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Acting Madness in the Night
Quince and his acting crew meet up in the woods and are about to reherse the play, when they get confused by questions and conflicts regarding the play. -
Discussions & Problems in the play
Bottom is afraid that Pyramus' suicide for love will frighten the ladies, then he comes up with a solution. He says that they will come up with a prologue saying that Pyramus does not die and Pyramus is not Pyramus but a weaver. They are also worried about the lion fearing the women in the audience, and the moonlight not being portrayed in the play. -
Puck becomes awwre of the actors.
Puck enters and asks him self, ""What hempen home-spuns have we swaggering here, / So near the cradle of the fairy queen?" (III, I,71) He observes the rehearsal, then leaves and promises himself that one day he will become an actor. Then bottom leaves as he is acting to check something that he heard in the bushes. -
Bottom gets turned
Bottom goes into the bushes to check what he has heard, and Puck says, " I'll follow you, I'll lead you about a round, Through the bog, through bush, through brake, through briar." Then magically he turns Bottom into a man with a donkey's head. -
Scared and frightened
As Bottom returns to his acting crew, they are all frightened at what they see. They all run away in fear of this man with a donkeys head. Bottom questions him self, " Why do they run away? This is a knavery of them to make me afeard." -
Thinking of a practical joke
All of Bottoms crew has run away, and he stands there thinking that they are playing a practical joke on him. He says, "this is to make an ass of me; to fright me, if they could," so he sings a song to prove that he is not afraid. -
A fairy Queen awakes
As Bottom is singing this song, he awakens a fairy queen, Titania, who instantly falls inlove with him. She praises his singing and his wisdom and she promises him that her ferries will attend him if he stays. -
Oberon watches and wonders
As Titania is cuddling with Bottom, Oberon watches and wonders if Titania has felt the effect of the love potion yet. Then Puck comes over and tells Oberon that she has fallen inlove with Bottom. Oberon is delighted with his success of his plan, and watches on. -
Confused lovers
Hermia reenters, having heard Lysander from a distance. When she learns that her beloved Lysander now claims to love Helena, as does Demetrius, she is shocked and angry. -
Frisky lovers
Helena, who is likewise unable to understand why both men could be in love with her, she assumes that Hermia is involved in the joke that she believes the men are playing on her, and she yells at Hermia furiously for treating their friendship so lightly. Lysander and Demetrius are ready to fight one another for Helena’s love, and they eventually do. -
Finally normal
Oberon sends Puck to stop Lysander and Demetrius from fighting, and he makes them so tired that they all fall asleep. Puck squeezes the magic potion onto their eyes once again and in the morning all will be normal. -
Love potion mix-up
Hermia, discovering Demetrius after losing Lysander, enters the clearing with Demetrius. Puck is surprised to see the woman he saw earlier with a different man from the one he put the potion on. Oberon is surprised to see the man he ordered Puck to enchant with a different woman. He realizes that a mistake has been made and says that Puck and him will have to fix it. -
Love is messy
When Hermia is gone, Oberon sends Puck to find Helena and squeezes the flower juice onto Demetrius’s eyelids. Puck quickly returns, saying that Helena is close behind him. Helena enters with Lysander still saying he is madly inlove with her. Still believing that he is mocking her, Helena remains angry and hurt. The noise of their wining wakes Demetrius, who sees Helena and immediately falls in love with her. Demetrius joins Lysander in declaring this love. -
Friends turning on eachother
Hermia holds Lysander back, provoking his scorn and disgust: “I will shake thee from me like a serpent” (III.ii.262). Hermia begins to suspect that Helena has somehow acted to steal Lysander’s love from her, and she assumes that, because she is short and Helena is tall, Helena must have used her height to lure Lysander. -
Threatening friends
She grows furious with Helena and threatens to scratch out her eyes. Helena becomes afraid, saying that Hermia was always much quicker than her to fight. Demetrius and Lysander vow to protect Helena from Hermia, but they quickly become angry with each other and storm off into the forest to fight. Helena runs away from Hermia, and Hermia, reannouncing her amazement at the turn of events, leaves.
