A Midsummer Night's Dream Act II Scene i
Act II Scene i
Robin Goodfellow or Puck encounters a fairy in the woods close to Athens. He questions the fairy about who she is and discovers that she is in service pf Titania, the consort of the king of fairies, Oberon. The fairy is looking for a place where Titania can do her fairy dance, and she is delighted to recognize Robin Goodfellow who is a famous sprite that is known for playing pranks and making merry and is also called the Hobgoblin by some. Puck agrees and adds that he is the jester for King Oberon. He also tells the fairy to go away as Oberon and Titania are quarreling and wouldn't like to see one another. They are fighting over a little Indian boy, that Titania loves and fusses on while Oberon wishes to make of him a henchman. Just then Titania enters with a train of fairies and is followed soon after by Oberon.
Oberon asks Titania what she is doing so close to Athens, and Titania immediately wishes to leave as she is having a disagreement with Oberon, but he stops her and commands her to stay by his right as her husband. She reminds him that lords and husbands are supposed to be loyal, but he sneaks away from fairyland as a shepherd to spend time with his mistresses, and the only reason he had come away from India was to bless the marriage bed of Hippolyta, the huntress, whom he loves.
Oberon expresses his surprise that Titania would raise the subject of Hippolyta when Titania had loved Theseus and had caused him to be unfaithful with so many of the women that he had encountered in his travels. Titania refutes all allegations as lies and berates Oberon for following her around and interrupting her fairy dances. These interruptions have caused havoc in the natural world where the weather has become extreme and caused a lot of damage to farmers and shepherds. She tells him to either leave them alone or stay and let them have their dance. Oberon replies that he would leave only if she were to give him the little Indian boy.
Titania refuses to part with the boy for she had known the boy's mother, and had spent a lot of time with her watching ships sailing from the Indian coast. The woman had died and so Titania administered to the needs of the boy and wouldn't part with him even for all the wealth of the fairy kingdom. Oberon inquires how long she'll stay in the forests, and Titania replies that she will stay until the nuptials of Theseus and Hippolyta, so saying Titania leaves. Oberon remains behind and plots a way to enact revenge on Titania for the insult that she has caused him. He commands Puck to find a flower called 'love-in-idleness', a magical flower that gained its power after it was struck with cupid's arrow. The flower's juice when dropped on the eyelids of a being causes that individual to fall in love with the very next living entity that is perceived, be it a horse or a bull. Oberon wants to use it on Titania, teach her a lesson, gain the boy from her, and then release her from the effects of the flower. He commands Puck to hurry away and bring it to him forthwith.
Oberon turns invisible when he hears people approaching, Demetrius enters followed by Helena. Demetrius is searching for Lysander and Hermia, as Helena had revealed to him that the two would meet there before eloping. Demetrius is frustrated with Helena for following him and asks her how she can endanger her reputation by leaving Athens at night to follow a man alone into a dark place like the woods. Helena replies that she feels no danger for she is certain that Demetrius's virtue will protect her, and since he means the world to her, how can she be alone when she is with the whole world. He asks her not to follow him, but she entreats him to treat her even like his dog, he can hit her, ignore her, and she would still love him all the more. Demetrius storms away deeper into the woods, and Helena follows close behind.
Oberon is impressed with her love and claims that by the end of the night, the couple will have switched roles, Demetrius would be the one chasing Helena. Just then Puck appears with the flower, and Oberon takes it, for he knows where Titania would like to sleep, and he gives some to Puck. He commands him to find the man in Athenian garb in the woods and to use the flower on him so that the woman who is starving for his love would be the only person he sees when he awakens.
Analysis
This scene introduces the fairies, an element of English folklore that Shakespeare uses to create further contrast between the other groups of characters represented in the play. Notably, the fairies differ from the group of lovers in their attitudes, where the lovers are morose and serious beings, the fairies are playful and lighthearted. The fairies also contrast the group of working men from the previous scene, most particularly in the kind of language that they employ. While the workmen speak in fumbling prose, the fairies use beautiful verse embued with fantastical imagery.
Shakespeare reemphasizes the theme of love out of balance in the scene with the fairies, as Oberon and Titania fight over the custody of a young Indian boy. And although this theme isn't completely applied in the group of the workmen, it can be witnessed in the interactions between Titania and Bottom in the later acts.
There is also a reference to Queen Elizabeth in this scene, for Shakespeare had performed in her court. The reference is made to her self-chosen celibacy and is made when Oberon is describing how Cupid had missed his mark with an arrow that he had aimed at a monarch in the west.
