Original: You have her father’s love, Demetrius;
Modern: You have her father’s approval, Demetrius;

Original: Let me have Hermia’s: do you marry him.
Modern: Let me have Hermia’s love: you should marry her father instead.

Original: I am, my lord, as well derived as he,
Modern: My lord, I come from as good a family as he does,

Original: As well possess’d; my love is more than his;
Modern: I have just as much wealth; and my love is greater than his;

Original: My fortunes every way as fairly rank’d,
Modern: My social standing is just as high in every way,

Original: If not with vantage, as Demetrius’;
Modern: If not actually better than Demetrius’s;

Original: And, which is more than all these boasts can be,
Modern: And what matters more than all these claims,

Original: I am beloved of beauteous Hermia:
Modern: Beautiful Hermia loves me back:

Original: Why should not I then prosecute my right?
Modern: So why shouldn’t I be allowed to pursue what’s rightfully mine?

Original: Demetrius, I’ll avouch it to his head,
Modern: I’ll say this right to Demetrius’s face,

Original: Made love to Nedar’s daughter, Helena,
Modern: He courted Nedar’s daughter, Helena,

Original: And won her soul; and she, sweet lady, dotes,
Modern: And captured her heart; and she, sweet girl, is obsessed,

Original: Devoutly dotes, dotes in idolatry,
Modern: Completely obsessed, worships him like a god,

Original: Upon this spotted and inconstant man.
Modern: This unfaithful and unreliable man.

Act I, Scene i of A Midsummer Night’s Dream opens in the court of Athens, where Theseus, the Duke of Athens, and Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, are preparing for their upcoming wedding, which is set to take place in four days’ time. Their celebratory mood is interrupted when Egeus arrives with his daughter Hermia and two young men, Lysander and Demetrius. Egeus is furious with Hermia for refusing to marry Demetrius, his chosen suitor, and instead favoring Lysander. He invokes the Athenian law before Theseus, demanding that his daughter either obey his wishes or face death. Theseus presents Hermia with her options: she must comply with her father’s choice, accept death, or spend her life as a nun in a convent. Demetrius and Lysander both plead their cases before the Duke, with Lysander pointing out that Demetrius had previously won the affections of another young woman, Helena, who remains deeply in love with him.

After Theseus, Hippolyta, Egeus, and Demetrius exit the scene, Lysander and Hermia are left alone and devise a plan to flee Athens and travel to the home of Lysander’s widowed aunt, where Athenian law will have no hold over them. They plan to meet the following night in the woods outside Athens. Their conversation is overheard by Helena, who arrives longing for Demetrius’s affection. Hermia and Lysander share their escape plan with Helena before departing. Left alone, Helena resolves to inform Demetrius of Hermia and Lysander’s plan to flee into the woods, hoping that by doing so she will earn his favor and gratitude, even if only briefly, as he pursues them.

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.