Original: Lo, she is one of this confederacy!
Modern: Look, she’s part of this conspiracy too!

Original: Now I perceive they have conjoin’d all three
Modern: Now I see that all three of them have joined together

Original: To fashion this false sport, in spite of me.
Modern: To create this cruel joke just to hurt me.

Original: Injurious Hermia! most ungrateful maid!
Modern: Hurtful Hermia! You’re so ungrateful!

Original: Have you conspired, have you with these contrived
Modern: Have you plotted with them, have you all planned together

Original: To bait me with this foul derision?
Modern: To torment me with this awful mockery?

Original: Is all the counsel that we two have shared,
Modern: Are all the secrets that we’ve shared together,

Original: The sisters’ vows, the hours that we have spent,
Modern: Our promises to be like sisters, all the time we’ve spent,

Original: When we have chid the hasty-footed time
Modern: When we complained that time moved too quickly

Original: For parting us,–O, is it all forgot?
Modern: Because it separated us—oh, is it all forgotten?

Original: All school-days’ friendship, childhood innocence?
Modern: All our school friendship and innocent childhood?

Original: We, Hermia, like two artificial gods,
Modern: We, Hermia, like two skilled craftswomen,

Original: Have with our needles created both one flower,
Modern: Have used our needles to sew the same flower,

Original: Both on one sampler, sitting on one cushion,
Modern: Both working on one piece of fabric, sitting on the same cushion,

Original: Both warbling of one song, both in one key,
Modern: Both singing the same song in perfect harmony,

Original: As if our hands, our sides, voices and minds,
Modern: As if our hands, our bodies, voices and thoughts,

Original: Had been incorporate. So we grow together,
Modern: Were one single being. We grew up together,

Original: Like to a double cherry, seeming parted,
Modern: Like a double cherry that looks separate,

Original: But yet an union in partition;
Modern: But is actually connected even though it’s split;

Original: Two lovely berries moulded on one stem;
Modern: Two beautiful berries growing on the same branch;

Original: So, with two seeming bodies, but one heart;
Modern: So we have two separate bodies, but share one heart;

Original: Two of the first, like coats in heraldry,
Modern: Two people, like matching family coats of arms,

Original: Due but to one and crowned with one crest.
Modern: That belong to one family and share the same symbol.

Original: And will you rent our ancient love asunder,
Modern: And will you tear apart our lifelong friendship,

Original: To join with men in scorning your poor friend?
Modern: Just to join these men in making fun of me?

Original: It is not friendly, ‘tis not maidenly:
Modern: This isn’t friendly, and it’s not how women should behave:

Original: Our sex, as well as I, may chide you for it,
Modern: All women, not just me, would criticize you for this,

Original: Though I alone do feel the injury.
Modern: Even though I’m the only one being hurt by it.

In Act III, Scene ii of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Puck reports to Oberon about his successful application of the love potion to the Athenian’s eyes, though he has mistakenly enchanted Lysander instead of Demetrius. When Demetrius and Hermia enter arguing, with Demetrius having abandoned his pursuit of Helena, Oberon realizes Puck’s error. Oberon sends Puck to find Helena while he applies the love juice to Demetrius’s eyes. Puck returns with Helena, who is being pursued by the now-enchanted Lysander, professing his love for her.

When the newly awakened and enchanted Demetrius sees Helena, he too falls desperately in love with her, leading both young men to compete for her affections. Helena, bewildered and hurt, believes both men are mocking her cruelly. When Hermia arrives seeking Lysander, she finds him rejecting her for Helena, which prompts a fierce confrontation between the two women. Helena accuses Hermia of conspiring with the men to humiliate her, while Hermia cannot understand Lysander’s sudden change of heart. The scene escalates into a chaotic argument among all four lovers, with the two men nearly coming to blows over Helena before they exit to fight, leaving the women to exchange bitter accusations about their friendship and their physical differences.

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.