Theme of love and its interpretation in the third act

We know from the short Act 1, scene 2 that the workmen have planned to tritium their play of Pyramus and Thisbe in the wood. Conveniently they come to the place just vacated by Hermia, where Titania still lies asleep. (The workmen hope that their play will be performed for Theseus, but we learn from 5.1, that there are many rival attractions: theirs will be chosen because of its amusing (contradictory) title and Philostrate’s harsh comments.)Puck, at first amused by the crudity of the acting, sees how to perfect Oberon’s plan for Titania. Titania’s instant infatuation with Bottom parallels that of Lysander (in the last scene) and Demetrius (in the next) with Helena. Oberon tells Puck (in 4.1) that Titania has readily given up the changeling boy to him. The sight of his queen’s doting on “this hateful fool” awakens a sense of tenderness in Oberon, leading to a renewal of their love, while Bottom’s strange experience leads to his puzzled soliloquy and his seeming-miraculous return to his fellows in 4.2. Pyramus and Thisbe, as performed by the mechanicals in 5.1, is a perfect commentary on how “the course of true love” has run, hitherto, for the young lovers. Structure is a fairly simple scene structurally: the workmen’s rehearsal ends when Puck gives Bottom the ass’s head; Bottom’s efforts to keep his spirits up wake Titania, who declares her love for the bemused Bottom and commands her fairies to minister to him. There is much to admire here, but especially

· the contrast between the grossness and clumsy speech of Bottom and the elegance, beauty and majesty of Titania,

· and the questions raised by Pyramus and Thisbe as to what constitutes a good play.[5]

At first the scene is rather static: the workmen honestly try to solve their own “theatrical problems”; although Bottom is overbearing at times, his essential good nature and his friends’ respect mean that the “players” (in contrast with the four young lovers and the fairy rulers) work harmoniously, though the result of their labors is fatuous. The acting of Pyramus and Thisbe requires movement on (and off) the stage. The “hawthorn brake” could well be off the real stage (so, ironically, the supposed “tiring house” of the workmen could be provided by the real tiring house in the theatre) as the ass’s head must be placed on Bottom off stage, between lines 86 and 102 (see stage directions).

“This be, stand forth…he goes but to see a noise that he heard, and is to come again…you must not speak that yet…Pyramus, enter». Puck’s“I’ll follow you…” speech is apparently not heard by Bottom, otherwise “Why do they run away?” makes no sense. The speech is evidently to inform the audience and invites mimicry, both in sound and movement, of the animals Puck names. Titania’s promise to make Bottom move “like an airy spirit” is not likely to prove true (as Oberon’s and her own comments in 4.1 shows). The regal, graceful movement of Titania and the delicacy of her fairies contrast with the robustness and “mortal grossness” of Bottom. Bottom is soon at ease in his strange situation, and speaks to Titania and the fairies with the same familiarity he shows to Theseus in 5.1. For different reasons neither ruler takes offence, but Shakespeare’s audience would feel a frisson of danger at the seeming impertinence. The proper (appropriate) attitude to someone of Titania’s or Theseus’ status is awed reverence of the kind the duke describes in 5.1, 93-105. Only a fool would fail to see this. When the fool wears an ass’s head, the impertinence seems greater. Here are some reasons why this will amuse the audience:

· “Ass” and “ass-head” are both used as synonyms of stupidity in the 16^th century;

· it is a beast of burden, suggestive of Bottom’s “mechanical” (menial) status;

· the pronunciation of the word allows a pun on “are”, suggested by Bottom’s name. (He is called “Bottom”, as he is a weaver; “weaver’s bottom” like “housemaid’s knee” was a well-known medical condition. It is a kind of stichomythic strain injury –isocheimal bursitis in Latin);[6]

The rude everyday speech of the workmen, embellished by Bottom’s and Quince’s errors, is to be contrasted with the stilted (unnatural) attempts at eloquence in Pyramus and Thisbe (compounded by mispronunciation) and with the very real eloquence of Titania. The informality of the workmen’s language is shown in their normally speaking in prose, with commonplaces such as “by’r lakin”, “not a whit”, “well”, “nay” and “ay”. Bottom also contributes “more better” and “saying thus, or to the same defect” (for “effect”) while Quince manages “disfigure” (for “figure”) and “to see a noise”. The simple folk-song crudely sung by Bottom is in sharp contrast to the delicate lullaby which has lulled Titania to sleep. Her reaction “What angel wakes me…?” and “Mine ear is much enamoured of thy note” is comically incongruous. There is further comic contrast between Titania’s verse, rhymed after her first waking speech, and Bottom’s prose: the one is eloquent, stately and (in any other context) dignified; the other homely and humble. We fear that Bottom will commit some gross breach of etiquette, but he is saved by Titania’s infatuation. Titania’s power is also shown in the ceremonial order of the fairies’ responses to her (160) and Bottom (172). In contrast with Lysander’s implausible claim to love Helena according to reason, Bottom notes with unusual perception that “reason and love keep little company together nowadays”, as if his present case were but an extreme illustration of a general truth, with which the audience concurs. His suggestion (that “honest neighbours” should “make them friends”) may also hint at the activities of Theseus and Oberon in trying to resolve the problems of those made unreasonable by love. Bottom, because he is uneducated, is prone to errors in speech, especially when trying to impress. But as this and the “Bottom’s dream” speech (in 4.1) show, he is capable of real intelligence, which may account for the regard in which his friends hold him. Finally note the contrast between the fey delicacy of the fairies’ names and the errands they are to perform, and the practical, homely comments of Bottom who thinks of the medical use of the cobweb and the culinary merits of peas and mustard.

Act 3, scene 2 This is the longest scene in the play; indeed it is longer than any of the play’s other acts. The sport Puck unintentionally causes – but greatly enjoys – reaches a climax, which might prove fatal but for his intervention; at the end of the scene he tells the audience that “all shall be well”, and this leads naturally to the reconciliation of the rivals in the next act, and the celebration of the threefold nuptials in Act 5. This is such a long scene that the structure in episodes can be hard to follow; in fact, it is not very complex if one notes that almost half of the scene is taken up with one extended episode (as long as the whole performance, in Act 5, of Pyramus and Thisbe).

· seeing Demetrius and Hermia (where and how has she found him?) Puck learns of his error;

· he is to fetch Helena (and, therefore, Lysander, too) while the flower juice is given (by Oberon – there is no stage direction, but he tells us what he is doing) to Demetrius, who wakes at the sound of Helena’s voice and declares his love;

· the confusion is completed by the return of Hermia (it is dark, but she has heard Lysander’s voice);

· when the arguments threaten to turn to physical violence, Puck, commanded by Oberon, uses his skills in mimicry to separate the four, though eventually leading each to a sleeping place near the others. He puts in Lysander’s eyes the antidote (given him by Oberon) to the flower juice, and leaves the lovers sleeping.

The central episode here is perhaps the most amusing part of the play, but the humour is of a wholly different kind from that provided by the mechanicals. The workmen are obviously comic because of their class, their speech and their notions of acting. By contrast, the four lovers are characters of some status and dignity, whose situation in itself is very far from amusing. In the first scene the lovers are amusing in their tendency to sensationalize their predicament, to claim for themselves a tragic grandeur. Here, however, we are entertained by the plight of each character, both because we know so much more than he or she does, and because we see, and the lovers do not, how and why their own attempts to understand their predicament are utterly mistaken. Lysander recalls that he loved Hermia but is now repelled by her, and can only see his former love as an error of judgement. Demetrius has had the same experience, but is able to revert to his even earlier claim to Helena’s love. Neither man can understand why Helena disbelieves his protestations. It seems that each believes the other, however: having been bitter rivals for Hermia’s hand, they now bring the same rivalry to the pursuit of Helena. Helena loves Demetrius still, but assumes that his and Lysander’s courtship of her is a cruel elaboration of Demetrius’ earlier rejection; the men, though enemies, must hate her so much that they have agreed to offer ironic praise. Hermia’s outrage Helena takes to be part of the game; “she is one of this confederacy”. Hermia is genuinely puzzled by Lysander’s sudden change of heart, but believes Helena to be at fault. An ambiguous insult (“puppet”; Helena means “counterfeit” but Hermia thinks she refers to her size) gives Hermia a reason for Lysander’s inconstancy. The scene requires energy and much action in the performance: the two men are fawning on Helena, while in part struggling with each other; yet they must keep breaking off from this to defend Helena from Hermia. Helena is trying to hold off the men, and escape Hermia’s attacks. Hermia wants to assault Helena but is restrained by the men. All the while Oberon and Puck are watching, invisible to the mortals.Eventually the desire to settle their rivalry causes the men to leave the women alone, whereupon Helena runs away from Hermia, and Puck is able to intervene. Without this, the scene could have gone on for ever, but Shakespeare has allowed time to exploit fully its comic potential. It is essential, in the acting, that the performers do not exhibit self-consciousness or any sense of irony about their ridiculous situation. The men believe as they do because they are drugged; Helena’s response is quite a rational one; Hermia’s less so, but she can see no other, more simple, explanation. In any case, all of them are passionate people, whose motives for being in the wood are not conducive to calm or reason; they may be tired, they are in an unfamiliar place (this is not the wood as described in 1.1) and as much in the dark metaphorically as literally. Heated and excitable behavior is exactly what one would expect, and Puck has seen it coming. Before the men go off to fight, some violence will be threatened in gesture. As each tries to find the other, he may strike at shadows. We know they are to use swords, as Puck, in Demetrius’ voice, calls out (402) that he is “drawn and ready”. Most of the scene is rhymed verse, but in mid-speech Helena (195) switches to blank verse. As with the fairies in 2.1, this indicates a greater seriousness in the four lovers’ dispute. As the threatened violence descends into farcical pursuit it is Helena again (340) who picks up the rhyme. In general the lovers use pentameters arranged as couplets, but more elaborate patterns are used for particular purposes: Lysander and Helena speak in six-line stanzas when they come on stage; with the next two lines (a couplet) they form a sonnet in effect. The same six-line stanza is used by Helena and Hermia at the end of the scene, though for Hermia the metre is subtly varied (suggesting her exhaustion) with “Never so weary, never so in woe”. The fairies use both pentameter and tetrameter, and a more fluid verse form (lines varying in length) for Puck’s final speech. Although the men trade insults and go off to fight, the most sharp verbal exchanges are between Helena and Hermia. Helena speaks at length of their past friendship, accusing Hermia on treachery. Helena’s calling Hermia a “puppet” leads to a series of insults, mostly from the men, at the expense of Hermia’s stature and dark coloring. To this Hermia responds by calling Helena a “painted maypole”. Many of the best lines in the scene are Puck’s: the final speech and the earlier “Lord, what fools these mortals be” stand out. On Hermia’s exit (line 344) Puck’s and Oberon’s exchange is used to describe the passing of the Night’s, preparing us for the hunting in the next act. It also means that Puck must act “in haste” while the darkness he needs to mislead the men lasts. Two other parts of the dialogue are worthy of note. Demetrius’“goddess, nymph, perfect, divine” and what follows (137ff.; quoted by Helena at 226-7) matches, if it does not surpass, Lysander’s “And run through fire I will for thy sweet sake” in 2.2. Helena’s “O weary Night’s, O long and tedious Night’s” could almost be taken from Pyramus and Thisbe (compare 5.1, 167-9). Helena (not the Night’s) is weary (the epithet is transferred) and it is her speech here which is tedious. In the audience’s view it is a good thing for the Night’s to end now, but it has been far from tedious!

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