A Midsummer Night's Dream By: Tan Ly

The initial setting of the play's scenes is Athens under the reign of Theses and Hippolyta, who are themselves characters from ancient Greek mythology. But it must be understood that the "Athens" of A Midsummer Night's Dream is neither that of ancient Greece nor of its Renaissance counterpart, but an amalgamation of the former with the folk culture of Elizabethan England. After Act I, the play shifts to the "fairyland woods" and remains there through …

…criticisms about the play. When the performance ends, all the mortals depart, while Oberon, Titania, and Puck appear with their fairy retinue. This provides Puck the opportunity to present the play's closing epilogue in which he thanks the audience for their kind indulgence in watching a play with a "weak and idle theme," saying that what has gone before is no more harmful than a dream. (Jump to the text of Act V, scene i)