This ballet takes place in an enchanted forest outside of Athens…
…and consists of four plots all connected by the celebration of the wedding of Theseus, Duke of Athens, to Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons.
In a parallel plot line, Hermia and Lysander are in love…
…but Hermia is betrothed to Demetrius. Meanwhile, Helena is madly in love with Demetrius.
Hermia and Lysander retreat into the forest to escape her arranged marriage. Helena learns of their plan, and is so desperate to claim Demetrius’ love that she tells him.
In yet another plot line, Oberon, King of the Fairies, and Titania, his Queen, are estranged because Titania refuses to allow Oberon to kidnap a child.
Oberon seeks to punish Titania’s disobedience. He calls upon Puck to help him find a magical flower called “love-in-idleness.” When the nectar of the flower is applied to the eyelids of a sleeping person, upon waking, they fall in love with the first living thing they see. Oberon hopes to embarrass Titania by making her fall in love with an animal.
Meanwhile, some rustics have arranged to perform a play for Theseus’ wedding, and venture into the forest to rehearse.
Nick Bottom, one of the rustics, is spotted by Puck, who transforms his head into that of a donkey. Titania, having received the love potion, is awakened, and immediately falls in love with him.
Demetrius goes after Hermia, while Helena continually makes advances. Although she promises to love him more than Hermia, he rejects her.
Oberon sees this and order Puck to spread some of the magical nectar on the eyelids of Demetrius.
Instead, Puck mistakes Lysander for Demetrius and administers the nectar to the sleeping Lysander. Helena stumbles across Lysander and accidentally wakes him. Lysander then immediately falls in love with Helena.
Elsewhere, Oberon sees Demetrius still following Hermia and is enraged. He puts Demetrius to sleep and sends Puck to get Helena while he charms Demetrius’ eyes.
Upon waking, Demetrius sees Helena, resulting in both men pursuing her. he is convinced that they are mocking her, since neither loved her originally.
Hermia doesn’t understand why her lover has abandoned her, and accuses Helena of stealing Lysander away from her.
The four quarrel with each other until Lysander and Demetrius become so enraged that they begin to fight to prove whose love for Helena is greater.
Oberon orders Puck to help him put a stop to the fight at once, and remove the charm from Lysander’s eyes.
Lysander returns to loving Hermia, while Demetrius continues to love Helena. Theseus and Hippolyta wake the lovers. Since Demetrius no longer loves Hermia, Theseus calls off the engagement and arranges a group wedding. The lovers decide that the night’s events must have been a dream.
Meanwhile, Titania is still in love with Bottom, the donkey. Having had his fun, Oberon orders Puck to remove the donkey’s head from Bottom and makes amends with Titania.
Oberon, Titania, Puck, and other fairies bless the happy couples with good fortune. Puck “restores amends” and suggests to the audience that what they just experienced might be nothing more than a dream.
