This is a play which has very serious undertones. One of the most interesting is the role of the fairies within the play and just how deeply their own machinations shape the experiences of the humans in the play. One should keep in mind that when looking at traditional folklore, the fairies could be extremely dangerous and arbitrary (and this is certainly the case with Shakespeare's fairies). Puck plays a significant role in manipulating the events of the plot, using enchantment to cause Lysander to fall in love with Helena, causing him to abandon Hermia in the woods. There's something very double-edged and dangerous about the fairies here: they can certainly act as protectors and patrons (with Oberon and Titania claiming this responsibility at the end of the play), but on the other hand, they use human beings as pawns, with little consideration for the human beings themselves. Meanwhile, the human characters themselves are unable to offer resistance against those manipulations.

In addition, there's a theme of betrayal in how (while be-spelled) Lysander and Demetrius abandon their pursuit of Hermia to pursue Helena instead. When we look towards how the two women are depicted, the emotional pain is very real and apparent. Hermia has been abandoned in the woods by Lysander, who is now suddenly pursuing Helena. In addition to Hermia's own confusion, we also have Helena, who thinks this is all a cruel jest and lashes out at Hermia, who she thinks has manipulated this out of cruelty. The audience knows that this is all the work of an enchantment, but for the women themselves, this amounts to a horrible experience of betrayal and humiliation—and one which is ultimately incomprehensible, given just how much of this experience has been artificially induced by fairy enchantment.

Although it is a comedy, A Midsummer Night's Dream certainly raises important issues and seeks to provoke thought on the part of the audience. One issue the play deals with is the gender roles in Shakespeare's time. The fantasy setting of the play allows Shakespeare to try out different conceptions of gender roles. For instance, several of the characters seek to escape society's rules regarding marriage by escaping into the forest. In the end, the marriage ceremonies demonstrate the triumph of traditional gender roles, but the temporary fantasy space outside society suggests those roles are open to challenge. The play also points to divisions of class in Elizabethan society, exemplified by the working-class "mechanicals" whose language and attitudes disrupt the reality of the other characters. The fantasy setting allows the play to challenge gender and class distinctions in a non-threatening manner.