A Midsummer Night’s Dream - Act 3 Scene 2
Another part of the wood.
Enter OBERON
OBERON
I wonder if Titania be awaked;
Then, what it was that next came in her eye,
Which she must dote on in extremity.
Enter PUCK
Here comes my messenger. How now, mad spirit!
What night-rule now about this haunted grove?
Puck is describing action which the audience has already seen. His description may match the previous scene, or else he may embellish the story, to make himself look better.
Puck may get carried away narrating his treatment of the mechanicals, rather than the relevant details of Titania's situation. Oberon may be enjoying Puck's mischief, or he may be losing patience as he waits to hear about Titania and her "monster."
Puck describes the mechanicals running to and fro in fear, getting their clothes and hats caught in bushes as they tried to escape. These details are probably beyond the staging of 3.1, but may add some colour to the incident.
PUCK
My mistress with a monster is in love.
Near to her close and consecrated bower,
While she was in her dull and sleeping hour,
A crew of patches, rude mechanicals,
That work for bread upon Athenian stalls,
Were met together to rehearse a play
Intended for great Theseus' nuptial day.
The shallowest thickskin of that barren sort,
Who Pyramus presented in their sport,
Forsook his scene and entered in a brake
When I did him at this advantage take,
An ass's nole I fixèd on his head.
Anon his Thisbe must be answerèd,
And forth my mimic comes. When they him spy,
As wild geese that the creeping fowler eye,
Or russet-pated choughs, many in sort,
Rising and cawing at the gun's report,
Sever themselves and madly sweep the sky,
So, at his sight, away his fellows fly,
And, at our stamp, here o'er and o'er one falls.
He "murder" cries and help from Athens calls.
Their sense thus weak, lost with their fears thus strong,
Made senseless things begin to do them wrong;
For briers and thorns at their apparel snatch;
Some sleeves, some hats, from yielders all things catch.
I led them on in this distracted fear,
And left sweet Pyramus translated there.
When in that moment, so it came to pass,
Titania waked and straightway loved an ass.
OBERON
This falls out better than I could devise.
But hast thou yet latched the Athenian's eyes
With the love-juice, as I did bid thee do?
A standard but effective comic moment: Puck is confident and proud of his own achievement, moments before being confronted with his mistake.
PUCK
I took him sleeping — that is finished too —
And the Athenian woman by his side.
That, when he waked, of force she must be eyed.
Enter HERMIA and DEMETRIUS
Oberon's command to "stand close" may indicate that he and Puck hide from the lovers, or else they may again 'become invisible,' moving freely about the stage unseen and unheard.
OBERON
Stand close: this is the same Athenian.
PUCK
This is the woman, but not this the man.
DEMETRIUS
O, why rebuke you him that loves you so?
Lay breath so bitter on your bitter foe.
Demetrius once again pursues Hermia, but she fears that he has murdered Lysander. The extreme emotions can be exaggerated into farce, or can be played for pathos. Hermia's unshakeable faith in Lysander's love is both funny and moving, given that the audience knows of his enchanted love for Helena.
HERMIA
Now I but chide, but I should use thee worse,
For thou, I fear, hast given me cause to curse.
If thou hast slain Lysander in his sleep,
Being o'er shoes in blood, plunge in the deep,
And kill me too.
The sun was not so true unto the day
As he to me. Would he have stolen away
From sleeping Hermia? I'll believe as soon
This whole earth may be bored and that the moon
May through the centre creep and so displease
Her brother's noontide with Antipodes.
It cannot be but thou hast murdered him;
So should a murderer look, so dead, so grim.
DEMETRIUS
So should the murdered look, and so should I,
Pierced through the heart with your stern cruelty.
Yet you, the murderer, look as bright, as clear,
As yonder Venus in her glimmering sphere.
HERMIA
What's this to my Lysander? Where is he?
Ah, good Demetrius, wilt thou give him me?
DEMETRIUS
I had rather give his carcass to my hounds.
The image of the snake from Hermia's dream returns here, as she accuses Demetrius of being snake-like, both in the sense of being poisonous and deadly, and in the sense of being forked-tongued and deceptive.
HERMIA
Out, dog! Out, cur! Thou drivest me past the bounds
Of maiden's patience. Hast thou slain him, then?
Henceforth be never numbered among men!
O, once tell true, tell true, even for my sake!
Durst thou have looked upon him being awake,
And hast thou killed him sleeping? O brave touch!
Could not a worm, an adder, do so much?
An adder did it, for with doubler tongue
Than thine, thou serpent, never adder stung.
DEMETRIUS
You spend your passion on a misprised mood.
I am not guilty of Lysander's blood,
Nor is he dead, for aught that I can tell.
HERMIA
I pray thee, tell me then that he is well.
DEMETRIUS
An if I could, what should I get therefore?
HERMIA
A privilege never to see me more.
And from thy hated presence part I so.
See me no more, whether he be dead or no.
Exit
Demetrius' language combines legal and mercantile terms. He describes sleep as being in debt to sorrow; thus, sorrow is increased through lack of sleep. He will repay part of the debt by sleeping, offering sorrow some rest.
DEMETRIUS
There is no following her in this fierce vein.
Here therefore for a while I will remain.
So sorrow's heaviness doth heavier grow
For debt that bankrupt sleep doth sorrow owe.
Which now in some slight measure it will pay,
If for his tender here I make some stay.
Lies down [and sleeps]
OBERON
What hast thou done? Thou hast mistaken quite
And laid the love-juice on some true-love's sight.
Of thy misprision must perforce ensue
Some true love turned and not a false turned true.
Puck defends his mistake, arguing that there are a million false lovers for every true one, so his error was massively unlikely.
PUCK
Then fate o'er-rules, that, one man holding troth,
A million fail, confounding oath on oath.
OBERON
About the wood go swifter than the wind,
And Helena of Athens look thou find.
All fancy-sick she is and pale of cheer,
With sighs of love, that costs the fresh blood dear.
By some illusion see thou bring her here.
I'll charm his eyes against she do appear.
Puck's exit here is an opportunity for spectacular effects, such as smoke, trapdoors, or wire lifts.
PUCK
I go, I go; look how I go,
Swifter than arrow from the Tartar's bow.
Exit
OBERON
Flower of this purple dye,
Hit with Cupid's archery,
Sink in apple of his eye.
When his love he doth espy,
Let her shine as gloriously
As the Venus of the sky.
When thou wakest, if she be by,
Beg of her for remedy.
Re-enter PUCK
PUCK
Captain of our fairy band,
Helena is here at hand,
And the youth, mistook by me,
Pleading for a lover's fee.
Shall we their fond pageant see?
Lord, what fools these mortals be!
Oberon remains concerned with the lovers' fate, and with correcting his mistake, but he seems to join puck in enjoying the resulting clashes.
OBERON
Stand aside. The noise they make
Will cause Demetrius to awake.
PUCK
Then will two at once woo one;
That must needs be sport alone;
And those things do best please me
That befall preposterously.
Enter LYSANDER and HELENA
Lysander argues that his tears demonstrate the validity of his love. Since he cries as he swears, he claims, Helena must see the truth of his vows.
LYSANDER
Why should you think that I should woo in scorn?
Scorn and derision never come in tears.
Look, when I vow, I weep; and vows so born,
In their nativity all truth appears.
How can these things in me seem scorn to you,
Bearing the badge of faith, to prove them true?
Helena accurately points out that Lysander swore the same oaths to Hermia. Those oaths cancel out his current vows, demonstrating his lack of faith.
HELENA
You do advance your cunning more and more.
When truth kills truth, O devilish-holy fray!
These vows are Hermia's. Will you give her o'er?
Weigh oath with oath, and you will nothing weigh.
Your vows to her and me, put in two scales,
Will even weigh, and both as light as tales.
LYSANDER
I had no judgment when to her I swore.
HELENA
Nor none, in my mind, now you give her o'er.
LYSANDER
Demetrius loves her, and he loves not you.
Demetrius begins to praise Helena's paleness, claiming that snow appears crow-black compared to her. Images of Helena's paleness and Hermia's darkness run through the scene.
DEMETRIUS
[Awaking]
O Helena, goddess, nymph, perfect, divine!
To what, my love, shall I compare thine eyne?
Crystal is muddy. O, how ripe in show
Thy lips, those kissing cherries, tempting grow!
That pure congealèd white, high Taurus' snow,
Fanned with the eastern wind, turns to a crow
When thou hold'st up thy hand. O, let me kiss
This princess of pure white, this seal of bliss!
Dramatic irony becomes a force here: the audience knows that both Lysander and Demetrius are sincere (though enchanted), but the more they insist on their love, the more Helena believes that they are cruelly mocking her.
HELENA
O spite! O hell! I see you all are bent
To set against me for your merriment.
If you were civil and knew courtesy,
You would not do me thus much injury.
Can you not hate me, as I know you do,
But you must join in souls to mock me too?
If you were men, as men you are in show,
You would not use a gentle lady so
To vow, and swear, and superpraise my parts,
When I am sure you hate me with your hearts.
You both are rivals, and love Hermia,
And now both rivals, to mock Helena.
A trim exploit, a manly enterprise,
To conjure tears up in a poor maid's eyes
With your derision! None of noble sort
Would so offend a virgin, and extort
A poor soul's patience, all to make you sport.
Lysander and Demetrius meet face-to-face for the first time since 1.1. Now they are both rivals for Helena (despite her objections), and in the woods, their rivalry threatens to escalate into violence.
LYSANDER
You are unkind, Demetrius. Be not so.
For you love Hermia; this you know I know.
And here, with all good will, with all my heart,
In Hermia's love I yield you up my part;
And yours of Helena to me bequeath,
Whom I do love and will do till my death.
HELENA
Never did mockers waste more idle breath.
DEMETRIUS
Lysander, keep thy Hermia; I will none.
If e'er I loved her, all that love is gone.
My heart to her but as guestwise sojourned,
And now to Helen is it home returned,
There to remain.
LYSANDER
Helen, it is not so.
DEMETRIUS
Disparage not the faith thou dost not know,
Lest, to thy peril, thou aby it dear.
Look, where thy love comes; yonder is thy dear.
Re-enter HERMIA
Hermia reminds us that the scene takes place in the dark of night, explaining that the absence of sight has made her hearing much sharper. Somehow, though, Demetrius was still able to see her coming.
HERMIA
Dark night, that from the eye his function takes,
The ear more quick of apprehension makes.
Wherein it doth impair the seeing sense,
It pays the hearing double recompense.
Thou art not by mine eye, Lysander, found;
Mine ear, I thank it, brought me to thy sound.
But why unkindly didst thou leave me so?
LYSANDER
Why should he stay, whom love doth press to go?
HERMIA
What love could press Lysander from my side?
The scene becomes a reversal of 1.1: both men are now fighting over Helena, and spurning Hermia; both women are bewildered and offended
LYSANDER
Lysander's love, that would not let him bide,
Fair Helena, who more engilds the night
Than all yon fiery oes and eyes of light.
Why seek'st thou me? Could not this make thee know,
The hate I bear thee made me leave thee so?
HERMIA
You speak not as you think. It cannot be.
Helena conjures up her former friendship and shared childhood with Hermia. While the two men are only ever portrayed as rivals, the women's background as friends makes the apparent betrayal all the more cutting.
The image is of a heraldic coat of arms: normally a crest is individual, but Helena claims that she and Hermia are so similar as to share one.
HELENA
Lo, she is one of this confederacy!
Now I perceive they have conjoined all three
To fashion this false sport, in spite of me.
Injurious Hermia! Most ungrateful maid!
Have you conspired, have you with these contrived
To bait me with this foul derision?
Is all the counsel that we two have shared,
The sisters' vows, the hours that we have spent,
When we have chid the hasty-footed time
For parting us — O, is it all forgot?
All school-days' friendship, childhood innocence?
We, Hermia, like two artificial gods,
Have with our needles created both one flower,
Both on one sampler, sitting on one cushion,
Both warbling of one song, both in one key,
As if our hands, our sides, voices and minds,
Had been incorporate. So we grew together,
Like to a double cherry, seeming parted,
But yet an union in partition,
Two lovely berries moulded on one stem.
So, with two seeming bodies, but one heart;
Two of the first, like coats in heraldry,
Due but to one and crownèd with one crest.
And will you rent our ancient love asunder,
To join with men in scorning your poor friend?
It is not friendly, 'tis not maidenly.
Our sex, as well as I, may chide you for it,
Though I alone do feel the injury.
HERMIA
I am amazèd at your passionate words.
I scorn you not. It seems that you scorn me.
Helena could be furiously accusatory at this point, or else genuinely trying to understand why her friend has turned on her and caused her torment.
HELENA
Have you not set Lysander, as in scorn,
To follow me and praise my eyes and face?
And made your other love, Demetrius,
Who even but now did spurn me with his foot,
To call me goddess, nymph, divine and rare,
Precious, celestial? Wherefore speaks he this
To her he hates? And wherefore doth Lysander
Deny your love, so rich within his soul,
And tender me, forsooth, affection,
But by your setting on, by your consent?
What though I be not so in grace as you,
So hung upon with love, so fortunate,
But miserable most, to love unloved?
This you should pity rather than despise.
HERMIA
I understand not what you mean by this.
The other characters may indeed be giving each other looks, prompting Helena's paranoia that they are making faces behind her back.
HELENA
Ay, do! Persever, counterfeit sad looks,
Make mouths upon me when I turn my back,
Wink each at other, hold the sweet jest up.
This sport, well carried, shall be chronicled.
If you have any pity, grace, or manners,
You would not make me such an argument.
But fare ye well. 'Tis partly my own fault,
Which death or absence soon shall remedy.
LYSANDER
Stay, gentle Helena; hear my excuse:
My love, my life my soul, fair Helena!
HELENA
O excellent!
HERMIA
Sweet, do not scorn her so.
Demetrius once more turns against Lysander, offering to force him to leave Helena alone, as the rivalry again becomes threatening, and potentially violent.
DEMETRIUS
If she cannot entreat, I can compel.
LYSANDER
Thou canst compel no more than she entreat.
Thy threats have no more strength than her weak prayers.
Helen, I love thee; by my life, I do.
I swear by that which I will lose for thee,
To prove him false that says I love thee not.
DEMETRIUS
I say I love thee more than he can do.
LYSANDER
If thou say so, withdraw, and prove it too.
DEMETRIUS
Quick, come!
HERMIA
Lysander, whereto tends all this?
LYSANDER
Away, you Ethiope!
Lysander and Demetrius' threats are progressing towards a duel. Demetrius suggests that Lysander is too frightened, and will thus run off.
Hermia is presumably holding or pulling Lysander, both away from the duel and from Helena.
DEMETRIUS
No, no; he'll
Seem to break loose; take on as you would follow,
But yet come not: you are a tame man, go!
LYSANDER
Hang off, thou cat, thou burr! Vile thing, let loose,
Or I will shake thee from me like a serpent!
HERMIA
Why are you grown so rude? What change is this?
Sweet love—
LYSANDER
Thy love! Out, tawny Tartar, out!
Out, loathèd med’cine! Hated potion, hence!
HERMIA
Do you not jest?
HELENA
Yes, sooth, and so do you.
LYSANDER
Demetrius, I will keep my word with thee.
DEMETRIUS
I would I had your bond, for I perceive
A weak bond holds you. I'll not trust your word.
LYSANDER
What, should I hurt her, strike her, kill her dead?
Although I hate her, I'll not harm her so.
As former alliances and loyalties fall apart, all four lovers turn on each other in various combinations. In production, this sequence may involve substantial amounts of physical action and/or fight choreography.
HERMIA
What, can you do me greater harm than hate?
Hate me! Wherefore? O me! what news, my love!
Am not I Hermia? Are not you Lysander?
I am as fair now as I was erewhile.
Since night you loved me; yet since night you left me.
Why, then you left me — O, the gods forbid! —
In earnest, shall I say?
LYSANDER
Ay, by my life,
And never did desire to see thee more.
Therefore be out of hope, of question, of doubt;
Be certain, nothing truer; 'tis no jest
That I do hate thee and love Helena.
HERMIA
O me! You juggler! You canker-blossom!
You thief of love! What, have you come by night
And stol’n my love's heart from him?
HELENA
Fine, i'faith!
Have you no modesty, no maiden shame,
No touch of bashfulness? What, will you tear
Impatient answers from my gentle tongue?
Fie, fie! You counterfeit, you puppet, you!
The argument now emphasizes the difference in height between the two women, as Hermia is insulted for her short stature, and Helena for her tallness. The comments may become ironic if the two are actually fairly similar, their differences emphasized by love and enchantment.
HERMIA
Puppet? Why so? Ay, that way goes the game.
Now I perceive that she hath made compare
Between our statures; she hath urged her height,
And with her personage, her tall personage,
Her height, forsooth, she hath prevailed with him.
And are you grown so high in his esteem,
Because I am so dwarfish and so low?
How low am I, thou painted maypole? Speak!
How low am I? I am not yet so low
But that my nails can reach unto thine eyes.
HELENA
I pray you, though you mock me, gentlemen,
Let her not hurt me. I was never curst;
I have no gift at all in shrewishness;
I am a right maid for my cowardice.
Let her not strike me. You perhaps may think,
Because she is something lower than myself,
That I can match her.
HERMIA
Lower! Hark, again.
HELENA
Good Hermia, do not be so bitter with me.
I evermore did love you, Hermia,
Did ever keep your counsels, never wronged you;
Save that, in love unto Demetrius,
I told him of your stealth unto this wood.
He followed you; for love I followed him.
But he hath chid me hence and threatened me
To strike me, spurn me, nay, to kill me too.
And now, so you will let me quiet go,
To Athens will I bear my folly back
And follow you no further. Let me go.
You see how simple and how fond I am.
HERMIA
Why, get you gone. Who is't that hinders you?
HELENA
A foolish heart, that I leave here behind.
HERMIA
What, with Lysander?
HELENA
With Demetrius.
The men may be keeping Hermia and Helena apart, blocking Hermia's access or else physically restraining her.
LYSANDER
Be not afraid; she shall not harm thee, Helena.
DEMETRIUS
No, sir, she shall not, though you take her part.
HELENA
O, when she's angry, she is keen and shrewd!
She was a vixen when she went to school,
And though she be but little, she is fierce.
HERMIA
'Little' again! Nothing but 'low' and 'little'!
Why will you suffer her to flout me thus?
Let me come to her.
LYSANDER
Get you gone, you dwarf,
You minimus, of hindering knot-grass made,
You bead, you acorn.
DEMETRIUS
You are too officious
In her behalf that scorns your services.
Let her alone. Speak not of Helena,
Take not her part, for, if thou dost intend
Never so little show of love to her,
Thou shalt aby it.
This exchange calls for some physical business, as the men argue over who should follow whom, and decide to leave exactly in step.
LYSANDER
Now she holds me not.
Now follow, if thou darest, to try whose right,
Of thine or mine, is most in Helena.
DEMETRIUS
Follow! Nay, I'll go with thee, cheek by jowl.
Exeunt LYSANDER and DEMETRIUS
HERMIA
You, mistress, all this coil is 'long of you.
Nay, go not back.
HELENA
I will not trust you, I,
Nor longer stay in your curst company.
Your hands than mine are quicker for a fray,
My legs are longer though, to run away.
Exit
HERMIA
I am amazed, and know not what to say.
Exit
Oberon and Puck have presumably been watching the encounter throughout, though not necessarily in view of the audience. Is Oberon concerned for the lovers throughout, or does he begin to enjoy the show?
OBERON
This is thy negligence. Still thou mistakest,
Or else committ'st thy knaveries wilfully.
PUCK
Believe me, king of shadows, I mistook.
Did not you tell me I should know the man
By the Athenian garment he had on?
And so far blameless proves my enterprise,
That I have 'nointed an Athenian's eyes;
And so far am I glad it so did sort
As this their jangling I esteem a sport.
Oberon's full instructions are sometimes cut here, to move directly to Puck acting them out.
Oberon can seem quite benevolent in deploying Puck to stop Demetrius and Lysander's fight. He reminds us here that his goal is to acquire the Indian boy from Titania, and that he will not free her from the spell until she agrees to give the boy to Oberon.
OBERON
Thou see'st these lovers seek a place to fight.
Hie therefore, Robin, overcast the night;
The starry welkin cover thou anon
With drooping fog as black as Acheron,
And lead these testy rivals so astray
As one come not within another's way.
Like to Lysander sometime frame thy tongue,
Then stir Demetrius up with bitter wrong;
And sometime rail thou like Demetrius,
And from each other look thou lead them thus,
Till o'er their brows death-counterfeiting sleep
With leaden legs and batty wings doth creep.
Then crush this herb into Lysander's eye,
Whose liquor hath this virtuous property,
To take from thence all error with his might,
And make his eyeballs roll with wonted sight.
When they next wake, all this derision
Shall seem a dream and fruitless vision,
And back to Athens shall the lovers wend,
With league whose date till death shall never end.
Whiles I in this affair do thee employ,
I'll to my queen and beg her Indian boy;
And then I will her charmèd eye release
From monster's view, and all things shall be peace.
Puck is concerned with the arrival of day, and describes the folk-belief that supernatural creatures can only be abroad at night.
Those who died by suicide would be buried at a crossroad (or "crossway") or might kill themselves by drowning, and thus be buried in a "flood."
PUCK
My fairy lord, this must be done with haste,
For night's swift dragons cut the clouds full fast,
And yonder shines Aurora's harbinger,
At whose approach, ghosts, wandering here and there,
Troop home to churchyards; damnèd spirits all,
That in crossways and floods have burial,
Already to their wormy beds are gone;
For fear lest day should look their shames upon,
They willfully themselves exile from light
And must for aye consort with black-browed night.
Oberon's speech distinguishes the fairies from ghosts. Though supernatural, the fairies are not explicitly malicious, and are tied to the natural world.
OBERON
But we are spirits of another sort.
I with the morning's love have oft made sport,
And, like a forester, the groves may tread,
Even till the eastern gate, all fiery-red,
Opening on Neptune with fair blessèd beams,
Turns into yellow gold his salt green streams.
But, notwithstanding, haste, make no delay.
We may effect this business yet ere day.
Exit
As in 3.1, Puck's incantation may be merely spoken, or it may be accompanied by gestures, or a dance, or movement across the stage.
PUCK
Up and down, up and down,
I will lead them up and down:
I am fear'd in field and town:
Goblin, lead them up and down.
Here comes one.
Re-enter LYSANDER
LYSANDER
Where art thou, proud Demetrius? Speak thou now.
Since Puck's spell has been explained, he need not actually mimic Lysander and Demetrius' voices. If the actor can imitate the voices, the effect can be stunning in performance, though it can be 'cheated' with recorded effects or with the other actors speaking from offstage.
PUCK
Here, villain, drawn and ready. Where art thou?
LYSANDER
I will be with thee straight.
PUCK
Follow me, then,
To plainer ground.
Exit LYSANDER, as following the voice
Re-enter DEMETRIUS
DEMETRIUS
Lysander! Speak again.
Thou runaway, thou coward, art thou fled?
Speak! In some bush? Where dost thou hide thy head?
PUCK
Thou coward, art thou bragging to the stars,
Telling the bushes that thou look'st for wars,
And wilt not come? Come, recreant; come, thou child,
I'll whip thee with a rod. He is defiled
That draws a sword on thee.
DEMETRIUS
Yea, art thou there?
PUCK
Follow my voice. We'll try no manhood here.
Exeunt
Re-enter LYSANDER
Part of the absurd fun of this sequence is that it would have been performed in full daylight, on an open stage. Demetrius and Lysander pretend not to see one another, and are led about by Puck. Their swords are drawn, providing the scene with some sense of danger and risk. Modern productions may incorporate lighting or projection effects, or bring the characters through the audience.
LYSANDER
He goes before me and still dares me on;
When I come where he calls, then he is gone.
The villain is much lighter-heeled than I.
I followed fast, but faster he did fly,
That fallen am I in dark uneven way,
And here will rest me.
Lies down
Come, thou gentle day!
For if but once thou show me thy grey light,
I'll find Demetrius and revenge this spite.
Sleeps
Re-enter PUCK and DEMETRIUS
PUCK
Ho, ho, ho! Coward, why comest thou not?
DEMETRIUS
Abide me, if thou dar’st, for well I wot
Thou runn'st before me, shifting every place,
And dar’st not stand, nor look me in the face.
Where art thou now?
PUCK
Come hither. I am here.
DEMETRIUS
Nay, then, thou mock'st me. Thou shalt buy this dear,
If ever I thy face by daylight see.
Now, go thy way. Faintness constraineth me
To measure out my length on this cold bed.
By day's approach look to be visited.
Lies down and sleeps
Re-enter HELENA
HELENA
O weary night, O long and tedious night,
Abate thy hour! Shine comforts from the east,
That I may back to Athens by daylight,
From these that my poor company detest;
And sleep, that sometimes shuts up sorrow's eye,
Steal me awhile from mine own company.
Lies down and sleeps
Puck seems to be having as much fun restoring order as he has had causing chaos, though these last tasks may be more of a chore.
PUCK
Yet but three? Come one more;
Two of both kinds make up four.
Here she comes, curst and sad:
Cupid is a knavish lad,
Thus to make poor females mad.
Re-enter HERMIA
HERMIA
Never so weary, never so in woe,
Bedabbled with the dew and torn with briers,
My legs can keep no pace with my desires.
Here will I rest me till the break of day.
Heavens shield Lysander, if they mean a fray!
Lies down and sleeps
PUCK
On the ground
Sleep sound:
I'll apply
To your eye,
Gentle lover, remedy.
Much has been made of the final situation of the lovers: Demetrius will presumably spend the rest of his life in love with Helena, but his love is the product of Oberon's potion rather than his own passion. Does this make Demetrius and Helena's relationship different from Lysander and Hermia's? Is all love, effectively, a magical transformation that starts in the eyes?
Squeezing the juice on LYSANDER's eyes
When thou wakest,
Thou takest
True delight
In the sight
Of thy former lady's eye:
And the country proverb known,
That every man should take his own,
In your waking shall be shown:
Jack shall have Jill;
Nought shall go ill;
The man shall have his mare again, and all shall be well.
Exit