History YMMV / AMidsummerNightsDream

** There's also the fact that Egeus's word is the law, and Demetrius has to marry Hermia because he's been ordered to. Yes he will benefit from the marriage, but it's possible he's pursuing Hermia into the woods because he's afraid of what will happen to both of them if it's discovered that they've run off. In fact, it's Demetrius announcing he's fallen for Helena that spurs Theseus to overrule Egeus - suggesting the former was aware Egeus was pressuring both of them.
** Helena is often thought of as a StalkerWithACrush or ClingyJealousGirl. But if you think about it, Demetrius ''was'' wooing her before he switched to Hermia - so she has good reason to think she can win him back if she gets him to face the reality that Hermia loves Lysander. She could be seen less like a stalker and more like a jilted lover trying to work out why her other half has gone cold on her.

** The 1968 adaptation is best remembered for a young Judi Dench as a FairySexy in {{Stripperiffic}} garb - with only modesty leaves covering her.
** The 1999 film is remembered for Christian Bale and Dominic West being naked in the woods with Anna Friel and Calista Flockhart - who then proceed to have a sexy mud wrestling match.

** In his subplot with Titania, when Titania (rightfully) refuses to give Oberon the orphaned son of a dead friend of hers she's been taking care of to serve him, he retaliates by playing a cruel trick with the explicit intent to humiliate her. The fact that she is to modern audience an incredible Badass (has her own army) and compassionate woman (adopting a child from her handmaiden who is a different species) and that Oberon is a KarmaHoudini doesn't help paint him in the best light.

** The pairing of the human couples is presented as happy but then you realize that the only reason Demetrius is with Helena is not because he has genuinely fallen in love with her, but because he has been affected by a LovePotion. Some versions will imply that Demetrius did have feelings for Helena to begin with, lessening this somewhat. The fact that Love Potions could be compared to date rape drugs doesn't help matters. Even if the law was harsh the fact is Demetrius is still being forced into loving someone he did not have feelings for at the time, even if he did at one point.

* FairForItsDay: Athenian law stated that a daughter would have to be ''executed'' if she did not do her father's will. Theseus finds this too extreme and forgives the lovers. Despite the other examples of male dominance found throughout the play (e.g. Oberon making a fool of Titania and winning the changeling boy, or Theseus himself having conquered the Amazon queen Hyppolita and now marrying her), at in the young lovers' case patriarchal rule loses.
* FanPreferredCouple: Titania and Bottom. Though the pairing is hurt by her only falling in love with him due to a love potion, it's still more liked than her marriage with Oberon, owing to their interactions being seen as sweet and funny while Oberon's treatment of Titania is often regarded as overly mean spirited.
* FantasyGhetto: At the time, critics scoffed at the ridiculousness of the story - because it depicted fairies as being real and meddling in mortals' lives. 17th century scholars debated about whether it was appropriate to even show fantasy creatures in fiction at all. Some critics felt they had to justify this and ''Theatre/TheTempest'' by saying that they only depicted fantasy creatures that came from popular belief. That's the reason Puck apologizes to the audience in his final soliloquy.

* MemeticLoser: Poor Nick Bottom. He's a terrible actor, gets turned into a donkey and is the unwilling pawn in Oberon and Titania's squabbling. Some productions - notably the 1999 film - expand on this by giving him an AwfulWeddedLife and being the laughing stock of the city.

** Creator/MickeyRooney as Puck in the 1935 film got lots of criticism for favoring Box Office clout over acting ability. These days it's a BrokenBase - with some liking him in the role, and others finding him annoying.
** Creator/DickPowell in the same version felt himself miscast and asked for his name taken off the film. His performance however is seen in slightly better light than Mickey Rooney's.

** Demetrius ends the play still under the effects of a love potion. He may be happy with Helena, but he's not with her by his own free will. There's a common attempt to fix this by portraying the potion as bringing out his true feelings for Helena, but even then it can be seen as not enough to remove the creepiness from his ordeal, as he didn't embrace his love for her naturally but was forced to.

* FantasyGhetto: At the time, critics scoffed at the ridiculousness of the story - because it depicted fairies as being real and meddling in mortals' lives. 17th century scholars debated about whether it was appropriate to even show fantasy creatures in fiction at all.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: This play is one of the oldest examples of the FantasyGhetto. Audiences were scandalized that fairies were depicted on the stage since...well they didn't exist. Some critics felt they had to justify this and ''Theatre/TheTempest'' by saying that they only depicted fantasy creatures that came from popular belief. That's the reason Puck apologizes to the audience in his final soliloquy.

* MemeticTroll: Puck has ended up this way. The mix-up between who gets the love juice is an honest mistake on his part, as he didn't know there were two Athenian boys in the woods (and neither, to be fair, did Oberon). But as HilarityEnsues from this mistake, Puck is often imagined as a mischievous troll who either screwed things up on purpose or finds the whole ordeal ActuallyPrettyFunny.

** Is Theseus and Hippolyta's marriage a genuine love match, despite the fact that they first met as enemies in battle? Or is it a [[ArrangedMarriage political marriage]] to seal the peace treaty between their peoples, or is Hippolyta a captive being forced to marry Theseus as a "spoil of war"? The fact that the answer varies between different versions of their original [[ClassicalMythology Greek myth]] only adds to the ambiguity.

* FairForItsDay: Athenian law stated that a daughter would have to be ''executed'' if she did not do her father's will. Theseus finds this too extreme and forgives the lovers -- despite the other examples of male dominance found throughout the play.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Both Felix Mendelssohn and [[Music/CarminaBurana Carl Orff]] wrote epic soundtracks for the play. Mendelsson`s version taking a romantic tone, while Orff was concentrating on the bizarreness of the turns the plot takes.

* WTHCastingAgency:
** Creator/MickeyRooney as Puck in the 1935 film got lots of criticism for favoring Box Office clout over acting ability. These days it's a BrokenBase - with some liking him in the role, and others finding him annoying.
** Creator/DickPowell in the same version felt himself miscast and asked for his name taken off the film. His performance however is seen in slightly better light than Mickey Rooney's.

** In Elizabethan times, a man who took a woman's virginity was expected to marry her. Notably this happened to Shakespeare himself, who got married six months before his wife gave birth. Hence, Demetrius returning to Helena, despite being under a brainwashing potion and unable to give any consent worth a darn, would've been seen as the properly moral ending.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:

** Some productions hint that Demetrius really loved Helena the entire time, that he only switched to Hermia [[GoldDigger for her wealth and status]], and the potion just reawakened his real feelings. This is consistent with Lysander's statement in the first scene that Demetrius was wooing Helena before he inexplicably switched to Hermia. And then other productions imply that Demetrius wooed Helena just long enough to take her virginity and then immediately kicked her to the curb, making this a case of LaserGuidedKarma with a smidgen of RapePortrayedAsRedemption on Demetrius's part if you want to be macabre about it.

* EndingFatigue: Less so than most examples, but all the plot threads are pretty much wrapped up once Theseus pardons the lovers and lets Lysander and Hermia get married (and Demetrius declares his newfound love for Helena). Even Oberon and Titania seem to have resolved their conflict. But then the play goes on for another little bit in the form of the wedding tableau. As the tableau usually ends up as the funniest scene in the film, people are willing to overlook the fatigue if it's suitably entertaining.

** The 2016 Globe production gender-swaps Helena into Helenus and strongly implies that his reunion with Demetrius is because Demetrius has accepted his own sexuality. (This also means there's a love triangle between the three guys while Lysander is under the influence of the love potion.) Of course, this can be a BrokenAesop as Demetrius ends up with them due to being brainwashed.

* DesignatedHero: Oberon's surface role in this story is attempting to straighten out the love trouble between the four main mortals so all four of them can be happy. There's even a scene where he points out that his kind are ''fey'' creatures instead of infernal ones, and thus not evil but (potentially) benevolent. Yet, he does a lot of awful things as well that detract from this image.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: Played with in the epilogue, which coyly "apologizes" to anyone who didn't like the play. This was more or less formula for the period, and shows again in ''Theatre/TheTempest'', among other places.

** In his subplot with Titania, Titania (rightfully) calls him out for diseases run rampant, seasons dangerously alter and all of humanity suffers from their discord - which as a powerful being he should NOT have done and he retaliates by playing a cruel trick with the explicit intent to humiliate her. The fact that she is to modern audience an incredible Badass (has her own army) and compassionate woman (adopting a child from her handmaiden who is a different species) and that Oberon is a KarmaHoudini doesn't help paint him in the best light.

* MST3KMantra: Puck's final soliloquy: "If the story offended you, remind yourself it was nothing but a dream."

** Puck is Oberon's minion, a side character's sidekick, and yet he is the most memorable character in the play. If someone in fiction does a monologue from ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', 90% of the time you can be sure it's one of Puck's. He's also one of the characters that can very easily be played by either a male or female.
** Bottom is also quite remembered. If you mention the play, most people will know about the character that gets turned into a donkey. This aided by his shamelessly hammy nature and childish enthusiasm.

** Bottom is also quite remembered. If you mention the play, most people will know about the character that gets turned into a donkey.

--> '''Hermia:''' And in the wood where often you and I upon faint primrose beds were wont to lie, emptying our bosoms of their counsel sweet, there my Lysander and myself shall meet.

* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: James Cagney was considered a serious miscasting in the 1935, due to his typecasting as gangsters and thugs. As it turns out, he actually started out as a song and dance man, and threw himself into an against type role. Most critics were pleasantly surprised at how well he played Bottom.

** Mickey Rooney as Puck in the 1935 film got lots of criticism for favoring Box Office clout over acting ability. These days it's a BrokenBase - with some liking him in the role, and others finding him annoying.
** Dick Powell in the same version felt himself miscast and asked for his name taken off the film. His performance however is seen in slightly better light than Mickey Rooney's.