First, the natural world is the world of humans. Hermia and Lysander decide to elope, telling midsummer nights dream party Helena, who loves Demetrius.
They set a date to rehearse in the forest. King and Queen of the Fairies, Oberon and Titania quarrel over a changeling boy. Overhearing Helena and Demetrius, Oberon orders Puck to find a flower with the power to make a person fall in love. He plans to get revenge on Titania, and to make Demetrius fall in love with Helena. Meanwhile, Hermia and Lysander have fled Athens and settle down to sleep in the forest.
Puck mistakes Lysander for Demetrius and applies the magic juice on him just as Helena stumbles in. Waking up, Lysander falls in love with Helena! The Mechanicals meet near Titania’s bower in the forest to rehearse their play. Amused by their incompetence, Puck transforms Bottom’s head into an ass which causes the actors to flee in fear. Titania, who has had the love juice squeezed on her eyes, wakes up, falls in love with Bottom and showers him with praise and gifts.
Oberon realizes Puck has gotten the wrong Athenian and they rectify the mistake. Under the influence of the love potion, Demetrius now falls in love with Helena. Now Lysander and Demetrius fight over Helena’s affections. Helena believes she’s the butt of some sick joke and Hermia can’t believe Lysander’s change of heart.
At Oberon’s orders, Puck leads the Athenian youths out of the forest and applies an antidote to Lysander so his love to Hermia returns. Now all is well: there are two happily in love couples. They fall asleep, are found by the duke the next morning, and get married that evening. Titania also gets the antidote, Bottom’s head is restored and the King and Queen of the Fairies reconcile.
After the three weddings, the Mechanicals perform Pyramus and Thisbe for the Athenians. The duke Theseus, upholder of authority and order in Athens, is set to marry the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta. He has won his bride-to-be after the Athenians defeated Hippolyta’s all-women warrior tribe. Egeus interrupts, scurrying into Theseus’s court and begging him to reinstate order. His daughter Hermia is stubbornly in love with Lysander, even though Egeus insists she marry Demetrius. After this, Lysander and Hermia linger behind mulling over their options.
They resolve to elope and live with Lysander’s aunt, somewhere far away from the cruel Athenian law. Helena enters and jealously laments the fact that Demetrius loves the beautiful Hermia instead of her. To set her friend’s mind at ease, Hermia assures her that she and Lysander are eloping. Helena decides to double-cross Hermia by sharing this intel with Demetrius, in the hope that he like her more.