Click on any scene below for a side-by-side translation from the original Shakespeare into modern English.
Act 1, Scene 1
We meet Duke Theseus at his swanky palace in Athens and learn that he's going to marry Hippolyta (Queen of the Amazons) in four days, during the new moon. Our groom-to-be is in a VER...
Act 1, Scene 2
Elsewhere in Athens, a group of "Mechanicals" (a.k.a., craftsmen) meet up to practice a play they plan to perform at Theseus and Hippolyta's upcoming wedding. (Psst! All of the men's names are clev...
Act 2, Scene 1
In an enchanted wood, we meet a "puck" (mischievous sprite) named Robin Goodfellow. (In some editions of the play, he's referred to simply as "Puck." The Folger edition uses "Robin." We use both.)...
Act 2, Scene 2
Titania instructs her fairies to dance and sing her to sleep. Then they should be off to do their work: eliminating pests from rosebuds, fighting bats so they can make leather jackets for the elves...
Act 3, Scene 1
As Titania sleeps on a cushy bed of flowers, the Mechanicals (craftsmen) enter the woods to practice their play, Pyramus and Thisbe.
Act 3, Scene 2
In another part of the wood, Oberon wonders if Titania has awoken from her slumber. He's hoping that she laid her eyes on a vile beast. Enter Puck with the answer.
Act 4, Scene 1
Now we're back to Titania and Bottom, who are lounging around on a bed of flowers while Titania's fairies wait on them. Titania lavishes Bottom with her affection, twiddling his cheeks and...
Act 4, Scene 2
Back in Athens, the playacting gang is gathered at Quince's house. They're worried because no one has seen Bottom yet. If he's not around, the play can't go on. No one else can pull of Pyramus beca...
Act 5, Scene 1
Hippolyta notes to Theseus that the story the four lovers have told them is strange, and Theseus suggests that's probably because it's fictional. He points out that lovers, poets, and madmen have s...
Act 5, Scene 2
Nothin' to see here, folks.
Epilogue
The end.