See, Hermia and Lysander are in love. Trouble is, Hermia's father Egeus has [[ArrangedMarriage betrothed]] her to Demetrius, whom she hates. (Oh, and Hermia's best friend, Helena, just happens to be in love with Demetrius, who won't even look at her because he wants Hermia -- having, mind you, wooed Helena until she fell in love with him.) They go to court, where Duke Theseus, who has more pressing matters on his mind (namely his own impending marriage to Hippolyta, an Amazon queen that he just captured in battle), rules in Egeus' favor; according to the law, she can marry Demetrius, be executed, or become a nun. So Hermia and Lysander run away together into the woods. Hermia tells Helena and asks her not to tell anybody, so naturally, Helena blabs to Demetrius in a last ditch attempt to get back into his good books, who follows after them, with Helena following after him.

Meanwhile, Oberon, King of the Fairies, has concocted a plan to get revenge on his bickering wife Titania, involving a certain flower whose nectar will, after being dropped into someone's eyes, cause them to fall in love with the first person they see. After eavesdropping on Helena and Demetrius and seeing how he spurns her, Oberon decides to kill two birds with one stone. He sends his servant Puck to fetch the flower and then gives him strict instructions to give the potion to a youth in Athenian garb, traveling in the woods with a woman, in such a set-up so that the first person he sees will be the woman. Oberon then finds Titania while asleep and applies the juice to her eyes.

And with that, Puck finds a young man in Athenian garb asleep in the woods near a young woman and gives him the potion. Great job, except for one mistake -- the guy is Lysander, and the woman who wakes him is not Hermia but Helena, and now Hermia's beau is madly in love with her best friend instead of her! Unaware of this error, Puck proceeds to the Alpha plot regarding Titania and finds an unwitting actor in the play to be performed at Theseus' wedding, turns his head into a donkey's, scares off the rest of the performers, and then arranges for Titania to see him upon waking.

Upon discovering that the wrong Athenian was hexed, Oberon tries to mend matters by next giving the potion to the intended victim, Demetrius... so now ''both'' of Hermia's former suitors are fighting over Helena who thinks that the other three are trying to play a trick on her, Titania is in love with the guy with a donkey's head (although Mr. Nick Bottom seems to be enjoying himself), Oberon is frustrated at the failure of his plans, and it's going to take some serious DeusExMachina to repair all this chaos.

to:

Two young Athenians, Hermia and Lysander, are in love. Unfortunately, Hermia's father Egeus has just [[ArrangedMarriage betrothed]] her to another man named Demetrius.  Demetrius' former girl was Helena, who just happens to be Hermia's best friend is now frustrated and angry that Demetrius has chosen the wealthy Hermia over the woman he used to love. They go to court, where Duke Theseus (who has his own impending marriage to Hippolyta, an Amazon queen, on his mind), rules in Egeus' favor.  He gives Hermia the choice to accept the marriage, be executed, or become a nun.

So Hermia and Lysander run away by night. Before they leave, Hermia confides in Helena and asks her not to tell anyone; so naturally, Helena tells Demetrius in a last ditch attempt to get back into his good graces.  Demetrius follows the lovers, with Helena following after him, and all of them end up lost in the same forest.

Meanwhile, Oberon, King of the Fairies, has concocted a plan to get revenge on his bickering wife Titania, involving a certain flower whose nectar will, after being dropped into someone's eyes, cause them to fall in love with the first person they see. After eavesdropping on Helena and Demetrius and seeing how he spurns her, Oberon decides to have a bit more fun. He sends his servant Puck to give the potion to "a youth in Athenian garb," traveling in the woods with a woman, in such a set-up so that the first person he sees will be the woman. Oberon then finds Titania while asleep and applies the juice to her eyes.

Obediently, Puck uses the potion on a young man in Athenian garb asleep in the woods near a young woman.  Unluckily, the guy is Lysander, not Demetrius, and the woman who wakes him is Helena.  Hermia wakes to find that her beau is madly in love with her best friend instead of her! Unaware of his error, Puck proceeds to the Alpha plot regarding Titania and finds an unwitting actor in the play to be performed at Theseus' wedding, turns his head into a donkey's, scares off the rest of the performers, and then arranges for Titania to see him upon waking.

Upon discovering that the wrong Athenian was hexed, Oberon tries to mend matters by giving the potion to the intended victim, Demetrius.  This backfires too, and now ''both'' of Hermia's former suitors are fighting over Helena, who thinks that the other three are mocking her.  Meanwhile, Titania is in love with the guy with a donkey's head (although the victim, Mr. Nick Bottom, doesn't seem too distressed), Oberon is frustrated at the failure of his plans, and it's going to take some serious DeusExMachina to repair all this chaos.

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1st Mar '13 2:54:20 AM trippetaa

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26th Feb '13 1:15:52 AM FactoidCow

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20th Feb '13 10:09:10 AM XFllo

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