
*Theseus (the Duke of Athens) announces he will marry Hippolyta, the queen of the Amazons
*Egeus complaint that his daughter Hermia refuses to marry his chosen suitor, Demetrius, since
she's in love with Lysander, who Egeus dislikes
*Theseus declares Hermia must marry Demetrius, or choose between death or joining a
nunnery
*Lysander and Hermia flee to the forest
*Helena know this and decides to inform Demetrius, whom she likes -who loves Hermia- hopes
that Demetrius will back to her
*Quince, Bottom, Flute, Starveling, Snug, and Snout organize a play to be performed at Theseus'
wedding
*In the forest, Oberon (the King of the Fairies) argues with Titania (the Fairy Queen) that he
should have her orphan child as his page
*Oberon orders the fairy Puck (aka Robin Goodfellow) to obtain a flower from Cupid that causes
on to love the first person a person sees
*Oberon plans to give it to Titania, so she'll love a vile thing and give him the child
*Demetrius and Helena appear,querelling
*Puck arrives with the flower, and Oberon orders Puck to anoint Demetrius with it so he'll love
Helena rather than Hermia
*Oberon then anoints Titania with the flower
*In the forest, Lysander and Hermia lie down to rest
*Puck, thinking Lysander is Demetrius, anoints him with the flower
*Helena appears and awakes Lysander, who immediately falls in love with her
*In the forest, the troupe of players discuss the logistics of their play
*Puck appears and transforms Bottom to have an ass' (donkey's) head
*Puck observes that Demetrius chases Hermia, yet she accuses him of murdering Lysander
*Puck realizes he gave the flower to the wrong man
*Oberon tries to remedy this by anointing Lysander with the flower so he'll fall in love with
Helena, and he does
*However, now both men love Helena, while she believes both are false
*Hermia arrives and Helena accuses her of conspiring with the men to tease her
* Oberon orders Puck to make a thick fog to separate the four people and force them into a deep
sleep, so the spell can wear off.
*Oberon awakes Titania and transforms Bottom back to a human
*In the woods, Theseus, Hippolyta, and Egeus appear and awake the four
* Demetrius and Lysander inform the men of their love for Helena and Hermia (respectively)
*The lords agree to let them marry