A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

     What if you were dreaming a beautiful dream and upon waking up found that you are transported to another world? A midsummer Night’s Dream is one of the most popular and the most performed plays.

     Duke Theseus and Hippolyta the Amazon queen were planning their wedding, which would take place in four days. However, there were other events connected with this wedding that took place simultaneously.

     Hermia, daughter of Egeus was in love with Lysander, but her father wanted her to marry Demetrius. He declared that if Hermia would not marry Demetrius, she would die. Lysander and Hermia, therefore, decided to escape to Athens. Helena, Hermia’s best friend, was in love with Demetrius. In a last effort to gain Demetrius’ love, Helena decided to tell him of their plan of elopement.

     In the meantime, Peter Quince, a carpenter, was directing group of amateur actors to perform “Pyramus and This-be” for Theseus’ wedding. Nick Bottom, a terrible actor, was given the lead role.

     In a parallel plot, Oberon, the king of fairies, wanted to punish his wife Titania with a potion that would make her fall in love with anything that she would see when she woke up from sleep. In the ensuing events, there were terrible mix-ups and confusion as lovers mistook their partners for others.

     Magic and spells would turn the stage into a wonderful and hilarious spectacle. However, in the end, all turned well as confusion is cleared and everyone got their due. Puck, the fairy, restored everything as before and characters realized that everything was just a dream.

     ‘The course of true love never did run smooth’ and ‘Lord, what fools these mortals be’ are some of the most popular lines from the play.

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