"The course of true love never did run smooth."
"True love never had an easy time of it."
Lysander · Act 1, Scene 1
Comedy · 1594
A Midsummer Night's Dream, in Modern English
The full play, original text on one side, plain modern English on the other — every scene, free.
- Year
- 1594
- Genre
- Comedy
- Setting
- Athens; the surrounding forest
- Acts & scenes
- 5 acts · 9 scenes
- Reading time
- ~2 hours
- Audio runtime
- ~1h 45m (in app)
What it's about
Four Athenians run away to the forest only to have Puck the fairy make both of the boys fall in love with the same girl. The four run through the forest pursuing each other while Puck helps his master play a trick on the fairy queen.
Four Athenians run away to the forest only to have Puck the fairy make both of the boys fall in love with the same girl.
Study guide
Everything we have for A Midsummer Night's Dream, all on one page.
Read
The full play, scene by scene, original beside modern English.
Characters
Who's who — and what each one wants.
Themes
What the play is about, beneath the plot.
Motifs & Symbols
Patterns Shakespeare keeps returning to.
Famous Quotes
The lines you know, paraphrased and explained.
Scene Summaries
What happens in each scene, and why it matters.
Quiz
Fifteen questions. No login.
About this Play
Year, setting, length, why people read it.
Read by scene
Tap any scene below to start reading.
Act I
Act II
Act III
Famous lines, translated
The ones you've heard. The ones you almost remember. Now in plain English.
"Lord, what fools these mortals be!"
"My god, mortals are such fools!"
Puck · Act 3, Scene 2
In the app 
Hear every line of A Midsummer Night's Dream, narrated.
Common questions
Is the modern English translation accurate?
Yes — every line is matched to its original. Our translations preserve meaning over cleverness: where Shakespeare uses a metaphor, we keep it; where the wordplay turns on a sound that no longer exists, we explain rather than fake it. This is a translation, not a summary.
How long does A Midsummer Night's Dream take to read?
About 2 hours at a steady pace. With synced narration in the app, the runtime is roughly 1h 45m — and you can pause anywhere without losing your place.
Is the original text complete and unabridged?
Yes. We use the full public-domain First Folio text, with no cuts. The simplified column runs in parallel — every line of original Shakespeare has its modern English match.
Where can I listen to it?
Synced read-along narration is in the Fluid Shakespeare app on iOS and Android. Tap a line; press play; the words highlight as they're read. Get the app →