Four days before the wedding of Duke Theseus and Queen Hippolyta, Hermia stands in Athens facing a choice that could end her life. Her father Egeus demands she marry Demetrius, but she loves another man named Lysander instead. The ancient Athenian law allows a daughter to obey her father or face death, yet Theseus offers a third option: lifelong chastity as a nun worshipping Diana. Both lovers deny this choice and make a secret plan to escape into the forest for Lysander's aunt's house. They flee from the city under the cover of night, leaving behind the rigid order of Athens.
Helena, Hermia's best friend who pines unrequitedly for Demetrius, tells him about their plan. Desperate to reclaim Demetrius's love, Helena follows them into the woods hoping to win his affection. Meanwhile, six amateur actors rehearse a play called Pyramus and Thisbe near Titania's bower. Peter Quince directs the group while Nick Bottom, a weaver playing Pyramus, suggests himself for multiple roles including the Lion and Thisbe. When Puck transforms Bottom's head into that of a donkey, the other workmen run screaming in terror claiming they are haunted.
Titania wakes from sleep after receiving a magical juice applied by Oberon to her eyelids. She immediately falls in love with an ass, lavishing attention on Bottom and his fairies. While she is in this state of devotion, Oberon takes the changeling boy away from her. The four Athenian lovers find themselves lost in the glade, confused by sudden shifts in affection caused by the flower's power. Lysander wakes to find he loves Helena instead of Hermia, while Demetrius also falls for Helena upon waking. Both men now pursue Helena, who believes they mock her cruelly.
Sources And Composition
A Midsummer Night's Dream was written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The exact date remains unknown but topical references suggest composition during the late Elizabethan period. Some scholars theorize the play might have been written for an aristocratic wedding such as that of Thomas Berkeley and Elizabeth Carey. Others suggest it was composed to celebrate Queen Elizabeth's feast day of St. John though no evidence supports either theory.
The text entered the Register of the Stationers' Company on the 8th of October 1600 by bookseller Thomas Fisher who published the first quarto edition later that year. A second quarto appeared in 1619 printed by William Jaggard as part of his False Folio collection. The play next appeared in print within the First Folio of 1623. According to Sukanta Chaudhuri editor of the 2017 Arden edition the only firm evidence for the date is its mention in Francis Meres's Palladis Tamia which appeared in 1598.
Various sources inspired Shakespeare including Ovid's Metamorphoses and Chaucer's The Knight's Tale. Aristophanes classical Greek comedy The Birds has also been proposed due to similarities between Procne and Titania being awakened by male characters with animal heads singing about birds. John Twyning suggests the plot of four lovers undergoing a trial in the woods was intended as a riff on Der Busant a Middle High German poem. Dorothea Kehler places the writing period between 1594 and 1596 indicating Shakespeare had likely completed Romeo and Juliet while contemplating The Merchant of Venice.