A Midsummer Night's Dream inspired by the play, that was first performed in 1827. In 1842, partly because of the fame of the overture, and partly because his employer King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia liked the incidental music that Mendelssohn had written for other plays that had been staged at the palace in German translation, Mendelssohn was commissioned to write incidental music for a production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" that was to be staged in 1843 in Potsdam. He incorporated the existing Overture into the incidental music, which was used in most stage versions through the 19th century. The best known of
Helena (A Midsummer Night's Dream) sleep again. Puck crushes another herb into Lysander's eyes, negating the effect of the first one. When the lovers are discovered in the morning by a hunting Theseus, Hippolyta, and Egeus, all is put to rights. Demetrius claims that a metaphorical 'sickness' made him love Hermia, but in health, his love has returned to Helena. The lovers are married in a joint ceremony with Theseus and Hippolyta and together watch the play put on by the Mechanicals in honor of the marriages. While not the only protagonist of "A Midsummer Night's Dream", Helena is one of its most talkative characters.