Play description
ACT I
Scene 1. In Athens, preparations are underway for the wedding of Duke Theseus to Hippolyta, Queen
of the Amazons. An angry father, Egeus, comes to the ducal palace and accuses Lysander of
bewitching his daughter Hermia, even though she is already betrothed to Demetrius. Hermia confesses
her love for Lysander, and Theseus tells her that according to the law, she must either die or enter a
nunnery if she refuses to marry the man chosen by her father. He gives her until the new moon to
decide. Hermia and Lysander decide to run away; they agree to meet the following night in a wood
outside the city. They tell Helena, Hermia’s childhood friend, of their plan; she, however, is in love
with Demetrius, who has rejected her for Hermia, and she hopes to regain his favor by telling him of
the lovers’ intentions.
Scene 2. A group of Athenian workmen, “rude mechanicals,” are preparing an entertainment to be
performed at the Duke’s wedding. They have chosen “The most lamentable comedy and most cruel
death of Pyramus and Thisby.”
