A Midsummer Night's Dream (16 page)

Lines 1–129:
Theseus and Hippolyta discuss their wedding, measuring the time they must wait by the moon—a key motif in the play. Theseus has defeated Hippolyta in battle, but promises to wed her “in another key.” Egeus interrupts, bringing his daughter and her two suitors. In formal language, reflecting the court setting, he complains that Demetrius has his permission to marry Hermia, but that she loves Lysander, who has “bewitched” her, raising the themes of love and magic. Egeus asks for the “ancient privilege of Athens,” whereby Hermia must obey him or be executed. Hermia, subject to patriarchal rule, is reduced to a commodity by Egeus' claim that “As she is mine, I may dispose of her.” As Hermia argues that Lysander is as “worthy” as Demetrius, she raises another key motif in the play: the idea that perceptions of “worth” are often created solely by the desire of others. Theseus rules that Hermia has until his wedding to decide whether to marry Demetrius, “die the death,” or “endure the livery of a nun” (a futile and “barren” existence). Hermia shows strength, claiming she will live and die a virgin as she “consents not to give sovereignty” to Demetrius. Egeus, Lysander, and Demetrius argue over Hermia, with Lysander insisting that he is “As well possessed” as Demetrius, and furthermore that, until recently, “inconstant” Demetrius courted Helena, who “dotes” on him. Theseus decrees, however, that he may not “extenuate” Athens' law.

Lines 130–182:
Hermia and Lysander discuss their circumstances. Lysander says that all the evidence of his reading from “tale or history” shows that “The course of true love never did run smooth.” He lists various examples of thwarted love, perhaps implicitly drawing attention to the varied source materials for the play and acknowledging the familiar narrative theme of forbidden love. Hermia agrees to meet Lysander in the woods the next night and run
away to his aunt's house where they can marry, safe from “sharp Athenian law.”

Lines 183–254:
Helena wishes she looked like Hermia so that Demetrius would love her. Hermia protests that she does not ask for Demetrius' love, which he gives her even though she curses him, but Helena blames her nonetheless. Hermia and Lysander tell Helena of their planned flight and wish her luck. Once alone, Helena dwells on how she is considered as “fair” as Hermia throughout Athens, but this does not matter, as Demetrius does not think so. She observes how “Things base and vile, holding no quantity, / Love can transpose to form and dignity”: desire can give something or someone worth. She resolves to tell Demetrius about Hermia and Lysander's intended escape.

The second group of characters is introduced—the artisans who are to perform as part of the wedding entertainment. Their preparation and performance of the play-within-the-play creates comedy and a clear sense of theatrical self-awareness, as the limitations of their stagecraft highlight the sophistication of the wider play. The position of this scene between one involving the mortals and one involving the fairies perhaps emphasizes the role of the theater in the movement between reality and illusion.

Quince allocates parts in “The most lamentable comedy and most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisbe,” a humorous muddling of the genres of comedy and tragedy, but a reminder that there is often a fine line between the two. Comedy is created through Bottom's interruptions as he asks to be allowed to play all the parts and demonstrates how good he would be at each. Humor is also created through language—punning, bawdy, and Bottom's malapropisms. The practicalities and politics of staging are touched upon, as they discuss costumes, the fact that Flute does not wish to play a woman since he has “a beard coming,” and how they must not incur the displeasure of their noble audience by frightening the ladies as “that were enough to hang us all.” They agree to meet
the next night in the wood to rehearse “by moonlight,” so as to be private.

The final group of characters, the fairies, are introduced, and their world is evoked through both natural imagery, suggesting the nighttime and woodland, and mythical and expansive language, suggesting a world not subject to the same limitations as the mortal one. Despite the beauty and enchantment they conjure, there is also a potentially chaotic, darker element to their world, contrasting with the restrained and ordered court.

Lines 1–60:
Robin Goodfellow (the Puck) and the Fairy establish their roles in the mortal world—either creating the natural environment by tasks such as placing dew as “a pearl in every cowslip's ear,” or mischievously interfering with domestic life—“knavish” Robin “frights the maidens” or will “Mislead night-wanderers, laughing at their harm.” They signal the approach of Oberon and Titania and establish that the king and queen of the fairies are currently arguing over ownership of a “changeling” Indian boy that Titania has as her attendant.

Lines 61–147:
Titania goes to leave, but Oberon orders her to “Tarry,” asking “am not I thy Lord?,” showing a similar patriarchal authority to Theseus in the mortal court and emphasizing the parallels between these two characters. Titania describes how their quarrel has impacted on the mortal world, showing the darker side of the fairies, as the land is covered with “Contagious fogs” and the corn “Hath rotted.” Oberon argues that Titania could end their quarrel and thus mortal suffering by giving him the little Indian boy, but Titania refuses. Oberon declines Titania's invitation to dance in the fairy round. She leaves.

Lines 148–191:
Using imagery that evokes the limitless and enchanted world of the fairies and reinforces the sexual and hunting themes that recur in the play, Oberon describes to Robin a time when he saw Cupid aim an arrow at “a fair vestal,” but hit a flower instead,
turning it “purple with love's wound.” He sends Robin to collect this flower, the juice from which will make the person on whose “sleeping eyelids” it has been placed fall in love with the first creature they see on waking. Once alone, Oberon reveals his intention to apply the juice to Titania's eyes and watch her fall in love with the first thing she looks at, “Be it on lion, bear, or wolf or bull.” He will make her “render up her page” before he will remove the spell. Hearing Helena and Demetrius approach, he declares “I am invisible”—reinforcing his magical nature, but also drawing attention to theater and dramatic irony as he, too, becomes an “audience,” invisibly observing the action.

Lines 192–273:
Demetrius is angered by the difficulty in finding his way, claiming that it makes him “wood” (mad or frantic), emphasizing the disorder associated with this setting. He tries to stop Helena following him, telling her that he does not love her and warning that she is risking “the rich worth” of her virginity by entering the woods with him. Helena acknowledges his power over her by describing herself as his “spaniel,” that he may “beat” and “spurn,” although this passivity contrasts with her assertive warning that she will follow him wherever he goes. When they have gone, Robin returns with the flower and Oberon takes some of it to “streak” the eyes of Titania, then sends Robin to apply some to “disdainful” Demetrius—whom he will know by his “Athenian garments”—so that he will love Helena.

The rapid action of the next few scenes highlights the confusion caused by the fairies' involvement in the mortal world and the disorienting nature of the dark woods.

Lines 1–34:
Titania calls her train to sing her to sleep before they go about their fairy tasks. Once she is asleep, Oberon squeezes the flower's juice onto her eyelids and leaves.

Lines 35–83:
Lysander and Hermia are lost and decide to rest until daylight. Lysander wishes to sleep close to Hermia, but she asks him, out of “love and courtesy” to “Lie further off,” as this is more fitting to her virtue. Robin the Puck enters, complaining that he has
searched the forest for an Athenian and “found none.” He sees sleeping Lysander in his Athenian clothes, and Hermia lying at a distance. Assuming that Hermia is distanced because the man is a “lack-love” who has spurned her, he concludes that these are the mortals that Oberon described. He applies the juice to Lysander's eyelids and leaves as Demetrius enters, running away from Helena.

Lines 84–156:
Helena pleads with Demetrius to stop but he refuses and runs off, leaving her alone in the dark. In a speech that makes reference to sight, drawing attention to the way the characters' literal and metaphorical perception is distorted by both magic and love, she reveals her jealousy of Hermia and her “blessèd and attractive eyes.” Helena bewails her own appearance, claiming that she is “ugly as a bear” and that Demetrius sees her “as a monster.” She stumbles on Lysander and wakes him. On seeing her, enchanted Lysander falls in love and rejects Hermia, saying that Helena is “the worthier maid.” Helena, convinced that Lysander is mocking her, leaves. He follows, leaving “hated” Hermia alone. Hermia wakes from a nightmare, the description of which highlights the more potentially threatening side of the wood and the fairies, as she finds herself alone in the dark and ready to “swoon almost with fear.”

Lines 1–51:
The artisans rehearse in the glade where Titania sleeps. Theatrical self-awareness is evident throughout the scene, particularly in the allocation of “This green plot” as their stage and “this hawthorn brake” as their “tiring-house,” as stage becomes woodland in the audience's imagination and is then transformed back into a stage in the minds of the characters. They discuss the details of staging, worrying about the lion or Pyramus' death upsetting the ladies in the audience, and considering how they will convey moonshine. Their simplistic approach once again emphasizes the sophistication of the wider performance.

Lines 52–190:
Robin sustains the theatrical self-awareness as he observes the rehearsals and says that he will “be an auditor, / An actor too perhaps.” Bottom makes a “stage exit,” followed by Robin.
He returns with an ass's head as a result of Robin's spell and frightens the others away, pursued by Robin. Bottom, confused by their behavior, decides that they mean to frighten him and sings so that they see that he is “not afraid.” His singing wakes Titania, who, under the enchantment of the flower, is “enamoured” and “enthralled” of Bottom's singing and appearance and falls in love with him. She persuades him to remain in the woods with her, and calls upon four fairies to attend to him as she leads him to her bower.

Lines 1–40:
Oberon wonders what Titania now “must dote on.” Robin appears and reports that she is in love with “a monster,” recounting the events of the previous scene. He says that he has put the juice in the Athenian's eyes, but as Demetrius and Hermia enter, it becomes clear that Oberon and Robin do not mean the same Athenian. They stand aside and watch.

Lines 41–121:
Hermia believes that Demetrius has “slain Lysander in his sleep,” as there can be no other explanation for his leaving her. Demetrius denies this and realizes that there is no point in following Hermia, who leaves. He rests and falls asleep. Oberon realizes Robin's mistake and sends him to fetch Helena, then places the juice on Demetrius' eyelids while chanting a spell. Robin reports that Helena is on her way, followed by Lysander. He revels in the situation and suggests they enjoy the “sport” of watching how “two at once woo one.”

Lines 122–357:
As Lysander tries to convince Helena that he loves her, Demetrius wakes up. Under the influence of the flower, he too falls in love with Helena, but she thinks that they are both mocking her. Hermia enters, having heard Lysander's voice, and demands to know why he left her. Lysander declares his love for Helena and his hatred of Hermia, who says that “it cannot be.” Helena, however, thinks that Hermia is part of “this confed'racy” and that all three are joined to spite her. She berates the bewildered Hermia, reminding her of their close friendship since childhood—“Two lovely berries moulded on one stem”—and accuses her of encouraging Lysander and Demetrius.

Lysander challenges Demetrius to a duel. Hermia desperately tries
to remind him of the love they share, but he insists that he hates her and loves Helena. Hermia turns on Helena, accusing her of stealing Lysander's love. The two women argue, insulting each other over their respective heights—Hermia describes Helena as a “painted maypole”—but their repeated use of the words “low” and “lower” also apply to their positions in the esteem of the two men, again emphasizing the notion that it is the desire of others that creates worth. Demetrius and Lysander leave together to fight their duel and Helena and Hermia also exit.

Lines 358–408:
Oberon suggests that Robin “wilfully” caused the confusion, which he denies, saying that he did as Oberon requested, “ 'nointed an Athenian's eyes,” although he does confess to finding sport in the resulting “jangling.” Oberon commands Robin to “overcast the night” and lead Lysander and Demetrius astray, so that they cannot meet and fight. He is to lead them around until they fall asleep, exhausted, and then put the juice of a different herb into Lysander's eyes, which will make all that has happened “seem a dream.” While Robin does this, Oberon is going to beg Titania for the Indian boy and release her from the spell. Robin says that they must be quick as daylight is approaching—perhaps a metaphor for the impending restoration of order—and fairies “themselves exile from light.” Oberon argues that he can exist in daylight, but agrees that a quick resolution is needed.