William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is, in its most basic form, a rom-com. Say what you will about Shakespeare’s contributions to the English written form, but the man truly knew how to weave together different tropes that us book lovers adore — the miscommunication trope, the classic love triangle and the tragedy of unrequited love. He knew how to make you laugh and how to make you cry, but his emotion-provoking genius is oftentimes lost on this generation due to the convolutedness of his work. Fret not, however, as this CliffsNotes version of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”will detangle all the confusion created by our boy Will’s old-time British charm.

First and foremost, here is what you need to know — the story is set four days prior to the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta, the duke and soon-to-be dutchess of Athens, Greece. Egeus, seemingly an old friend of Theseus, is throwing a fit because his daughter, Hermia, does not want to marry the man that he wants her to marry, Demetrius. Instead, Hermia has fallen in love with Lysander, who is just as disgustingly in love with her. Demetrius is also in love with Hermia (hence the love triangle), but he had an affair with Helena, who is now hopelessly in love with him, although he does not return the sentiment. I’m now starting to understand where the “Gilmore Girls” writers got their material from.

Concurrently, a group of villagers are planning to put on a play for the duke and duchess at their wedding. For the purpose of this summary, the only character whose name is of remembrance is Bottom (yes, that is actually his name), who plays the lead role in the play. Also, there is a king, Oberon, and queen, Titania, of fairies who are dealing with marital issues, and the king has a servant named Puck.

The story begins to unravel when Theseus gives Hermia an ultimatum — either she marries Demetrius in four days time, she dies or she lives the life of a nun. Unhappy with all these wonderful options, she and Lysander plan to meet in the woods the following night to run away together. Hermia, very wisely, decides to tell Helena this plan, which Helena, in her state of delusion, then tells to Demetrius, believing that he will thank her. (Spoiler: he does not).

In the meantime, the villagers plan to meet in the woods the following night to practice their play away from the prying eyes of the town. It is then revealed that the root of Oberon and Titania’s marital issues is an abandoned boy who Titania has devoted her full attention to, and Oberon is jealous (which has Freud quite literally rolling in his grave). Faced with no other choice, Oberon has Puck find a magical herb that, once applied to the eyes, will make one fall in love with the first thing they see. He intends to give it to his wife so he can kidnap the small and innocent child that he’s envious of, embarrassing her in the process. In summary, the entire cast is meeting in the same place at the same time. What a coincidence.

Cut to the night where everyone is meeting in the woods, and Helena and Demetrius are having a non-lovers lovers’ quarrel. Oberon, taking pity on Helena, commands Puck to not only cast the love spell on Titania, but also on a man in an Athenian uniform to fall in love with Helena. Simple, right? Wrong, because Demetrius is not the only man in an Athenian uniform wandering around in the woods. Lysander and Hermia, already exhausted for no reason whatsoever, decide to take a nap, at which time Puck casts the spell on Lysander. Long story short, Lysander wakes up and falls in love with Helena, who is incredibly confused with the sudden love confession and runs off. Puck eventually realizes his mistake and attempts to rectify it by casting the spell on Demetrius as well, shifting the love triangle so that Helena is in the middle of it, and Hermia is reduced to chopped liver.

While this madness is occurring, the villagers are practicing their play, and Puck finds it amusing to turn Bottom into, well, a literal bottom. Titania then wakes up, falling in love with the most gorgeous Bottom she has ever laid eyes on. This gives Oberon the opportunity to snatch the child, promptly undoing the magic love spell on everyone afflicted, restoring Bottom to his regular bottomness and leaving everyone to believe that everything was nothing but a midsummer night’s dream.

In the end, Theseus has a change of heart and lets the couples be (did I mention, Demetrius is in love with Helena for real now), and the play is a huge hit at the wedding. The End.