and that they must
return to her.
Puck quickly responds that they should
beware – Oberon is nearby, and is angry,
because Titania won’t hand over the lovely human “changeling boy.” (In English folklore,
a changeling boy was a child raised by fairies – sort of like the old stories of kids being
raised by wolves). Oberon wants the boy to
be “knight of his train,” but Titania “withholds the loved boy, crowns him with flowers and makes him all her joy.” So the royal
couple fights every time they meet, and they
make such a racket that the fairies all jump
into acorn cups and hide.
The fairies respond by saying, in effect, “Say,
you look like that Robin Goodfellow we’ve
heard so much about – are you the prankster
himself?” Puck says he is, and tells a bit about
what he loves to do to amuse Oberon. Puck
is in the middle of cataloguing his favorite
pranks when Oberon and Titania appear, each
with their train (more fairies, if you have extra
performers – or they can come in alone). The
fairies zoom to huddle behind their respective
masters.
Oberon icily demands the boy from Titania
again, and Titania refuses, telling the story of
the boy’s mother, who was a “votress” of her
order – devoted to Titania – and a friend. The
boy’s mother died, perhaps in childbirth, it’s
not clear, and Titania is raising the boy “for
her sake,” and will not give him up. The argument ends in a stalemate, and Titania sweeps
off with her fairies.
Oberon vows to get her back for “this injury,”
and comes up with a plan to squeeze love
juice from a magic flower on Titania’s eyes, so
that when she awakes, she will fall in love with
“the next live creature” she sees. While she is
distracted, he will take the boy.
He sends Puck to find the flower. Oberon
then overhears humans approaching. Invisible, he witnesses Helena chasing Demetrius,
who spurns her. Demetrius is looking for
Hermia, because Helena told him about her
running away. Helena hopes Demetrius will
change his mind and fall back in love with her,
but he doesn’t, and runs away to avoid her.
Feeling sorry for the human girl, Oberon decides to help her turn the tables on Demetrius.
When Puck returns with the flower, Oberon
takes it, but gives Puck “some of it” back,
and instructs his servant to find an Athenian
couple in the woods and put some of the juice
on the “disdainful youth,” who was so rude to
the lady, so that the man will wake up, see the
lady, and fall madly in love with her!
Oberon and Puck then split up to do their
“love juice” missions!
Of course, Puck doesn’t know that there is
another Athenian couple in the woods at that
very moment – Hermia and Lysander….!
Scene Four (Act 2, scene 2)
We shift to another part of the forest, Titania’s
resting place. The fairies sing a song to put
her to sleep for rest. Then Oberon sneaks up
and puts the juice on her eyes, and zooms off.
Just then, who should come crashing through
the woods but….
Lysander and Hermia!
They are lost, and exhausted. They lay down
to go to sleep.
THEN, here comes Puck, zooming through
the woods. He’s looking for those young
Athenians. He sees two young Athenians
– Lysander and Hermia – and thinks… “This
must be them! This must be the guy I’m supposed to hit with love juice!”
The only problem is… it’s the wrong guy! It’s
Lysander, not Demetrius!
entrance, Puck goes… POOF and changes
Nick’s head into a donkey’s head!
So, Puck puts the juice on Lysander’s eyes,
and zooms off.
When Bottom makes his re-appearance, his
friends are… terrified! They run through the
woods screaming as Puck pursues them, scaring them just for fun.
THEN….
Demetrius and Helena are back! She’s still
chasing him, he’s still being mean. Finally he
runs off again. Then Helena suddenly sees
Lysander on the ground. She runs to him
and… wakes him up! (Uh-oh….)
And he falls madly in love with… Helena!
Helena is shocked, of course. “What about
Hermia?” she asks. Lysander suddenly
HATES Hermia. Helena can’t believe it.
Then she thinks: “This must all be a mean
practical joke. He’s doing this as a cruel joke.”
She tells him off and runs away.
Lysander is relieved that Helena never saw
Hermia. He runs off after Helena, leaving her
asleep and alone in the woods.
Hermia suddenly wakes up – she’s having a
nightmare that a snake is attacking her while
Lysander just sits by and laughs. Then she
realizes… Lysander is gone! She’s terrified and
runs off calling his name in the darkness.
Scene Five (Act 3, scene 1)
This is the second meeting scene of the craftsmen. They too are now in the woods, meeting for their secret midnight rehearsal. They
work out ways to overcome some obstacles
they’re facing with attempting to do this play,
then begin to practice their first scene.
While they are working on the play, who
should zoom along but…. Puck! He notices
Bottom being really loud and dramatic in his
performance as Pyramus, and decides to have
some fun with these silly “mortals.” When
Nick Bottom goes behind a tree for his next
Now… Bottom has a donkey’s head… and
he feels just the same inside! He can’t figure
out why everyone ran away. So, he figures…
“This must be a joke they’re pulling on me!”
He decides to sing loudly to show he is not
afraid. Well, his singing is loud enough to
wake up…Titania!
Remember – she has the love juice on her
eyes, from Oberon. So she wakes up, sees this
singing man with a donkey’s head and… falls
madly in love!
Titania orders her fairies to bring Bottom to
her little nest, so they can rest and have some
snacks together. He has no idea what is happening, but it all seems fine to him, so he goes
along with Titania to her fairy world.
Scene six (Act 3, scene 2)
This is the longest, most action-packed scene
in the play.
It begins with Puck finding Oberon, and telling him what he’s been up to – he tells about
putting the love juice on the Athenian, and
about Titania falling in love with the “asshead” craftsman.
Suddenly, through the woods come…
Demetrius… chasing Hermia this time! He’s
found her, but she is looking for Lysander.
She accuses Demetrius of doing something
bad to him. He pleads with Hermia, asking
for love, saying he has not even seen Lysander
that night. Hermia runs off disgusted, looking for her boyfriend.
Demetrius, exhausted by now, collapses for
rest.
Oberon turns to Puck and says, in effect…
“This is the guy you were supposed to put
the juice on! You messed up!” Puck says, in
so many words, “Sorry, sorry! Hey, you said
to put the juice on a guy wearing Athenian
clothes, and this guy is wearing Athenian
clothes…!”
Oberon tells him to fix things by finding
Helena and leading her magically to this spot
in the woods. Oberon will put the juice on
Demetrius’s eyes while he sleeps, and then
they’ll get those two back together. So Puck
zooms off while Oberon juices Demetrius’s
eyes.
Puck returns, saying Helena is on the way.
And here Helena comes… with Lysander
chasing her, in love! Ooops! Wrong guy.
Then…
Demetrius wakes up… and boom, he is
madly in love with his old girlfriend! Now
both guys are now in love with Helena.
Helena is so confused, even though it’s kind of
fun to finally be the one that both guys want.
She is sure this is all a mean joke, and that
now Demetrius is joining in on it. Wasn’t he
mean to her just a few hours before? Meanwhile, the boys are about to fight over her.
Then, suddenly, in runs….Hermia! She has
found Lysander, and she’s so happy. She runs
up to him. He is as cold as ice. What’s going
on? Hermia is confused. Then Lysander says
he loves Helena now.
Hermia is shocked – then she thinks that
maybe Helena stole her boyfriend! So then
Helena thinks that Hermia must be in on the
joke! So now, the girls are fighting instead of
the boys! Hermia ends up charging at Helena,
with the boys playing “blockers” and protecting Helena from her best friend.
Finally, the boys run off to fight each other
for Helena’s love. Helena runs away from an
angry and confused Hermia, who stumbles off
by herself.
Oberon and Puck have been watching all this,
and Oberon decides it’s time to let the lovers
go back to normal – dawn is coming soon.
So he tells Puck to wear them all out without
letting them hurt each other, and then to
“un-juice” Lysander so he’s back in love with
Hermia. They decide to leave the juice on
Demetrius so each girl will have a boy, and
everything will be even.
So Puck does this, in his own inimitable fashion, and everyone sleeps in the woods until
sunrise….
Scene Seven (Act 4, scene 1)
This is a short scene, in which Bottom hangs
out with Titania and the fairies – whose
names are Peaseblossom, Mustardseed, Moth,
and Cobweb. He has a snack, then they all
fall asleep.
Oberon arrives with Puck and takes the juice
off of Titania’s eyes. She wakes up, back to
normal. She’s horrified that she was in love
with the ass-head man! Oberon tells Puck to
take the donkey’s head off of the “Athenian
swain.” So Bottom is left asleep, while the
fairies zoom off before sunrise….
Now, it’s morning, as the scene continues….
It’s the wedding morning of Duke Theseus
and Hippolyta. They are out hunting with
Egeus… remember him, Hermia’s dad? Suddenly they come across four young people
sleeping on the ground! It’s Hermia, Helena,
Lysander and Demetrius.
The Duke wakes them up, and confronts them
about Hermia’s choice. Suddenly Demetrius
tells everyone that he is back in love with
Helena, and happy now – my that his love to
Hermia is melted like snow.
The Duke is pleased, though Egeus is not!
The Duke invites the two couples to join him
that evening and make it a triple wedding! So
the young people follow him – but first, they
talk about the strange dreams they had the
night before…
Then… there is one sleeping person left.
Nick Bottom!
Bottom wakes up, still thinking he’s at the
midnight rehearsal. He looks around. Where
is everyone? He’s confused.
Then he remembers… Wow, I had a strange
dream last night!
He calls it a “most rare vision” and speaks
about how impossible it is to “explain” this
dream. “It shall be called ‘Bottom’s Dream,’
because it hath no bottom,” he concludes. He
decides to ask Peter Quince to make a ballad
of the dream. He runs off to find his friends
back in Athens.
Scene Eight (Act 4, scene 2)
This is a short scene in which Bottom is reunited with his craftsmen friends at Quince’s
house. They are all very excited to see him.
On the way to the house, Bottom somehow
has discovered that the Duke wants to consider their play for the wedding reception party!
So he tells them to all run off and get ready
for the performance.
Scene Nine (Act 5, scene 1)
This is the final scene of the play.
It begins with Theseus and Hippolyta discussing the strange dreams the four young
people keep talking about. Hippolyta thinks
there is something mysterious about how all
the dreams tell similar stories, but Theseus
thinks they are just from the imagination of
young lovers.
Then, in come the “young lovers,” and
Theseus decides it’s time for some entertainment. He asks for Philostrate, his “master of
revels (entertainment),” and asks for the list
of possible plays to see that night. Philostrate
tells him NOT to pick the craftsmen, because
he thinks they’re terrible! But Theseus thinks
they sound like guys trying their best, and
chooses “Pyramus and Thisbe” for their entertainment.
Then, the performance begins! Quince comes
out, nervous, and scrambles up his prepared
introduction speech. Then the performers
do a little “preview” of the whole story. Then
they act it out. Everyone has fun.
Then… it’s time to go to sleep.
Everyone says goodnight. And at the end…
the fairies emerge to bless the newly married
couples.
And finally, at the end… we have Puck,
sweeping the place, and saying goodbye to the
audience.
The end!