| Theseus | duke of Athens; at start of play, recently returned from conquering the Amazons and is about to marry their queen, Hippolyta; projects confidence, authority, and benevolent power |
| Hippolyta | queen of the Amazons; engaged to marry Theseus; does not act like an unwilling bride; Theseus is very cordial towards her, and she is unfailingly differential toward him |
| Egeus | respected nobleman in Theseus’ court; complains that his daughter Hermia refuses to marry Demetrius, his choice for her; asks Theseus to impose the death penalty on her if she refuses to marry Demetrius |
| Hermia | Egeus’ daughter; beautiful young woman of Athens; both Demetrius and Lysander are in love with her; defies her father’s wish that she marry Demetrius because she loves Lysander; strong-willed and independent; resolves to elope with Lysander; childhood friend of Helena |
| Lysander | a young nobleman of Athens; in love with Hermia; believes that love must conquer all obstacles, and persuades Hermia to run away from her home and family with him to the forest to elope |
| Demetrius | a young nobleman of Athens; previously loved Helena but favor shifted to Hermia; is emboldened by Egeus’ approval of him, and is undeterred by the fact that Hermia doesn’t want him |
| Helena | a young woman of Athens in love with Demetrius; has been rejected and abandoned by Demetrius, who claimed to love her until he met her best friend, Hermia; often speaks in self-pitying tone; puts herself in dangerous and humiliating situations; throws herself at Demetrius, who now wants nothing to do with her |
| Puck | real name is Robin Goodfellow; delights in pranking mortals; Oberon’s jester; sprinkles the flower juice on the eyes of various characters to change who they love, and much of the play’s confusion arises from this |
| Oberon | king of the fairies; begins the play at odds with his wife, Titania, because she refuses to relinquish control of a young Indian prince whom she kidnapped, but whom Oberon wants for a knight; revenge leads him to send Puck to get the love-potion flower, starting the debacles in the play |
| Titania | queen of the fairies; resists the attempts of her husband, Oberon, to make a knight of the young Indian prince whom she has taken; sworn to avoid his company and his bed until Oberon gives up his quest; upset that Oberon has been disrupting her and her followers’ magic fairy dances |
| Nick Bottom | overconfident weaver chosen to play Pyramus in a play that a group of craftsmen decide to put on tor Theseus’ wedding celebration; full of advice and confidence but makes silly mistakes and misuses language; his nonchalance about Titania’s sudden love for him and unawareness of the fact that Puck transforms his head into that of a donkey’s are the pinnacle of arrogance |
| Peter Quince | carpenter and the nominal leader of the craftsmen’s attempt to put on a play for Theseus’ marriage celebration; often shoved aside by Bottom’s overconfidence; in the craftsmen’s play, plays the Prologue |
| Francis Flute | bellows-mender chosen to play Thisbe in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’ marriage celebration; forced to play a young girl in love, and so determines to speak his lines in a high, squeaky voice |
| Robin Starveling | tailor chosen to play Thisbe’s mother in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’ wedding celebration; ends up playing the part of Moonshine |
| Tom Snout | tinker chosen to play Pyramus in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’ wedding celebration; ends up laying the Wall that divides two lovers |
| Philostrate | Theseus’ Master of the Revels; responsible for organizing the entertainment for the duke’s marriage celebration |
| Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Mote, and Mustardseed | the fairies whom Titania orders to wait on Bottom after she falls in love with him (via the love potion flower) |
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” Characters
July 4, 2019