Act 2, Scene 2

Act 2, Scene 2

That night in the woods, Titania's fairy followers sing her to sleep in a beautiful glade. Oberon then sneaks past the guard protecting her, and drops the juice on her sleeping eyelids. He hopes that when she wakes the first living thing she sees will be utterly vile, and exits.

Lysander and Hermia decide to rest in the woods, and Hermia insists they sleep far apart. Puck enters the scene and assumes that he has found Demetrius and Helena, since they are not sleeping beside each other. He places the juice of the flower on Lysander's eyes.

Demetrius enters, followed by Helena. He curses her again and runs away, and she is too tired to follow him. She spots Lysander near by and wakes him, but he immediately professes his love for her. Thinking that he is mocking her, Helena runs away. Before chasing after her, Lysander declares to the sleeping Hermia that she should never come near him again.

Hermia wakes up to find herself alone. Terrified, she runs off to find Lysander.