A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer-Night's Dream is a play by William Shakespeare and is one of his earlier comedies. It was written in approximately 1595. It is well known for its use of fairies.

Synopsis

The play opens with the approach of the wedding of Theseus, victorious Duke of Athens, and Hippolyta, subdued Queen of the Amazons. As the wedding approaches, a conflict arises. A courtier named Egeus wants to give his daughter, Hermia, to Demetrius. However, Hermia is in love with Lysander, a man who won her love. Egeus demands the right of fathers by Athenian law to offer her the choice of either marrying Demetrius, becoming a nun or suffering the death penalty. Although Lysander argues that he is better than Demetrius, because Demetrius won the heart of Helena and left her, Theseus sides with the Athenian Law. To escape the law, Lysander and Hermia agree to flee to the woods of Athens at night and travel far away. They tell Helena of her plans and Helena, who is still in love with Demetrius, decides to tell Demetrius, so she can follow him into the wood. Meanwhile, in preparation for the wedding, several craftsmen prepare to enact a tragic play, which they call the most lamentable comedy, and cruel death of Pyramus and Thysbe. The play is similar in plot to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The would-be-actors agree to rehearse in the forest.

In the forest, we are introduced to the fairies and sprites, most notably Puck the mischievous sprite. There is a conflict between the fairy King and Queen, Oberon and Titania, over a changling boy. Titania knew the boy's mother and in duty raises the child, but Oberon wants the child for his train. When she refuses to submit to him, Oberon decides to resort to magic to take the boy by force. He sends Puck to fetch a magic flower that causes whoever is anointed in the eyes to fall in love with whatever living creature it sees next. Oberon intends to make Titania fall in love with some monster and take advantage of her. While he waits for Puck, angry Demetrius and doting Helena pass him. Oberon then decides to send Puck to anoint Demetrius' eyes with the juice. Oberon anoints Titania, but Puck mistakes a sleeping Lysander for Demetrius and anoints him by mistake. Helena accidentally wakes up Lysander and he falls head-over-heels in love with her. Helena flees him thinking he is mocking her.

Meanwhile, the craftsmen of Athens practice near the bed of Titania. The actor playing Pyramus, Nick Bottom, retires into a thicket and Puck decides to transform his head into the head of a donkey! The other craftsman quickly run away, but Titania wakes to hear him sing and falls in love with him. Oberon is pleased and uses the opportunity to take the boy from Titania. However, when he finds Demetrius chasing Hermia, he is angry at Puck. Oberon anoints Demetrius' eyes and very soon Demetrius and Lysander abandon Hermia for Helena. The lovers quarrel over their situation. Demetrius and Lysander very nearly duel, but Oberon tells Puck to create a fog and separate the lovers from each other. Puck then anoints Lysander's eyes with an herb that removes the spell of love and restores him to Hermia's love.

Oberon also undoes the spell on Titania and Puck removes Nick Bottom's head. Titania wakes to be again in love with Oberon. The fairies depart with the light of day. Theseus and Hippolyta find the lovers asleep on the ground and all agreed. Since Demetrius no longer wishes for Hermia, the couples are free to the monarchs and wed alongside them. After the wedding, the craftsman, including a restored Nick Bottom, perform comically before the wedded couples. After the performance, when the couples go to bed, the fairies dance through the castle. The play closes when Puck reminds the audience that if anyone was offended, they can simply dispel the plot as nothing more than a dream.

References

External Links

Open Source Shakespeare - A Midsummer-Night's Dream