I.  Play Summary

Close your eyes and imagine yourself floating back in time to Athens. Here
the Duke, Theseus, is preparing for his wedding to Hippolyta, Queen of the
Amazons. Theseus is looking forward to his wedding day -- and night!

     four happy days bring in another moon -- but O, methinks,
     how slow this old moon wanes!

Hippolyta, on the other hand, is not thrilled with the prospect of marrying
Theseus. So, Theseus decides to send Philostrate, Master of the Revels, to
'stir up the Athenian youth to merriments' in hopes that a good party will
put Hippolyta in the marrying mood. He tries to sweet talk her by saying:

     Hippolyta, I wooed thee with my sword, and won thy love doing
     thee injuries; but I will wed thee in another key, with pomp,
     with triumph, and with revelling.

Hippolyta doesn't have a chance to answer, because Egeus enters with his
daughter, Hermia, and the two men who wish to marry her.

Egeus wants Hermia to marry Demetrius, but she wants to marry Lysander.
Egeus believes that Lysander has 'bewitched' Hermia. So, instead of getting
rid of the so-called problem (Lysander), Egeus gives his daughter a choice of 
obeying him or to die.

Thinking that death is a little EXTREME, Theseus tries to convince Hermia
to obey her father and marry Demetrius. 

Theseus adds a third choice to Egeus' unpleasant list: marry Demetrius, be
put to death, or remain a virgin for the rest of your life by becoming a
nun. She continues to refuse Demetrius, saying:

     So will I grow, so live, so die, my lord, ere I will yield my
     virgin patent up unto his lordship...

Seeing that Hermia is very upset, Theseus tells her to take a few days to
think about it. She will have to make her final decision on his wedding
day. Lysander tries to argue his case -- not only is he as 'well-possessed'
as Demetrius, but he is 'beloved of beauteous Hermia.' 

Even though Theseus has heard these rumors, he still feels that Hermia
should obey her father. He leaves with Hippolyta, Egeus, and Demetrius, to
discuss some wedding business. Alone, Lysander and Hermia discuss their
situation, and the plight of all lovers. Lysander sums it up with:

     The course of true love never did run smooth...
Finally, Lysander comes up with a plan -- the two crazy kids decide to meet
the next night in the woods to run off and elope! Suddenly, Helena enters,
and Hermia quickly changes the subject.

Well, Helena isn't too sure about this whole business -- considering
Hermia stole her boyfriend! Helena asks Hermia to teach her how to 'sway
the motion of Demetrius' heart.' Hermia assures Helena that she has done
nothing to lead Demetrius on. Helena, on the other hand, has done
everything to get him to notice her, but nothing has worked. Hermia, in an
effort to convince Helena that she doesn't like Demetrius, tells her that
she and Lysander are running away. Lysander tells Helena that he and Hermia
plan on eloping. The two love birds wish Helena luck and leave. 

She reflects on the nature of love a bit, and then decides to fight for her
man!

     I will go tell him of fair Hermia's flight...

She thinks that ratting on her friend will win her some brownie points with
Demetrius. She leaves to find her love.

Elsewhere in Athens, a group of working men meet to prepare a play for the
Duke's wedding. The group is lead by Quince, the Carpenter. The other group
members include Bottom the Weaver, Snug the Joiner, Flute the Bellows-mender,
Snout the Tinker, and Starveling the Tailor. Quince tells the others that the play is:

     The most lamentable comedy and most cruel death of Pyramus
     and Thisbe.

He has assigned the role of Pyramus to Bottom. Bottom sees this as an
opportunity to take center stage, and he begins acting. Quince tries to
assign all the parts, but Bottom keeps interrupting. Bottom seems to think
he can play ALL the parts! Quince is finally able to hand out the parts to
the other actors, and he tells the group to memorize their lines and meet
at the 'Duke's oak' the next night.

Meanwhile, in the woods outside of Athens, two fairies meet. Puck, or Robin
Goodfellow, is a loyal subject of King Oberon, and he warns the Queen's
fairy that:

     Oberon is passing fell and wrath, because that she as her
     attendant hath a lovely boy stol'n from an Indian king...

It seems that Oberon wants the Indian boy for himself, but since Titania
won't give up the child, the two are constantly arguing. The Queen's fairy
recognizes Puck, and so Puck starts bragging about all the tricks he has
pulled on humans and animals. Just at that moment, the King, Oberon, and
Queen, Titania, enter into the clearing.

Well, seeing that this is not going to be a pleasant meeting, all the
fairies run and hide in the bushes. Titania accuses Oberon of being
attracted to the mortal, Hippolyta. Oberon, in turn, accuses her of being
in love with Theseus. Titania calls these accusations the 'forgeries of
jealousy,' and she describes to Oberon how their arguments have caused the
seasons to change. He tells her that she can restore the natural order of
things if she simply gives him the 'changeling boy.'

Titania explains how the boy's mother had been her dear friend, and that
she died during childbirth. Titania says that she will never part with the
boy, and she storms away with her fairies. Seeing that she is serious,
Oberon promises to be revenged 'for this injury.' He calls Puck out from
hiding, and tells Puck to fetch the flower 'love-in-idleness.' Oberon wants
the flower because it will make any mortal fall instantly in love with the
first person he/she sees (hopefully of the opposite sex).

After Puck leaves to fetch the flower, Oberon reveals a plan to use the
flower's juice on Titania so that she will give him the Indian boy. When he
hears voices, Oberon makes himself invisible. Demetrius and Helena enter
arguing:

Unfortunately for her, Helena's plan didn't work as well as she had hoped.
She throws herself at Demetrius' feet proclaiming her undying love, but he
won't have any of it. She continues to try and 'woo' him, but he runs off
into the woods in search of Hermia, and Helena has to chase after him.
Oberon vows to help Helena.

Puck returns with the flower, and Oberon instructs him to use the love
juice on the eye of the 'disdainful youth' that just left the clearing.

While Puck is searching for Demetrius and Helena, Oberon plans on finding
Titania!

Elsewhere in the woods, Titania's fairies sing her to sleep. When she is
asleep, Oberon sneaks in and squeezes the juice on Titania's eyes. He hopes
that she will awake when something vile is near.

He leaves, and Lysander and Hermia enter. They decide to go to sleep for
the night -- since they are lost! So, not only did Lysander get them lost,
he also tries to sleep right by Hermia. She stands up for her modesty, and
makes him sleep 'further off.' The two sleep. Puck enters and sees Lysander
in his 'Athenian garments,' and mistakenly puts the juice in his eyes! He
leaves to find Oberon. Demetrius runs past. Helena can no longer keep up,
so she stops to rest. She sees Lysander on the ground and wakes him.
Lysander immediately falls in love with Helena

Lysander tells Helena that he repents the 'tedious minutes' he spent with
Hermia, and that he now loves her. Helena is not happy with Lysander's
little game.

She runs off, and Lysander follows her. Hermia awakes from a nightmare and
finds herself alone. She is certain that something horrible has happened to
Lysander, and so she runs off to try and find him.

After she leaves, the cast enter to rehearse their play for Theseus. Before
Quince has a chance to start rehearsal, Bottom begins suggesting changes
for the script so that they won't fright the ladies. After settling on
prologues to help explain the action, the cast discuss how they are
going to show moonlight and the wall in the play. They finally decide on
having Snout play the wall and Starveling play Moonshine. They begin
rehearsing just as Puck enters.
After watching the rehearsal, Puck decides to play a trick on Bottom.
Pyramus leaves to go check on a noise. When Flute, as Thisbe, finally gets
his line right, Bottom re-enters as Pyramus. He is surprised when all of
his friends begin yelling 'O monstrous!' 'O strange!' They run away because
Puck has used his magic to put an ass's head on Bottom! Bottom thinks his
friends are messing with him, so he shouts to Snout:

     What do you see? You see an ass head of your own, do you?

Bottom is so certain that they are trying to make an 'ass' of him, that he
decides to sing. He will prove to them that he isn't afraid! Of course, his
singing wakes Titania, and she immediately falls in love with him. She is
so in love with Bottom, that she won't let him even think about leaving the
woods. Instead, she calls four of her fairies (Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Moth,
and Mustardseed) to wait on Bottom.

Bottom greets each of the fairies, and then they lead him to Titania's
'bower.'

Puck can't wait to tell Oberon about the new turn of events. Puck finds
Oberon, and tells him about the trick he played on Bottom, and how, in that
moment, `Titania waked, and straightway loved an ass. ' 

Oberon is very pleased . . . until Demetrius and Hermia enter. Demetrius
tries to woo Hermia, but she is certain that he has killed Lysander. When
he won't tell her where Lysander is, Hermia runs off. Demetrius realizes
that 'there is no following her in this fierce vein,' so he decides to take
a nap. Needless to say, Oberon is not a happy camper! He orders Puck to
find Helena and bring her to Demetrius. Puck runs off to find Helena, and
Oberon puts the love juice on Demetrius' eyes. Puck runs in to tell Oberon
that Helena is on her way -- but she isn't alone. Puck is really enjoying
the mess he has created.

Lysander enters with Helena. He tries to convince her that he really does
love her, but Helena thinks he is just messing with her. When she stumbles
on Demetrius, he wakes and tells Helena how beautiful she is and how much
he loves her. By this point, Helena is really upset.

Off in the woods, Hermia hears all the commotion, and follows the voices.
When she spots Lysander, she runs to her love and asks him why he left her.
Lysander tells her that he hates her now and loves Helena. Well, that was
the finally straw for Helena. She is now certain that they are all ganging
up on her. Hermia doesn't quite understand what is going on; she runs after
Lysander as he leaves to fight Demetrius for Helena. She clings to him --
even as he is telling her how much he now hates her. When Hermia finally
gets the picture, she turns on Helena.

Hermia tries to fight Helena, but the boys hold her back. The boys finally
leave to settle their own dispute, Helena runs away, and Hermia leaves in
bewilderment. Oberon demands that Puck fix his mess. So, Puck overcasts the
night and disguises his voice to get all of the lovers in the same spot. He
puts them all to sleep, and puts the love juice on Lysander's eyes so he
will love Hermia again. Puck then leaves to find Oberon.


In another part of the wood, Titania and her fairies are pampering Bottom
as Oberon watches. Titania finally tells her fairies to go away, so that
she and Bottom can go to bed. Puck enters, and Oberon tells him that he now
has the Indian boy, so he will release Titania from this curse. He orders
Puck to remove the 'head of this Athenian swain' so that all will go back normal.

Oberon removes the spell from Titania. She wakes and wonders how she awoke
with mortals around her.

All the fairies leave, and as day breaks, Theseus, Hippolyta, Egeus, and
their hunting party enter. They see the lovers on the ground, and wake them
up. Lysander tries to explain the situation, and Egeus is furious that
Lysander and Hermia were going to elope. Egeus wants Lysander punished.
After Demetrius explains that he really loves Helena, Theseus decides that
the lovers will be married along with himself and Hippolyta.

The lovers don't know what to think about the night's events. They head
back to town to get married! Bottom wakes up, and describes his dream! He
also heads back to town to find his friends and get ready for the play.

After the weddings, the whole group gathers at the Palace to watch the
play. They make fun of the play and the actors. When the play is over,
everyone heads off to bed. Oberon and Titania enter with their fairies to
bless the three couples. As the fairies leave to bless the marriage bed,
Puck says:

     If we shadows have offended, think but this, and all is
     mended: that you have but slumbered here while these visions did
     appear; and this weak and idle theme, no more yielding but a
     dream!

End.

II.  Constraints on Love

Shakespeare epitomizes idealism.  In this sense, I do believe from the story, that love
resolves all problems.  I base this conclusion on the ending of the story; all the lovers
find and unite with their counterparts even though they have stumbled along the path to find
their love.  However, love does have constraints, realistically.  The main one is society. 
I have seen too many examples where lovers cannot ultimately unite due to their social
differences, whether it be class or even color.  Even today, we see prejudice on mixed
marriages of social classes, color, education, and even sex.  Realistically speaking, love
does not conquer the boundaries of society even though we would want it, idealistically
speaking.

III.  Cinematic Reproduction

If I had the opportunity to produce this play for today’s generation, there would be many
considerations and headaches.  Seeing that our current generation has lost its romanticism,
the play would have to be reproduced with spectacular visual effects to break even on the
production costs.  Even the thought of a Shakespearian reproduction would turn most
audiences away from the film as being dull and not with the times.  I would clearly have to
disguise the outer context of the story, while maintaining the original’s ideas, by casting
this in modern settings.  I could easily replace Athens with New York, where the persons
involved are part of a huge crime syndicate, a la the Godfather.  From here, we see Dom Juan
marrying a rival’s widow, whom he killed, to seal an alliance.  In the process, he finds
that there are some problems of love with his henchmen.  Casting Oberon, Titania, Puck, and
the fairies would be a difficult problem.  How can we correctly portray fantastical
creatures in our mundane existence without making the movie already weirder than it is?  I
would hire an assistant producer to tackle this problem so I personally would tend to more
important events.  Seriously, they could be represented by elder family members who are
retired.  When I refer to family, I mean the greater family of the crime syndicate.  The
magic flower Puck uses could be replaced with Valium, Prozac, or LSD, being the optimum
choice of drug.  That way, I can have my four lovers dream or Oberon, Titania, and crew, and
the general audience would believe my actors' psychosis under the influence of a mind
altering drug. In the end, all would be well.  The lovers would ultimately overcome their
social differences and unite and I would probably have to retire from film making to hide 
from my embarrassment and angry investors.      

IV.  Compare and Contrast

I borrowed a deteriorated rendition of Midsummer Night’s Dream produced by the Royal
Shakespeare Company.  The cinematic rendition portrayed an accurate reproduction of the
play.  However, I did notice that many of the lines were cut, but not edited.  I am not sure
if this was due to time or budget constraints.  I did feel that it improved the story by
cutting the fat out of the meat.  I also found it much easier for me to follow and
understand the cinematic version than reading it.  One major point I did notice was that the
director/producer did pay heed to the accuracy of scene changes.  When Lysander and Hermia
were plotting their escape from the bonds of Athens, they were in a boat. 
 Upon Helena entering the scene, they were somewhere ashore.  I found the garments to be
 humorous as well.  All the cast were definitely 
wearing the social dresses of the 60’s period.  The only Shakespearian play I have seen that
accurately rendered the time frame in dress and scene was Hamlet, starring Mel Gibson.

V.  Embedded Ideas

Shakespeare definitely established that males having ascendancy over females during the time
period of the play was socially accepted.  The story verifies this idea with Theseus’
victory over Hippolyta and Egeus’ asserting his lawful power over his daughter, Hermia. 
Nevertheless, the male attempt to assert his right over his female counterpart did not
always succeed:  Hermia ignoring her father’s and Theseus’ pressure to marry Demtrius;
Titania ignoring Oberon’s orders to give up the child.  

The forest is definitely a place where all rules and laws are suspended.  We can account of
many silly examples:  Lysander falls in love with Helena; Titania falls in love with Bottom.
 The latter is also an example where social laws are suspended by having a fairy queen fall
for a human peasant.  Another example supporting this idea is the mischief the fairies,
namely Puck, inflict upon the humans.  All of this occurs in place outside the vestiges of
human law, the forest.

