Act III, Scene II Summary

After carrying out (wrongly, of course) his master’s plans, Puck returns to Oberon to report the results. After explaining Titania’s love of the ass-head Bottom, Oberon is extremely pleased with Puck. However, after Demetrius and Hermia walk onto the scene and Puck says he anointed the eyes of a different Athenian, Oberon becomes angry because Puck failed his job. Hermia yells at Demetrius, accusing him of murder of Lysander. After Hermia finally leaves, Demetrius falls asleep, and, trying to fix the mess they made, Oberon anoints his eyes with the magic nectar. Then, Lysander and Helena walk into Demetrius’ place, Lysander lusting after Helena and Helena believing she is being mocked. Demetrius is woken up and falls immediately in love with Helena, which makes her think she is being mocked still. Lysander and Demetrius argue endlessly for Helena when Hermia finds them and grabs Lysander, asking him what’s going on. He rudely shakes her off and she is very confused. When she realizes he has left her for Helena, she threatens Helena violently and Helena accuses her fo being part of the pranking conspiracy. At this point Lysander and Demetrius actually prepare to duel each other, but then Oberon orders Puck to impersonate the two men, leading the other of track until both Lysander and Demetrius are exhausted and fall asleep. Helena and Hermia quickly follow suit. After all of this, Puck anoints the eyes of Lysander again to try to undo the love of Helena and restore his love of Hermia.