Whom I do love, and will do till my death. This argument, along with Hermia's decision to defy her father and marry Lysander show that she has a strong-willed and rebellious side. And here, with all good will, with all my heart. She is close friends with Helena, and their love for each other is spoken of in the play, although they get into an argument over Lysander and Demetrius. If e’er I lov’d her, all that love is gone.

false Trojan (174) Aeneas, son of Anchises and Venus, and hero of Virgil's Aeneid: escaping from ruined Troy, Aeneas wanders for years before coming to Latium: he is considered the forefather of the Romans. And she in mild terms begg'd my patience. Together these two framing ritual times provide a tone for the play: love and sexuality within a realm of crazy, magical fantasy.

I took him sleeping (that is finish’d too). Then what it was that next came in her eye. To prove him false that says I love thee not. The hate I bare thee made me leave thee so? Was wont to swell like round and orient pearls, Stood now within the pretty flowerets' eyes. My heart to her but as guest-wise sojourn’d. then I well perceive you all not nigh.
Being o’er shoes in blood, plunge in the deep, From sleeping Hermia? Her height, forsooth, she hath prevail’d with him.

From stepmother, the moon is transformed in the course of a few lines into the image of fruitful union contained in the "silver bow," an implicit reference to Cupid's arrow, which draws men and women together.

Thou driv’st me past the bounds. Or say, sweet love, what thou desirest to eat.

The ear more quick of apprehension makes; Thou art not by mine eye, Lysander, found; Mine ear, I thank it, brought me to thy sound. Are hated most of those they did deceive, And, all my powers, address your love and might, [Awaking] Help me, Lysander, help me! The tedious minutes I with her have spent. Methinks I see these things with parted eye, That yet we sleep, we dream. Lysander! music, such as charmeth sleep! Now I perceive that she hath made compare. I will get Peter Quince to write a ballad of.

But yet come not. How comes this gentle concord in the world. His words also show the violence that often undergirds law or reason: This contrast shows a discord within the seeming concord of love (to paraphrase a saying of Theseus' in Act V). Lysander’s love, that would not let him bide—. While Egeus' willingness to condemn Hermia to death if she refuses to marry Demetrius is astonishing, the arbitrariness of his choice of a son-in-law is even more problematic.

When they him spy. But first I will release the fairy queen. Sing me now asleep; Lulla, lulla, lullaby, lulla, lulla, lullaby: Fair love, you faint with wandering in the wood; And to speak troth, I have forgot our way: We'll rest us, Hermia, if you think it good. Love itself is associated with fantasy and magic, according to Helena. Had been incorporate. They willfully themselves exile from light. No, sir; she shall not, though you take her part. O hated potion, hence! Vile thing, let loose; Or I will shake thee from me like a serpent! For she hath blessed and attractive eyes. Scratch my head Peaseblossom. When I come where he calls, then he is gone. She also knows that to tell Demetrius would be a terrible betrayal of her friend. Then, for the third part of a minute, hence; Some to kill cankers in the musk-rose buds. Should I hurt her, strike her, kill her dead? Love has put Hermia and Lysander in conflict with the law and made Helena miserable and shaken her self-confidence. Movie Review of Michael Hoffman's Adaptation of. Drenched in moonlight and filled with dreamers, this play is meant to mesmerize its audience. mew'd (71) to confine in or as in a cage; shut up or conceal. Imitating both their voices, Puck keeps them from meeting each other until they are exhausted and lie down to sleep. When at your hands did I deserve this scorn? Stay, though thou kill me, sweet Demetrius. And at our stamp, here o’er and o’er one falls; He murder cries, and help from Athens calls. Egeus is angry because his daughter refuses to marry Demetrius, the man of his choice, but is instead in love with Lysander. And stick musk-roses in thy sleek smooth head. Your vows to her and me, put in two scales. Note also how seriously these young lovers take themselves. In this play, which celebrates love, magic, and sexuality, the choice of a single life is, perhaps, worse than death. Dance in Duke Theseus' house triumphantly, There shall the pairs of faithful lovers be. All rights reserved. Although I hate her, I’ll not harm her so. Disparage not the faith thou dost not know. dowager (5) an elderly woman of wealth and dignity. Hermia’s flight represents her greatest act … Here therefore for a while I will remain.

bookmarked pages associated with this title. Is all the counsel that we two have shar’d. Here will I rest me till the break of day. TITANIA Come, sit thee down upon this flowery bed, While I thy amiable cheeks do coy, And stick musk-roses in thy sleek smooth head, And there seems to be no reason for his disdain: She is as beautiful as Hermia, his new love, as wealthy, as similar to Hermia as "double cherries" on a single stem. no sound, no word? Although Hippolyta seems subdued, even passive, in the play, the violence that led to their love is a constant presence.

Instant downloads of all 1360 LitChart PDFs By the end of the scene, the moon presents herself into another of her many names: Phoebe, the queen of moonlit forests. Could not this make thee know. Lysander and Helena enter, he wooing her loudly, she rejecting him, and the noise wakes Demetrius who, seeing her, is instantly enamored. And kiss thy fair large ears, my gentle joy.

She leaves him and, disconsolate, he lies down to sleep. Sound, music!

Why seek’st thou me?

My lord, this is my daughter here asleep; That Hermia should give answer of her choice? I’ll find Demetrius and revenge this spite. But, as I think,--for truly would I speak. Oberon tells him to find Helena and while he is gone, puts love-juice on Demetrius’s eyes. But, soft! For example, Helena and Hermia are supposedly doing "observance of a morn in May" (167). Up until this moment love was presented as only a good thing. Are you sure you want to remove #bookConfirmation# Why, then, we are awake: let's follow him.

Out, dog, out, cur! My love shall hear the music of my hounds. Dark night, that from the eye his function takes. What?

(including.

Flute, the bellows-mender! But Demetrius's inconstancy shows it can also be hurtful. Damned spirits all. Have you conspir’d, have you with these contriv’d. From monster’s view, and all things shall be peace.

Heavens shield Lysander, if they mean a fray! [Awaking] And run through fire I will for thy sweet sake.

Nay then thou mock’st me. Here Theseus characterizes the moon as a "step-dame" keeping her heir waiting for her death so that he can claim his inheritance. And wilt not come?

That pure congealed white, high Taurus’ snow, Fann’d with the eastern wind, turns to a crow, When thou hold’st up thy hand.

The wedding establishes the theme of love, while Hippolyta's response connects love to dreams.

[Awaking] When my cue comes, call me, and I will. Theseus vows that if Hermia does not marry Demetrius as her father wishes, she will live a barren life, "[c]hanting faint hymns to the cold fruitless moon" (73). Methought I was--there, is no man can tell what. Since night you lov’d me; yet since night you left me: Why then, you left me (O, the gods forbid!). The law is on his side. What?

The villain is much lighter-heel’d than I; For if but once thou show me thy grey light. Why so? Do not you think. Now I perceive, they have conjoin’d all three. A million fail, confounding oath on oath. Carthage queen (173) Dido; founder and queen of Carthage: in the Aeneid she falls in love with Aeneas and kills herself when he leaves her. So far be distant; and, good night, sweet friend: Thy love ne'er alter till thy sweet life end! Egeus is willing to watch his daughter die if she will not obey him. And must for aye consort with black-brow’d Night. Hermia demands to know the worst punishment she will receive for disobedience.

Two of the first, like coats in heraldry. For thou (I fear) hast given me cause to curse. With leaden legs and batty wings doth creep. You are a tame man, go! As Theseus and Hippolyta plan their wedding festivities, Egeus and his daughter, Hermia, arrive on the scene with Lysander and Demetrius. I have had a dream, past the wit of man to, say what dream it was: man is but an ass, if he go, about to expound this dream. And by the way let us recount our dreams. or asleep? Demetrius begs Hermia to grant him her favor, but Hermia can only think of Lysander. Most literary critics believe the play was written to be performed at a private wedding, so while it has a satiric edge, commenting on the difficulties of love, it is also a joyful, festive play, filled with dancing and singing, fairies and enchantment. Helena's meditations reveal love as arbitrary and, in fact, blind: The childish, blindfolded Cupid, a constantly repeated image in this dream, playfully transforms the vile into something pure and dignified.
To strike me, spurn me, nay, to kill me too. Love's stories written in love's richest book. While Lysander and Hermia list the troubles that lovers face with grave sadness, the list makes it clear to the audience that they're just two more in a long line, which makes them seem silly. Theseus' judgement on Hermia isn't as harsh as her father's — marry Demetrius, spend her life in a nunnery or die — yet she has little opportunity for happiness. Not with salt tears: If so, my eyes are oftener wash'd than hers. Hast thou slain him then? The duke was here, and bid us follow him? HERMIA Be it so, Lysander: find you out a bed; For I upon this bank will rest my head. In order to avoid the awful choice presented to her, Hermia decides to pursue true love by fleeing Athens with Lysander. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts.

Hermia’s reference to fate and the possibility that she and Lysander are cosmically “crossed” echoes the language of Romeo and Juliet , the play Shakespeare wrote just before Midsummer. In this role, her "silver visage" will both light and conceal the flight of Lysander and Hermia from Athens, leading them to a happy future beyond the severe authority of Theseus and Egeus. Theseus says Hermia has until the next new moon to make her decision, so the new moon becomes both a symbol of his happy union with Hippolyta and of Hermia's potential withered life as a nun (or even a corpse), if she does not comply with her father's whim. Faintness constraineth me. Speak! Where art thou? In line 3, Theseus connects his wedding to the changes in the moon by assuring Hippolyta that their marriage will occur in four happy days, with the arrival of a new moon. Weigh oath with oath, and you will nothing weigh. God's my life, stolen, hence, and left me asleep! By some illusion see thou bring her here. The sisters’ vows, the hours that we have spent. It is also seen as anti-authoritarian. Follow? Nay, good Lysander; for my sake, my dear. Even when love is mutual, it is often hampered by family disapproval. Hermia and her beloved Lysander have fled to the forest, as it's the only place where they can express their love for each other without fear. If thou hast slain Lysander in his sleep. If thou say so, withdraw, and prove it too. Thy threats have no more strength than her weak prays.

To take from thence all error with his might.