A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

BACKGROUND

Shakespeare lived from 1564 – 1616. He wrote many plays and a bunch of poetry. The plays fall into three categories – histories, tragedies, and comedies (even though some of the plays are a combination of funny and unfunny, known as tragicomedies). One of Shakespeare’s comedies, "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" uses magic, mistaken identities, and mystical creatures to tell a story about love. The title refers to "Midsummer day" and "Midsummer night" (on June 23rd and 24th), close to the summer solstice (the longest day of the year, in terms of sunlight). On that day, there were feasts and ceremonies, and people believed that a bunch of supernatural creatures, like fairies, roamed around.

MAIN CHARACTERS

Theseus: He is the Duke of Athens. He is a powerful dude. He is about to marry Hippolyta.

Hippolyta: She is Queen of the Amazons. She’s kind of a tomboy, because she actually fought in some battles. She’s about to marry Theseus.

Egeus: Hermia’s dad. He’s kind of a jerk because he tells his daughter what to do all the time. He wants her to marry Demetrius.

Hermia: Egeus’ daughter. She really loves Lysander. Hermia is a small chick but with lots of personality. She’s a real pistol.

Lysander: He’s this dude that is in love with Hermia. Their love is forbidden, so they have to elope. He’s a good guy.

Demetrius: He is the guy that is supposed to marry Hermia. He has Hermia’s friend, Helena, chasing after him, but he doesn’t like Helena. He likes Hermia.

Helena: She is Hermia’s friend. Helena loves Demetrius, but Demetrius won’t give her the time of day.

Oberon: King of the fairies. He is a magical fairy with magical powers and quite a temper.

Titania: Queen of the Fairies. She’s a cool chick. She’s really pretty and very nice.

Puck: Puck is a bit of a comedian. He loves to play jokes on people. He’s a fairy, too, and uses his magic to play jokes on people. He’s a carefree guy.

Nick Bottom: :He’s one of the actors in the play that is performed during the wedding. He has a huge ego.

PLOT

This story takes place in Athens. Theseus and Hippolyta are about to get married. They plan on having this big wedding. Then this rich guy, Egeus, has a problem with his daughter (Hermia) and brings her to the duke so he can solve the problem. Egeus’ daughter loves this guy, Lysander, who Egeus hates. Egeus wants his daughter to marry Demetrius but Hermia hates Demetrius. But Demetrius likes Hermia’s friend. Confused?

Since Hermia isn’t listening to her dad, he wants Theseus to do something about it. Theseus tells Hermia that she has to marry Demetrius, or else she will be killed. It’s the law. Her only way to get out of it is to become a priestess, which means she can’t have sex. Hermia and Lysander decide to run away and elope. They first plan to meet in the forest the next night. Helena helps her get out of town. Helena is in love with Demetrius, the guy who Hermia is supposed to marry. Helena tells Demetrius about Hermia running away. Then Demetrius is pissed. He goes to try and stop them from getting married. Meanwhile, back at Theseus and Hippolyta’s wedding, some people get ready to put on a play as part of the big wedding party. They plan to rehearse the next night in the forest.

This night when the actors are going to rehearse in the forest and when Hermia and Lysander are gonna meet to elope is called Midsummer’s Eve, a sort of magical night.. In the forest, there are these that are magical mystical creatures... like Tinkerbell. Oberon is King of the fairies and Titania is Queen. This one fairy named Puck (like the guy from the Real World) likes to play jokes on humans. So he puts some magic dust stuff on Lysander so that when he wakes up, he’ll be in love with the first thing he sees. Unfortunately, the first person he sees is Helena (Hermia’s friend). So he dumps Hermia and hooks up with Helena. Then the fairies see the actors rehearsing that play. Puck sees one of the actors, named Bottom. He does some magic and turns his head into a donkey’s head. Then he puts some magic dust on Titania so that the first person she sees she will fall in love with. But the first person she sees is Bottom (donkeyface). Oberon gets mad at Puck and makes him reverse all the magic. So Lysander and Hermia are back in love and now Demetrius and Helena are in love. Theseus finds out and says that he wants the couples married in one big ceremony along with his wedding. So they have this huge wedding, and the play is performed.

ACT BY ACT/SCENE BY SCENE

ACT 1

SCENE 1

SCENE 2

ACT 2

SCENE 1

SCENE 2

ACT 3

SCENE 1

SCENE 2

ACT 4

SCENE 1

SCENE 2

ACT 5

SCENE 1

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