Original: Good Hermia, do not be so bitter with me.
Modern: Please, Hermia, don’t be so angry with me.

Original: I evermore did love you, Hermia,
Modern: I have always loved you, Hermia,

Original: Did ever keep your counsels, never wrong’d you;
Modern: I’ve always kept your secrets and never hurt you;

Original: Save that, in love unto Demetrius,
Modern: Except that, because I’m in love with Demetrius,

Original: I told him of your stealth unto this wood.
Modern: I told him about your secret plan to come to this forest.

Original: He follow’d you; for love I follow’d him;
Modern: He followed you here; and because I love him, I followed him;

Original: But he hath chid me hence and threaten’d me
Modern: But he has scolded me and threatened me

Original: To strike me, spurn me, nay, to kill me too:
Modern: To hit me, reject me, and even to kill me:

Original: And now, so you will let me quiet go,
Modern: And now, if you’ll just let me leave peacefully,

Original: To Athens will I bear my folly back
Modern: I’ll take my foolishness back to Athens

Original: And follow you no further: let me go:
Modern: And I won’t follow you anymore: please let me go:

Original: You see how simple and how fond I am.
Modern: You can see how foolish and lovesick I am.

In Act III, Scene 2 of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Oberon discovers that Puck has mistakenly applied the love potion to the wrong Athenian man. Instead of making Demetrius fall in love with Helena as intended, Puck has enchanted Lysander, causing him to abandon Hermia and pursue Helena instead. When Demetrius and Helena enter the forest, with Helena still desperately chasing the disdainful Demetrius, Oberon realizes the error and instructs Puck to bring Demetrius back while he applies the love juice to Demetrius’s eyes. Upon awakening, Demetrius immediately falls in love with Helena, but this creates a new problem: both young men are now pursuing Helena while completely ignoring Hermia.

The situation quickly escalates into chaos when all four lovers are brought together. Helena, now being courted by both Lysander and Demetrius, believes they are mocking her and refuses to accept their declarations of love. Hermia is bewildered and hurt by Lysander’s sudden rejection and cruel treatment of her. The two women, once close friends, begin to quarrel bitterly, with Helena accusing Hermia of conspiring with the men to humiliate her, while Hermia cannot understand why her beloved Lysander has turned against her. The men become increasingly aggressive toward each other as they compete for Helena’s affections, eventually storming off to fight a duel. Oberon, witnessing the complete disorder his intervention has caused, commands Puck to lead the men astray in the forest and prevent their fight, while also preparing to correct the magical confusion by applying an antidote to Lysander’s eyes.

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.