A fairy feud wrecks four weddings, one donkey head, and all of nature.
Who drives the story
A short, defiant Athenian heiress who would rather die or take nun's vows than marry the man her father chose. She elopes with Lysander, loses him overnight to a flower's juice, and nearly brawls with her best friend before the spells are undone.
Hermia's devoted suitor, author of the line that true love never runs smooth. One drop of love-juice on the wrong eyelids turns him into Helena's ardent pursuer until the antidote restores him.
Demetrius's jilted fiancée, tall and self-loathing, who betrays Hermia's elopement to win him back and follows him into the wood calling herself his spaniel. Two enchanted suitors and one insulted friend convince her the whole world mocks her.
Egeus's chosen son-in-law, cruel to Helena until Oberon's juice rewrites his heart. He is the only lover whose spell is never removed, and he likes the result.
A weaver with boundless confidence who wants every part in the play and gets an ass's head instead. The enchanted Titania dotes on him; he alone keeps his composure, orders fairies around, and wakes unsure whether his night was a dream.
The carpenter who directs the workmen's Pyramus and Thisbe, assigns the roles, and tries in vain to rein in Bottom. He mourns his lost lead actor, then stages the worst play ever performed at a royal wedding.
The fairy king, jealous over a changeling boy and vengeful toward his wife. He weaponizes love-juice to get the child, fixes Puck's mistake, and ends the night blessing mortal marriages.
The fairy queen who refuses to surrender the orphaned Indian boy her dead vot'ress left her. Her quarrel with Oberon rots the seasons; her enchanted night with Bottom costs her the boy and wins her peace.
Oberon's mischievous jester, also called Robin Goodfellow. He anoints the wrong Athenian, gives a weaver a donkey's head, mimics voices in the fog, and closes the play asking the audience for applause.
Duke of Athens, marrying the Amazon queen he conquered. He enforces the law against Hermia, then mercifully overrules it, and delivers the famous speech on lunatics, lovers, and poets.
Queen of the Amazons, won by Theseus in battle, counting the days to a wedding she did not choose. She objects that Pyramus and Thisbe is a silly tale, and sits through it anyway.
Hermia's father, who demands her marriage to Demetrius on pain of death. His authority is overridden by the Duke at the end, and he gets no say in the happy ending.
How they are connected
She elopes with Lysander, loses him overnight to a flower's juice, and nearly brawls with her best friend before the spells are undone.
One drop of love-juice on the wrong eyelids turns him into Helena's ardent pursuer until the antidote restores him.
Demetrius's jilted fiancée, tall and self-loathing, who betrays Hermia's elopement to win him back and follows him into the wood calling herself his spaniel.
Demetrius's jilted fiancée, tall and self-loathing, who betrays Hermia's elopement to win him back and follows him into the wood calling herself his spaniel.
Egeus's chosen son-in-law, cruel to Helena until Oberon's juice rewrites his heart.
Egeus's chosen son-in-law, cruel to Helena until Oberon's juice rewrites his heart.
The enchanted Titania dotes on him; he alone keeps his composure, orders fairies around, and wakes unsure whether his night was a dream.
The carpenter who directs the workmen's Pyramus and Thisbe, assigns the roles, and tries in vain to rein in Bottom.
He weaponizes love-juice to get the child, fixes Puck's mistake, and ends the night blessing mortal marriages.
Her quarrel with Oberon rots the seasons; her enchanted night with Bottom costs her the boy and wins her peace.
He enforces the law against Hermia, then mercifully overrules it, and delivers the famous speech on lunatics, lovers, and poets.
Queen of the Amazons, won by Theseus in battle, counting the days to a wedding she did not choose.
Go deeper
Love as madness · Law versus desire · Nature out of joint · Theater about theater
Themes explainedThe full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.
Open the summary