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In the woods outside Athens, on a midsummer night, four young lovers lose their way: Hermia and Lysander, who have fled her father's order that she marry…
In the woods outside Athens, on a midsummer night, four young lovers lose their way: Hermia and Lysander, who have fled her father's order that she marry Demetrius; Demetrius, chasing them; and Helena, chasing him. The fairy king Oberon, quarrelling with his queen Titania, sends the mischievous Puck for a flower whose juice makes the sleeper fall in love with the first creature he sees, and Puck anoints the wrong man. Meanwhile a group of Athenian workmen rehearse a clumsy play for the duke's wedding, and Titania wakes to adore the weaver Bottom, whose head Puck has turned into an ass's.
Context and significance
Written around 1595, the comedy has no single source and is one of Shakespeare's most performed plays, often staged outdoors; Mendelssohn's music for it includes the famous Wedding March. 'The course of true love never did run smooth', and 'Lord, what fools these mortals be!' come from it. This copy keeps the spelling of the First Folio. Its late companion in magic is The Tempest.
About the author
William Shakespeare (1564–1616), born in Stratford-upon-Avon, actor, playwright and shareholder of a London company, wrote about thirty-seven plays and 154 sonnets.