In scene two, we are taken into the town of Athens were several men have gathered together to get their parts for a play they will be putting on for Theseus and Hippolyta. There is Bottom the weaver, Quince the carpenter, Snug the joiner, Flute the bellow mender, Snout the tinker and Starveling the tailor. Quince is in charge of giving out the parts to everyone. He makes sure everyone is there so they can get their parts they will play. Bottom gets the part of Pyramus, a character in love with Thisbe; Flute gets the role of Thisbe, a female part and Pyramus’ love. Starveling will play Thisbe’s mother, also another female part. Snout will play Pyramus’ father and Quince will play Thisbe’s father. Snug gets the role of the lion which he is not too happy about. Bottom wants to play all these parts but is rejected because they only want him to play the one. This cannot be a one man play. After all the parts are given, they plan on meeting out in the woods that night so they can rehearse the play.
Act Two
We are taken to the woods outside of Athens where the fairies live in seclusion. There is Oberon, the king of fairies and Titania, queen of other fairies. There is puck that is at Oberon’s side. Oberon and Titania are talking about how he helped Theseus and Hippolyta fall in love with one another. Oberon and Titania do not seem to get along very well from the way they talk to one another. Titania is only there for a short time until Theseus and Hippolyta are married. She may just stick around for a while longer. She leaves with her train behind her and only Puck and Oberon are left. Oberon asks Puck to go find a flower that makes people fall in love with the very first person they see. Oberon plans on dropping some drops in Titania’s eyes so she will fall in love with the very first thing she sees. He then plans on doing it again to make her fall in love with him. Demetrius and Helena are walking through the woods and Oberon see’s them. Helena is following Demetrius but he is not too happy about it. He is looking for Lysander and Hermia to stop them from running off together. Demetrius just wants Helena to leave him alone because he has no interest in her at all. Puck comes back with the flower and gives it to Oberon and he then puts some drops on Titania’s eyes. Oberon then asks Puck to put some of the love juice on Demetrius’ eyes so he will fall in love with Helena.
Scene two we are in the woods with Titania and her fairies. They are singing to her so she can go to sleep. Lysander and Hermia are in the woods and run into each other. Hermia wants to rest but does not want Lysander to lie near her. As they sleep, Puck comes and puts the love juice on Lysander’s eyes so when he wakes and see’s someone, he will fall in love with them. Puck was supposed to do this to Demetrius but got them mixed up. Lysander awakes to see Helena over him and he is instantly in love with her. Helena has no idea why all of a sudden he has interest in her but does not like it. Helena tells Lysander that w
He loves Hermia and not her but he says he does not lover her so. Hermia awakes and does not see Lysander anywhere and wonders why he left.
Act 3
Scene one is where all the players for the play have met up to rehearse. They are talking about leaving out the killing of the play because they ladies will not like it too much and also the lion because of its roar. They want to bring the moonlight in so it will be realistic so they look at a calendar to see if there will be a moon out the night of the play. It does shine that night and they are happy about this. They are saying their parts and preparing when puck, one of the fairies comes along and sees Bottom acting and chooses to turn his head into an ass head. All the other players see this and run off. Bottom does not understand why they ran until he sees what has happened to him. Titania awakes to see Bottom with the ass head and falls in love with him. Titania’s fairies are all there and Titania asks them to be kind and serve him.
Scene 2 we are back in the woods where Oberon and Puck meet. Puck tells Oberon about Titania’s love and how he gave a mortal an ass head. Demetrius and Hermia walk by and the fairies watch what is going on. Oberon then notices that Puck used the love juice on the wrong man and now things are not right. Puck put the love juice on Lysander and not Demetrius. Hermia and Demetrius are talking and Hermia fears that she has killed Lysander. Hermia then thinks that Demetrius has done something to Lysander but he has not done anything. Hermia goes on looking for Lysander and Demetrius lays down to rest. Oberon is upset that Puck has made a mistake and used the love juice on someone who is already in love. Puck goes off to find Lysander while Oberon applies the juice to Demetrius’ eyes. Lysander and Helena run into Demetrius while he sleeps. He then wakes and sees Helena and falls in love with her. She now has Lysander and Demetrius in love with her. Hermia comes along and is now with the tree of them. She is hurt that neither one of the men loves her anymore and especially Lysander. They all argue and fight and belittle Hermia. Lysander and Demetrius are ready to battle for Helena’s love. They both leave. Hermia and Helena also leave. Oberon tells Puck that this is negligence that has happened. Oberon tells Puck that the two men are looking for a place to battle for the love of Helena. Everyone is then put back to sleep so Puck can undo what he had done to Lysander and Demetrius.
Act 4
Titania and Bottom are together and the fairies are around making music. Titania and Bottom then fall asleep and the other fairies leave. Oberon and Puck appear in front of them and Oberon squeezes the love juice onto Titania’s eyes. She wakes up and sees Oberon and falls in love with him. Puck then removes the ass head off of Bottom while he still sleeps. Theseus, Hippolyta and Egeus are out when they see Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius and Helena all sleeping. They all wake up to see Theseus and the others standing there. Egeus, Hermia's father, wants Lysander to be punished for him being with Hermia. Lysander tells them of the plan to run away from Athens and start a new life together without the Athenian law. Demetrius then tells them all of what he was doing out in the woods. How he was looking for Hermia and Lysander and how Helena was following him. He then tells them that he no longer loves Hermia and that he loves Helena now. It is like his love for Hermia just melted like the snow. Theseus invited the couples to be married at the same time as him and Hippolyta will be. Theseus, Hippolyta, and Egeus all leave and head back. Demetrius, Helena, Lysander and Hermia all follow after. Bottom, in another part of the woods, begins to wake up. He has no clue as to how he ended up there and alone but he is now ready to go back into Athens and begin the play.
Scene two is of all the cast that will be in the play. They are wondering where Bottom is. They then see that there are more two more couples with Theseus and Hippolyta and are really nervous. Bottom finally shows up and they are all excited. They are ready to put on the play for the newly married couples.
Act 5
At the palace of Theseus, Hippolyta, Demetrius, Helena, Lysander and Hermia are preparing to watch the play. Quince enters and gives the prologue. The play begins and everyone is watching it and talking about what is happening. At the end of the play, Bottom wants to give an epilogue but Theseus insists that one is not needed since all the players are dead. It is now time for all the lovers to head to bed. They all leave and go into their rooms for the night to be with one another. The fairies come and over see each couple and bless the palace where they are. The sing and dance and bring peace over each room and couple.
Puck then turns to the audience at the end and begins saying the final lines of the play. He hopes that they play did not offend anyone and if so, it was not meant to.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a very well written play. It is a comedy about lovers who fall in love and how sometimes it can be hard for a parent to understand that they love someone that they do not approve of. Then you have fairies that come in and make a mistake and have two men in love with one woman and make a mess of things. But it is cleared up and everything goes back to normal. In the end we learn that love conquers all.