Key points
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a play written by William Shakespeare, an English playwright.
The play is a comedy as it contains humour and has a happy ending.
It has three main plot lines: the confused relationships among four lovers, a conflict between a fairy king and queen and a group of amateur actors rehearsing a play.
Video about the plot of A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Watch the following video to learn about the plot of A Midsummer Night’s Dream:
Did you know?
Audiences in Shakespeare’s time were likely to believe in . In English folklore, Puck, also known as Robin Goodfellow, is a fairy famous for playing practical jokes.
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Plot summary
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Main characters
Who are the main characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream?
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Hermia runs away with Lysander
The play is set in the Greek city of Athens. Everyone in the city is preparing for the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta.
Demetrius and Lysander are both in love with Hermia. Hermia loves Lysander, but her father insists that she marries Demetrius. If she does not marry the man her father chooses, she could be put to death or made to become a nun. Hermia and Lysander secretly run away to get married away from Athens.
Helena loves Demetrius, but he does not love her and wants to marry Hermia. To try and win his favour, Helena tells Demetrius that Hermia has run away with Lysander. Demetrius follows the couple into the woods. Helena follows Demetrius.
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The king and queen of the fairies fight over a little boy
Oberon and Titania both want of a little boy. Titania is refusing to give the little boy to Oberon. Oberon plans his revenge - he will use a love potion to make Titania fall in love with the first thing she sees. Oberon hopes she will fall in love with a bear, a bull or a monkey. Puck, Oberon’s servant, is sent to find the magic flower to make the love potion.
Who is the little boy Titania and Oberon are fighting over?
Video - staging the argument between Oberon and Titania
What is the role of a director in a play?
Watch the following video to learn more about how a director might stage the argument between Oberon and Titania in Act 1, scene 2.
Who is the director of the play the mechanicals are rehearsing?
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Puck muddles up the lovers and causes havoc with a love potion
Oberon watches the lovers argue in the woods and sees Demetrius cruelly rejecting Helena. Oberon tells Puck to put some love potion in Demetrius’ eyes so he will return Helena’s love.
Puck mixes up Demetrius and Lysander and accidently puts the love potion in Lysander’s eyes. When Lysander wakes, the first person he sees is Helena and he instantly falls in love with her. When Puck realises his mistake, he puts the potion in Demetrius’ eyes, and he falls in love with Helena too.
Now both men love Helena and neither of them love Hermia. Hermia is furious and blames Helena. Helena is confused and thinks the men are mocking her.
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Bottom gets the head of a donkey and Titania falls in love with him
Puck secretly watches the mechanicals rehearse their play and enjoys their silly behaviour. When one of the mechanicals, Nick Bottom, is separated from his friends, Puck transforms his human head into a donkey’s head.
His strange appearance frightens the other mechanicals and they run away. Puck then puts love potion in Titania’s eyes. She is woken by Bottom singing to himself, and when she sees him she instantly falls in love with him.
Who is Bottom?
Video - Rehearsing Titania pampering Bottom
Watch the following video about how a director might stage the scene in which Titania pampers Bottom.
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Oberon puts things right and wins the little boy from Titania
Oberon and Puck reverse the effects of the love potion on Titania, Demetrius and Lysander. Oberon puts all the lovers to sleep and when they wake everything is in order - Lysander loves Hermia and Demetrius loves Helena.
Titania gives up the little boy to Oberon and they are united once more. All the characters wake up and think they have had a strange dream.
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The lovers get married and Bottom’s friends perform a play
The united lovers, Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius and Helena, return to Athens and are married alongside Theseus and Hippolyta.
The mechanicals perform their play, which is meant to be a tragic love story about Pyramus and Thisbe. The guests find the play very amusing, and everyone laughs at the terrible acting and silly props.
Did you know?
Shakespeare often included references to acting and the theatre in the plots of his plays. It would have amused the audience to see a play being performed within a play. It also gave Shakespeare the chance to make jokes about acting and actors.
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The fairies bless the marriages
At the end of the play, everyone is happy and order is restored. Oberon and Titania bless all the married couples. Puck delivers the last lines of the play directly to the audience. He hopes the audience have enjoyed the play, but if not, he says that they can pretend it was all a dream.
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Activity - Put the events in order
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Test your knowledge
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Have fun playing science, maths, history, geography and language games
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