When is William Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' set?

Question

I know it was written in 1594/5 but did Shakespeare set it in his modern day Athens, or in the past? Thanks :)

Answer 1

The play-within-a-play in Act V is to celebrate the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta.  These are characters from Greek mythology: Theseus is the hero who slayed the Gorgon and Hippolyta is the Amazon Queen whom Theseus kidnapped. This places the play in a mythical Athens of the past.

Answer 2

He set it in the past i think.

Answer 3

the great thing about Shakespeare's plays is that they can be set anywhere, and anytime. this gives a lot of freedom to the play, and means that Shakespeare didn't have to worry about historical references in most of his plays.