A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a five-act comedy written by William Shakespeare in 1595–1596. The story is set in Athens and also takes place in a forest.
The play begins with the Duke of Athens, Theseus, who is discussing his future wedding with his fiance, Hippolyta. He is interrupted by an angry nobleman, Egeus. He is outraged that his daughter, Hermia, refuses to marry Demetrius as she is in love with another man called Lysander. She is told that she must either marry her father’s choice or face the consequences. Lysander and Hermia decide to elope that night and set out for the forest.
Hermia’s friend Helena is in love with Demetrius but he does not reciprocate her feelings. Helena tells him that Hermia and Lysander plan to elope in the hope that this will make him fall in love with her. Demetrius sets off to the forest to stop the lovers and Helena follows.
Meanwhile, a group of tradesmen are planning to perform a play during the Duke’s wedding and are rehearsing the play in the same forest.
In another location in the forest, Oberon, the fairy king, jealously argues with Titania, his queen, over a little boy that Titania has taken into her care. In his anger, he orders his servant Puck to find an enchanted flower and plans to squeeze the juice of the flower into Titania's eyes when she is sleeping so that she falls in love with the first thing she sees when she wakes up.
Oberon also witnesses Demetrius arguing with Helena and so orders Puck to use the magic plant on Demetrius's eyes to make him fall in love with Helena. However, Puck mistakenly puts the liquid on Lysander’s eyes; he promptly rejects Hermia and falls madly in love with Helena. Puck also transforms Bottom’s head into a donkey’s and Titania wakes up and falls in love with him.
Confusion ensues as Lysander and Demetrius are both chasing Helena, who thinks they are mocking her. Hermia is hurt and confused and becomes angry at Helena.
Eventually, Oberon’s anger dissipates and he lifts the enchantment and helps Puck fix his mistakes. After getting lost in the woods separately, the four young lovers fall asleep. Titania reconciles with Oberon. The Duke and Hippolyta are hunting in the woods and find the four Athenians asleep. Upon waking, they do not remember very much of the night before but Lysander loves Hermia and Demetrius loves Helena. The Duke takes pity on them and agrees that they should all marry. Bottom and the Mechanicals perform their play in front of the Duke and the couples
The fairies visit the couples as they sleep and bless their unions. The play then ends with Puck, who asks the audience to think of the play as merely a dream and to applaud if they enjoyed the performance.