Act I
Scene I
Athens. The palace of Theseus.
Enter Theseus, Hippolyta, Philostrate, and Attendants.
Theseus
Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hourDraws on apace; four happy days bring inAnother moon: but, O, methinks, how slowThis old moon wanes! she lingers my desires,Like to a step-dame or a dowagerLong withering out a young man’s revenue.
Hippolyta
Four days will quickly steep themselves in night;Four nights will quickly dream away the time;And then the moon, like to a silver bowNew-bent in heaven, shall behold the nightOf our solemnities.
Theseus
Go, Philostrate,Stir up the Athenian youth to merriments;Awake the pert and nimble spirit of mirth:Turn melancholy forth to funerals;The pale companion is not for our pomp. Exit Philostrate.Hippolyta, I woo’d thee with my sword,And won thy love, doing thee injuries;But I will wed thee in another key,With pomp, with triumph and with revelling.
Enter Egeus, Hermia, Lysander, and Demetrius.
Egeus
Happy be Theseus, our renowned duke!
Theseus
Thanks, good Egeus: what’s the news with thee?
Egeus
Full of vexation come I, with complaintAgainst my child, my daughter Hermia.Stand forth, Demetrius. My noble lord,This man hath my consent to marry her.Stand forth, Lysander: and, my gracious duke,This man hath bewitch’d the bosom of my child:

Hamlet
Macbeth
Romeo and Juliet
The Tempest
She Stoops to Conquer
The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus
The School for Scandal
The Playboy of the Western World
An Ideal Husband
The Importance of Being Earnest