A Midsummer Night's Dream Characters
Every major character in A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare, with a portrait, who they are and the chapters they appear in.
DemetriusMajor character · 6 chaptersAn Athenian courtier favored by Egeus as Hermia’s suitor, whose pursuit triggers the lovers’ flight and fairy-caused confusion.
HelenaMajor character · 6 chaptersOne of four Athenian lovers; loyal, insecure woman who pursues Demetrius and becomes central to the forest’s enchanted confusions.
HermiaMajor character · 6 chaptersA spirited Athenian noblewoman who refuses an arranged marriage and flees with Lysander, catalyzing the play’s romantic conflicts.
LysanderMajor character · 6 chaptersYoung Athenian lover devoted to Hermia who flees Athens and becomes entangled in fairy mischief that alters his affections.
PuckMajor character · 6 chaptersOberon's mischievous, shape-shifting attendant who instigates and then helps resolve the play’s magical confusions.
OberonMajor character · 5 chaptersKing of the fairies who engineers enchantments that tangle and restore the lovers’ affections and reconcile with Titania.
Peter QuinceMajor character · 5 chaptersPractical, good-natured leader of the amateur actors who organizes and directs the Mechanicals’ play for the Duke’s wedding.
Robin StarvelingMinor character · 5 chaptersA humble Athenian tailor and one of the 'rude mechanicals' who joins an amateur troupe to perform at the Duke’s wedding.
TheseusMajor character · 5 chaptersDuke of Athens whose law, judgment, and planned wedding frame and ultimately reconcile the play’s conflicts.
TitaniaMajor character · 5 chaptersProud Queen of the Fairies whose quarrel with Oberon unsettles nature and whose enchanted infatuation drives comic chaos in the wood.
Francis FluteMinor character · 4 chaptersAn earnest Athenian artisan and one of the 'Mechanicals' chosen to play Thisbe in the craftsmen’s amateur play.
HippolytaMajor character · 4 chaptersQueen of the Amazons and betrothed to Theseus, a calm and authoritative presence who frames the play’s resolution.- BBottomMajor character · 3 chaptersA confident, blundering Athenian weaver-turned-actor whose comic egotism and enchanted misadventure drive some of the play’s funniest scenes.
CobwebMinor character · 3 chaptersOne of Titania’s attendant fairies, part of a playful quartet who wait on the Fairy Queen and carry out her commands.
MothMinor character · 3 chaptersA gentle fairy attendant of Queen Titania who helps pamper Bottom and joins the fairy train in blessing the households.
MustardseedMinor character · 3 chaptersOne of Titania’s attendant fairies, part of the quartet who wait on the enchanted Bottom in the wood.
PeaseblossomMinor character · 3 chaptersA gentle, obliging fairy in Titania’s train who pampers and attends Bottom during Titania’s enchantment.- PPyramusMinor character · 3 chaptersThe tragic lover in the mechanicals’ play 'Pyramus and Thisbe', performed badly but earnestly for the Duke’s wedding.
SnugMinor character · 3 chaptersA timid but earnest Athenian tradesman, one of the Mechanicals assigned to play the Lion in their amateur production.- TThisbeMinor character · 3 chaptersThe doomed lover in the mechanicals’ amateur play, performed by Francis Flute as part of the Pyramus and Thisbe interlude.
Tom SnoutMinor character · 3 chaptersA practical, good-natured Athenian tinker and one of the amateur “Mechanicals” rehearsing the play for the Duke’s wedding.
EgeusMajor character · 2 chaptersHermia’s father, an Athenian courtier who demands obedience to his choice of husband and invokes the law to enforce it.
Nick BottomMajor character · 2 chaptersAn exuberant amateur actor who insists on playing every part and drives the Mechanicals’ rehearsals with comic overconfidence.
PhilostrateMinor character · 2 chaptersMaster of the Revels in Theseus’s court who arranges entertainment and presents the mechanicals to the duke.
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