Summary Encountering Oberon in another part of the forest, Puck explains the outcome of his experiments with the love potion. Oberon is pleased to learn that Titania has fallen in love with the monstrous Bottom and that Puck has also fixed the disdainful Athenian. Just after Puck assures him that […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Act III: Scene 2Summary and Analysis Act III: Scene 1
Summary Comedy returns to the play in the opening of this scene. Peter Quince and his company are rehearsing their rendition of Pyramus and Thisbe. Bottom has serious reservations about the play: Pyramus kills himself with a sword, and the lion is frightening, both factors that are sure to terrify […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Act III: Scene 1Summary and Analysis Act II: Scene 2
Summary Titania’s fairies sing her a soothing lullaby as she prepares for sleep. While she rests, Oberon creeps up, squeezes the potion onto her eyelids and utters a spell to make her awaken when something vile is near. When Oberon leaves, Lysander and Hermia wander into Titania’s bower, but she […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Act II: Scene 2Summary and Analysis Act II: Scene 1
Summary This scene transports its viewers from Athens into the woods outside of the city, the dwelling place of Oberon, Titania, and their band of fairies. The scene begins with a conversation between Oberon’s mischievous elf Robin Goodfellow, also known as Puck, and one of Titania’s attendants. Puck warns her […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Act II: Scene 1Summary and Analysis Act I: Scene 2
Summary In this scene, the action shifts to the cottage of Peter Quince, the director of a band of amateur actors who are planning a play to perform for Theseus and Hippolyta’s wedding. The play enacts the tragic story of Pyramus and Thisbe, two young lovers who die during a […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Act I: Scene 2Summary and Analysis Act I: Scene 1
Summary This scene opens in Theseus’ palace in Athens. It is four days before his wedding to Hippolyta, the former queen of the Amazons, and Theseus is impatient with how slowly time is moving. Hippolyta assures him that the wedding day will soon arrive. As Theseus and Hippolyta plan their […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Act I: Scene 1Character List
Theseus Duke of Athens, who is marrying Hippolyta as the play begins. He decrees that Hermia must marry Demetrius or be sentenced either to death or to life in a convent. At the end of the play, he insists that all of the lovers marry along with him and Hipployta […]
Read more Character ListAbout A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Introduction A Midsummer Night’s Dream was written in a highly creative period in Shakespeare’s career, when he was moving away from the shallow plots that characterized his earlier drama and discovering his more mature style. Most critics believe the play was written for and performed at an aristocratic wedding, with […]
Read more About A Midsummer Night’s DreamPlay Summary
A Midsummer Night’s Dream opens with Theseus and Hippolyta planning their wedding, which takes place in four days. Theseus is upset because time is moving so slowly, but Hippolyta assures him the four days will quickly pass. Their relationship has not always been so loving. Theseus won Hippolyta during a […]
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