A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. Written approximately 1595–1596. Studied at KS3 and GCSE.
The play interweaves three groups of characters: the Athenian lovers (Hermia, Lysander, Helena and Demetrius), the fairy world (Oberon, Titania and Puck), and the mechanicals (Bottom and his friends rehearsing a play for the Duke's wedding).
Hermia loves Lysander but her father Egeus wants her to marry Demetrius. Helena loves Demetrius, who loves Hermia. The four lovers flee into the forest. Oberon, the fairy king, orders Puck to use a love potion on Demetrius to make him love Helena — but Puck puts it on Lysander by mistake. Both men end up pursuing Helena, who thinks they are mocking her.
Oberon quarrels with Titania over a changeling boy. He puts the love potion on her while she sleeps. The first thing she sees on waking is Bottom — the weaver who has been given a donkey's head by Puck — and she falls in love with him. When Oberon has what he wants (the boy), he removes the spell from Titania and restores Bottom. Puck puts the lovers right too.
The four lovers are paired correctly. Titania and Oberon are reconciled. The mechanicals perform their play (Pyramus and Thisbe) for the wedding of Duke Theseus and Hippolyta — and it is hilariously bad. Puck closes the play with a direct address to the audience.
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