First there are the four lover characters: Hermia, Helena, Demetrius and Lysander. All four are head over heels in love and all four have something standing in the way of that love. Hermia and Lysander are in love but Hermia’s father Egeus doesn’t want them to marry. Instead he wants Hermia to marry Demetrius. Demetrius is in love with Hermia but she is not in love with him so even though he has Egeus’ support, Hermia refuses to marry him. Helena is Hermia’s friend and she is in love with Demetrius. But he does not return her feelings. All four spend the play trying to get their love to work out because being with the person they love is what is most important to them.
The goddess Athena, disguised as Mentes, advises Telemachus to visit Pylos and Sparta.
