A Midsummer Night's Dream abbreviated

Synopsis


Theseus, the Duke of Athens, preoccupied with near term plans to marry Hippolyta, is the go-to political leader in Athens. As the play opens, Theseus is approached by an angry Egeus, a father seriously upset with his daughter Hermia, who wants to marry Lysander, a ne’er-do-well in her father’s eyes. Egeus says Lysander has had the audacity to “give her rhymes and interchange love tokens with my child, and stol’n her fantasy with bracelets, rings and other trifles.” Egeus wants her to marry Demetrius, who has only of late shown an interest in eye-catching Hermia. (Chauvinism, Act 1, Scene 1) Helena, Hermia’s close friend from childhood, says she and Demetrius are engaged to be married, but Demetrius claims that when he first saw Hermia he broke his engagement to Helena, but Hermia’s prosperous and well-connected father’s thoughts on the matter may have played a role. This explosive episode leaves Helena feeling terribly deceived and betrayed by Demetrius, and by Hermia as well, feeling she must have had something to do with how this terrible turn of events came to be. Understanding why Egeus believes Demetrius would make the more worthy husband remains a mystery. But amidst all the verbal sparing and emotional wounds inflicted, there is the sense that Hermia and Lysander are very much in love.

To escape the interference in their personal lives, Lysander and Hermia make plans to elope the next night; to leave through the woods and go to his aunt’s house, near Athens, where they can be married. Being sympathetic to Helena’s dilemma, well-meaning and sensitive Hermia tells her of their plans. (Envy, Act 1, Scene 1) Defying Hermia’s confidence, Helena lets Demetrius in on the secret, feeling certain he will pursue them, which he does. Keeping track of Demetrius, Helena follows him into the woods as he chases after Hermia and Lysander; she begging his attention and seeking reconciliation. (Spurned, Act 2, Scene 1)

Meanwhile, separately, deep in the woods, Oberon, the king of the fairies, is jealous of Titania, his queen, for showing interest in an “Indian boy.” Seriously, this is how the story goes. Upset as he is with his queen, Oberon instructs his aide, Robin Goodfellow, also known as Puck, to secure the flower, the pansy, with the magic “juice,” the flower Cupid’s arrow struck when his arrow missed its mark; Cupid intending to “pierce a hundred thousand hearts.” (Fantasy, Act 2, Scene 1) As the story goes, when the “nectar” is placed on one’s eyelids, it causes the person when wakened to instantly fall in love with the creature he or she first sees. Oberon plans to place the pansy’s magic nectar on Titania’s eyelids, and asks Robin to place some of the nectar on Demetrius’ eyelids; romantic Oberon wanting things to work out between Helena and Demetrius. Oberon tells Robin that “Thou shalt know the man by the Athenian garments he hath on,” a line that leads to a mistake, as might be expected.

Meanwhile, Lysander, Hermia, Demetrius and Helena, traipsing through the woods, sometimes together, sometimes alone, become exhausted, lie down independently and fall asleep. As planned, Oberon places the magic nectar on Titania’s eyelids, knowing she sleeps where “the wild thyme blows, where oxlips and the nodding violet grows.” But Robin mistakenly applies the nectar to Lysander’s eyelids, rather than Demetrius’, Oberon’s instructions being less than clear. Lysander wakens, sees Helena, and excessively declares his love for her. (Love, Act 2, Scene 2) Helena, thinking he is playing a trick on her, angrily says “fare you well” and exits. Lysander sees Hermia asleep and says to himself “Hermia, sleep thou there, and never mayst thou come Lysander near.” Hermia then wakens, alone in the woods and frightened.

Separately a group of tradesmen from Athens have come to the woods to practice the play-skit, Pyramus and Thisbe; a mini-play they plan to perform at the reception following the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta. Robin, puckishly, observing the men practicing their skit, believes Bottom, the weaver, is terribly inept as an actor and converts his head to that of a jackass. Titania wakens, having been asleep where “oxlips and the nodding violet grows,” near where the tradesmen were practicing their mini-play, and immediately falls for the very odd looking Bottom. (Fantasy, Act 3, Scene 1) Bottom loves the attention he receives from Titania and her fairy aides. It takes a willing imagination to stay with this.

Separately, Hermia and Demetrius find themselves together in the woods and she angrily accuses him of slaying Lysander. She exits. (Anger, Act 3, Scene 2.1) Unperturbed Demetrius falls asleep. Oberon and Robin observed the angry outburst from Hermia to Demetrius and Oberon firmly says: “This is the same Athenian.” Robin responds “This is the woman, but not this the man.” Realizing their error, Oberon instructs Robin to apply the nectar to Demetrius’ eyelids, which he does. Helena and Lysander enter. Demetrius wakens, sees Helena and promptly tells her how much he loves her. (Anger, Act 3, Scene 2.2) Angrily, Helena tells Lysander and Demetrius to stop this play-acting. In frustration, Helena blames Hermia for stealing Demetrius from her. (Anger, Act 3, Scene 2.3) (Anger, Act 3, Scene 2.4) Feeling scorned, Hermia lashes out at Lysander. The women then take it out on each other. (Anger, Act 3, Scene 2.5) All exit separately. Overhearing the turmoil, calm and steady Oberon instructs Robin to cause a heavy fog to roll into the woods and to apply the nectar to Lysander’s eyelids, which he does. (Fantasy, Act 3, Scene 2) All four of them fall asleep; none knowing the others are nearby, being fogged-in. The play then shifts to Bottom who wakens and declares what a wonderful midsummer night’s dream he’s had. (Fantasy, Act 4, Scene 1) Later, Oberon instructs Robin to remove the jackass head from Bottom, and he does. Oberon places the nectar for a second time on a sleeping Titania’s eyelids. She wakens and sees Oberon. She’s in love. They hold hands and dance, Oberon saying “Come, my queen, take hands with me, and rock the ground whereon these sleepers be.”

At dawn, Theseus, Hippolyta and Egeus enter the woods and waken the four lovers. When Lysander awakens he sees Hermia and lets her know how much he loves her. Demetrius reaffirms his love for Helena. Listening to these declarations, Theseus, deferring to Egeus, asks if it’s okay with everybody, he’d like to have the two couples join Hippolyta and him for a common wedding ceremony in Athens. All agree. The triple ceremony comes off as planned. (Joy, Act 5, Scene 1) All three couples have an absolutely fabulous time at their reception, enjoying each other’s company and the performance of the tragedy, Pyramus and Thisbe, a skit that comes off as a silly farcical comedy, presented by the tradesmen, the wonderful amateur actors.


Principal Characters


Hermia.
Hermia is Egeus’ daughter, Lysander’s girlfriend, and a central figure in the “magic potion” issue that disrupts (and reinforces) relations among the players throughout the comedy. She later is described by Helena as being “little and dwarfish.” But concerning her beauty, Helena wishes “that fault were mine.”

Lysander.
Lysander is Hermia’s boyfriend, but rejected as an unsatisfactory suitor by her father, Egeus. Egeus describes him as the man who has “bewitched his child with rhymes, love tokens, songs, rings and trifles that have filched his daughter’s heart.” His role is limited, other than as a boyfriend.

Helena.
Helena has been Hermia’s close friend since they were schoolmates. Of Hermia she says, “We grew together as two lovely berries molded on one stem.” Their relationship is tested by the boyfriends and the magic potion. At one point she asks Hermia, “have you come by night and stol’n my love’s heart from him?’ She and Demetrius were engaged until he, seeing Hermia, broke it off.

Demetrius.
Demetrius is the “noble lord,” who Hermia’s father says “hath my consent to marry her.” “Demetrius is a worthy gentleman,” he says. Hermia’s reply is, “So is Lysander.” Little is known of Demetrius as a person, except that he fell for Hermia at first sight. He is a principal player, subjected to Oberon’s magic nectar, Oberon being sympathetic to Helena’s cause.

Oberon.
Oberon is King of the Fairies. He has his aide, Robin, retrieve that “skewed flower” struck by cupid’s “bolt,” the “juice of it on sleeping eyelids laid will make one madly dote upon the next live creature that it sees.” This is a central theme of the comedy. He has great talents and is a well-meaning guy.

Titania.
Titania is the Queen of the Fairies, who has an off-and-on relationship with Oberon. Oberon becomes jealous of her infatuation with “a boy stolen from an Indian king.” Oberon wins her back with the nectar from the flower “maidens call love-in-idleness.”

Bottom.
Bottom is one of the tradesmen from Athens who come into the woods to practice the play they plan to present during the reception following the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta, who is the Duke of Athens; Hippolyta being his fiancée. Bottom is subject to Puck’s tricks, having his head converted to one of a jackass, and then romanced by Titania and her “attending fairies.”

Robin Goodfellow
Robin Goodfellow, also known as Puck, is Oberon’s aide. Robin calls himself the “merry wanderer of the night.” He’s a sprite or an elf. He’s a great guy and has beautiful comments to make at the end of the play.

 A portrait of William Shakespeare