Original: My mistress with a monster is in love.
Modern: My queen has fallen in love with a monster.

Original: Near to her close and consecrated bower,
Modern: Close to her private, sacred sleeping place,

Original: While she was in her dull and sleeping hour,
Modern: While she was fast asleep,

Original: A crew of patches, rude mechanicals,
Modern: A group of fools, rough working men,

Original: That work for bread upon Athenian stalls,
Modern: Who earn their living at market stalls in Athens,

Original: Were met together to rehearse a play
Modern: Had gathered together to practice a play

Original: Intended for great Theseus’ nuptial-day.
Modern: Planned for Duke Theseus’ wedding day.

Original: The shallowest thick-skin of that barren sort,
Modern: The most stupid, thick-headed one of that worthless bunch,

Original: Who Pyramus presented, in their sport
Modern: Who was playing Pyramus in their entertainment

Original: Forsook his scene and enter’d in a brake
Modern: Left the stage and went into some bushes

Original: When I did him at this advantage take,
Modern: When I saw my chance and caught him there,

Original: An ass’s nole I fixed on his head:
Modern: I put a donkey’s head on him:

Original: Anon his Thisbe must be answered,
Modern: Soon his scene partner Thisbe called for him,

Original: And forth my mimic comes. When they him spy,
Modern: And out comes my transformed actor. When they see him,

Original: As wild geese that the creeping fowler eye,
Modern: Like wild geese that spot a hunter sneaking up,

Original: Or russet-pated choughs, many in sort,
Modern: Or like brown-headed birds in a flock,

Original: Rising and cawing at the gun’s report,
Modern: Taking flight and crying out when a gun fires,

Original: Sever themselves and madly sweep the sky,
Modern: They scatter and frantically fly through the air,

Original: So, at his sight, away his fellows fly;
Modern: Just like that, when they see him, his friends run away;

Original: And, at our stamp, here o’er and o’er one falls;
Modern: And when we stomp our feet, one of them trips and falls;

Original: He murder cries and help from Athens calls.
Modern: He screams “Murder!” and calls for help from Athens.

Original: Their sense thus weak, lost with their fears thus strong,
Modern: Their minds so weak, overcome by their strong fears,

Original: Made senseless things begin to do them wrong;
Modern: Made them think that harmless objects were attacking them;

Original: For briers and thorns at their apparel snatch;
Modern: They thought thorns and brambles were grabbing at their clothes;

Original: Some sleeves, some hats, from yielders all things catch.
Modern: Branches seemed to snatch sleeves and hats from these cowards.

Original: I led them on in this distracted fear,
Modern: I kept them running in this panicked terror,

Original: And left sweet Pyramus translated there:
Modern: And left dear Pyramus transformed there:

Original: When in that moment, so it came to pass,
Modern: At that very moment, it happened that

Original: Titania waked and straightway loved an ass.
Modern: Titania woke up and immediately fell in love with a donkey.

In Act III, Scene ii of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” the chaotic effects of Puck’s magical interventions reach their peak in the Athenian forest. The scene opens with Oberon discovering that Puck has mistakenly applied the love potion to Lysander’s eyes instead of Demetrius’s, causing Lysander to abandon Hermia and pursue Helena with passionate declarations of love. When Demetrius enters, still under the spell from Oberon’s correction of Puck’s error, he too begins ardently wooing Helena, who believes both young men are cruelly mocking her with their sudden affections. Hermia arrives to find her beloved Lysander not only rejecting her but insulting her, creating a four-way conflict of confused lovers.

The scene escalates into bitter arguments as Helena accuses Hermia of conspiring with the men to humiliate her, while Hermia cannot comprehend Lysander’s sudden hatred and Helena’s apparent theft of his affections. The two women, once dear friends, exchange increasingly harsh words, with references to their contrasting heights becoming particularly cutting. As tensions mount toward potential violence, Oberon commands Puck to lead the young men away from each other through the dark forest using his voice mimicry, while he prepares an antidote to restore proper order to their affections. The scene concludes with Puck successfully separating the exhausted lovers, who fall asleep in the forest, setting up the resolution of their romantic entanglements.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream follows multiple interconnected plots that unfold over the course of a single midsummer night in Athens and the nearby enchanted forest. The play opens with Duke Theseus of Athens preparing to marry Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. Meanwhile, Egeus brings his daughter Hermia before Theseus, demanding she marry Demetrius according to his wishes. Hermia refuses because she loves Lysander, and Theseus gives her until his wedding day to decide between marrying Demetrius, becoming a nun, or facing death. Hermia and Lysander plan to elope by meeting in the forest, and they confide in Hermia’s friend Helena, who is desperately in love with Demetrius despite his rejection of her.

In the forest, the fairy king Oberon and queen Titania are feuding over custody of a changeling boy. Oberon instructs his mischievous servant Puck to fetch a magical flower whose juice, when applied to sleeping eyes, makes the person fall in love with the first creature they see upon waking. Oberon plans to use this on Titania to humiliate her into giving up the boy, and he also orders Puck to help Helena by making Demetrius fall in love with her. However, Puck mistakenly applies the juice to Lysander’s eyes instead, causing him to fall in love with Helena when he awakens. Meanwhile, a group of Athenian craftsmen rehearsing a play in the forest becomes entangled in the magical chaos when Puck transforms their leader Bottom’s head into that of a donkey, and the enchanted Titania falls in love with him.

The romantic confusion deepens when Oberon discovers Puck’s error and applies the love juice to Demetrius’s eyes as well, causing both young men to pursue Helena, who believes they are mocking her. Hermia becomes confused and angry when Lysander rejects her for Helena. Oberon orders Puck to separate the four lovers and fix the situation. After obtaining the changeling boy from the distracted Titania, Oberon releases her from the spell and restores Bottom to his normal form. Puck leads the exhausted lovers through the forest until they fall asleep, then applies an antidote to Lysander’s eyes so he will love Hermia again upon waking. Theseus discovers the four lovers in the forest the next morning, and since Demetrius now truly loves Helena, the duke overrules Egeus and declares a triple wedding. The play concludes with the three couples’ wedding celebration, where the craftsmen perform their comically inept play, followed by the fairies blessing the palace and its inhabitants.