This document provides a 3-scene summary of Act I of A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare: [1] Theseus, Duke of Athens, is preparing for his wedding to Hippolyta. Hermia's father wants her to marry Demetrius, but she loves Lysander. Theseus gives her an ultimatum to marry Demetrius or become a nun. [2] Quince and a group of laborers decide to perform a play at the Duke's wedding. Bottom wants major roles but is cast as Pyramus. [3] In the woods, Oberon and Titania, the fairy king and queen, argue over a boy. Oberon

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A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT I _ SCENE ONE: THESEUS’ PALACE, ATHENS
Theseus, Hippolyta and Philostrate are in the great hall of the palace.
Theseus: We’re getting married in four days but the time is passing too slowly. I want to marry
you today.
Hippolyta: Don’t worry. The day will pass quickly. We’ll be husband and wife very soon.
Theseus: You’re right, Hippolyta, I’ll try to be patient but everyone must start celebrating our
wedding today. (He turns to Philostrate) Go into the city and tell the citizens that the next four
days will be festive days. There must be parties and celebrations every day.
(Philostrate leaves the hall. Egeus, Hermia, Lysander and Demetrious enter)
Egeus: I hope that you’re well, my lord.
Theseus: I am. How are you?
Egeus: I’m very angry with my daughter, Hermia. Demetrius has got my consent to marry her
but Hermia doesn’t want to marry him. Lysander captured her heart when he sang under her
window, gave her presents and wrote love poems to her. Now she wants to marry Lysander and
not Demetrious. But the law of Athens says that she must obey me.
Theseus: What do you say, Hermia? You know that you must obey your father’s wishes.
Demetrious is a good, noble man.
Hermia: Yes, my Lord, but Lysander is also a good, noble man.
Theseus: You’re right, he is. But your father prefers Demetrious, so you must marry him.
Hermia: My father should look at Lysander with my eyes.
Theseus: No, you should look at the situation with your father’s eyes.
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Hermia: My lord, what will happen to me if I don’t marry Demetrius?
Theseus: You’ll have to choose between execution or a convent for the rest of your life.
Hermia: Then I choose to go to a convent and be a nun for the rest of my life.
Theseus: Don’t decide so quickly. Take some time to think about it. On my wedding day,
you’ll have to decide what you want. Your three options will be Demetrius,
execution or being a nun.
Demetrius: Please, change your opinion. Hermia, and marry me. And you, Lysander, stop
trying to take Hermia from me.
Lysander: Demetrius, you’ve got Hermia’s father’s love. I want Hermia’s love.
Egeus: Listen to me. Lysander! You’re right. I love Demetrius as a son. What’s mine is
also his. Hermia is my daughter and I want to give her to him.
Lysander: Theseus, I’m as attractive, as noble and as rich as Demetrius and I’ve got
Hermia’s love. Why can’t I marry her? Demetrius has got another lady love.
Some time ago he captured the heart of Hermia’s friend, Helena, but then he
decided that he was in love with Hermia. Poor Helena is still in love with him.
Can’t you see? Demetrius is not a constant man!
Theseus: Hermia must make the decision. Hermia, I suggest that you obey your father.
You already know what your other two options are. (He turns to Demetrius and
Egeus) Come with Hippolyta and me. I want to consult you about my wedding
plans.
(Theseus, Hippolita , Demetrius and Egeus exit. Hermia starts crying)
Lysander: Don’t cry, Hermia. There’s a solution to our problem. I’ve got a rich aunt. She
lives near Athens. She considers me her son. We can get married at her house
because the law of Athens can’t control us there. Leave your father’s house
tomorrow. Do you remember it? We went there with Helena. I’ll wait for you
there.
Hermia: Yes, I remember it. I’ll be there, my love! (Helena enters)How are you Helena?
Helena: I’m suffering because Demetrius is in love with you. What did you do to capture
his heart, Hermia?
Hermia: I didn’t do anything. On the contrary, he knows that I detest him but he
continues to follow me.
Helena: I love him, but he continues to destest me.
Hermia: Helena, I didn’t do anything to make him detest you.
Helena: You didn’t do anything, except be beautiful.
Hermia: Don’t worry. He’ll never see me again. Lysander and I are leaving Athens.
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Lysander: We’ll tell you our plan, Helena. Hermia and I are leaving Athens tomorrow
night. It’s our only option because we want to be together.
(pag. 10, 11)
Hermia. We’re going to meet in the wood and then leave here forever. Pray for us.
Goodbye, dear friends.
Lysander: I hope that Demetrius learns to love you as much as you love him. Goodbye,
Helena.
(Hermia and Lysander exit)
Helena. I’m going to tell Demetrius about Hermia and Lysander’s plans. I know that he’ll
follow them into the wood tomorrow night. Then he’ll understand that Hermia will
never love him and he’ll return to me.
ACT I SCENE TWO: QUINCE’S HOUSE, ATHENS
Quince, Snug, Bottom, Flute, Snout and Starveling, members of an amateur theatre group, are
sitting in the living room of Quince’s house.
Quince: You’re all here because, in my opinion, you’re the best men in Athens to
perform a play for the Duke on his wedding night.
Bottom: Well, tell us the name of the play and hten tell us which roles we’re going to
play.
Quince: The play is called The Most Lamentable Comedy and Most Cruel Death of
Pyramus and Thisby.
Bottom: Ah! A very good play! Now tell us our roles.
Quince: You’ll play Pyramus.
Bottom: Is Pyramus a lover or a tyrant?
Quince: He’s a lover. He kills himself for love.
Bottom: Then, I’ll make the audience cry. Tell us the other roles.
Quince: Flute, you’ll play Thisby.
Flute: Who’s Thisby? Is he a duke or a king?
Quince: No. She’s a lady. Pyramus loves her.
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Bottom: I can’t play a woman! I’ve got a beard!
Quince: That’s not important. You’ll wear a mask.
Bottom: I want to wear a mask and play Thisby. Listen to my interpretation! ‘Oh,
Pyramus, my lo-o-o-o-ove!’
Quince: No, Bottom. You must play Pyramus and Flyte will play Thisby.
Bottom: (disappointed) All right, then. Continue.
Quince: Snout will play a wall, Snug will play a lion and Starveling will play the moon.
Snug: Please, give me the lion’s dialogue immediately because it’s difficult for me to
memorise things.
Quince: Don’t worry. You only have to roar.
Bottom: Then let me play the lion too! I can roar better than anybody. The Duke will
hear me and say, “He must roar again!”
Quince: You’ll roar too well, Bottom. You’ll frighten all the noble ladies and they’ll
start to scream hysterically. The Duke will execute us if you play the lion!
Bottom: You’re right. If I frighten the ladies too much, the Duke will execute us. Don’t
worry, I’ll roar quietly like a bird.
Quince: Bottom, you must play Pyramus because he’s a very attractive man and you’re
the most attractive ma here.
Bottom: All right then, I’ll play Pyramus. What colour beard should I use for the role?
Purple? Yellow? Black?
Quince: Your face is too attractive to cover with a beard. Don’t use one. (He distributes
copies of the play.) Please learn your parts for tomorrow night, gentlemen.
We’ll meet in the wood outside town to rehearse there secretly. No one must
learn about production and copy us. Goodbye, until tomorrow night, my
friends.
(Page 13)
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(pag 13)
ACT II SCENE ONE: A WOOD NEAR ATHENS
Puck and fairy enter from different directions.
Puck: What are you doing here, Fairy?
Fairy: I’m preparing this area of the wood for Titania, the Queen of Fairies. She’s
planning to sleep here tonight.
Puck: But my master, Oberon, the King of the Fairies, also plans to sleep here tonight.
(Pag 14) Tell the queen that she can’t come here. Oberon is very angry With her and
doesn’t want to see her. He’s angry because she doesn’t want to give him the
lovely Indian boy in her court. Oberon likes the boy and wants to use him as his
messenger. He asked Titania for the boy but she didn’t want to give him to
Oberon. Look! Here comes Oberon now.
Fairy: Oh, no! Titania is also coming!
(Oberon enters with his court and Titania enters from the opposite direction
with her court)
Titania: And I don’t want to see you, Oberon. Goodbye.
Oberon: Wait! Am I not your husband and Lord?
Titania: Yes, but you aren’t being nice to me and I don’t want to be with you. Remember
that the people on the earth are suffering while we’re separated. The two of us
control nature only when we’re together. Now the weather is changing all the
time. Plants and vegetables are growing. Animals are dying and people are
hungry.
Oberon: You can solve everything very easily. Give me the Indian boy and I’ll be happy.
(Pag 15)
Titania: I can’t do that, Oberon. The boy is very special to me because he’s the son of my
favourite companion. She died when he was born and I promised to raise him.
Oberon: How long will you stay in this wood?
Titania: I’ll stay until the day after Theseus’ wedding. Don’t be angry any more, and
spend these nights here with me, Oberon.
Oberon: Give me the boy and I’ll be with you.
Titania: You know that’s impossible. Come with me, fairies! I don’t want to spend
another minute with Oberon. (Titania exits with her court)
Oberon: (turns to Puck) Puck, you must go and find a special purple flower. The flower
is called love-in-wanting. If you put its juice on a sleeping person’s eyelids, they
will fall in love with the first person or animal they see when they wake. Find
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one of these flowers and bring it to me quickly.
Puck: Yes, master. I’ll circle the world in forty minutes and find that flower for you!
(Puck exits)
Oberon: I’ll put the flower’s juice on Titania’s eyes while she’s sleeping. Then I’ll make
sure that she’ll see an ugly animal, like an ass, when she wakes up. She’ll fall in
love with it and follow it everywhere. It will be the only important thing in her
life. Then I’ll ask her for the boy and she’ll give him to me without a problem.
After that, I’ll give her the antidote to the love juice. She’ll be so happy that I
cured her that she won’t remember the boy… But what’s that noise? People are
coming! Who are they? I’ll become invisible and listen to them.
(Demetrius enters. Helena follows him.)
Demetrius: Stop following me! I don’t love you! I’m try8ing to find Hermia. She’s meeting
Lysander here – that’s what you told me. I’m being honest with you. I can’t love
you because I love Hermia.
Helena. Yes, and that makes me love you more. I’ll follow you everywhere like your dog.
(Page 16)
Demetrius: Stop that! I feel ill when I look at you.
Helena: And I feel ill when I don’t look at you.
Demetrius: I don’t want to see you any more. Leave this place! I’ll hurt you if you follow me.
(Demetrius exits running)
Helena: I don’t care if you hurt me, Demetrius. It will be an honour!
(Helena exits)
Oberon: Good luck, sweet woman. I promise you that Demetrius will soon fall in love
with you. (Puck enters) Puck, did you find the flower?
Puck: Yes, here it is.
Oberon: Give it to me. I know where Titania is sleeping. I’ll put some of the love juice on
her eyes. Now you must take some of the flower juice and search for a sweet
Athenian lady. She’s in love with a horrible man called Demetrius. You must put
the love juice on his eyelids when he’s sleeping but you must make sure that
the first person he sees when he wakes up is that lady. You’ll know who he is
because he’s wearing Athenian clothes. Then meet me here again.
Puck: Don’t worry, my lord. I’ll do exactly as you say. (Oberon and Puck exit.)
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