“…and won thy love.”
But that is not the case. Shakespeare is stressing that reason does not always bring happiness.
Theseus’s rational views are further stressed in the situation between Hermia and her father, Egeus. Theseus says that Hermia ‘s obedience to her father is more important than her love to Lysander so she must do as Egeus says or be punished by Athenian law:
“ To you your father should be as god…to whom you are but a form
Of wax by him imprinted, and within his power”
This is another example of Theseus’s idea that rationality has priority over love. During this scene, Hippolyta is silent; this suggests to the audience that she is listening unhappily. This is reinforced by Theseus’s remark,
“ Come my Hippolyta, what cheer my love?”
This is a subtle hint that Hippolyta is relating to Hermias situation as she also is being forced into marriage. It shows that Hippolyta is unhappy and emphasises the distance between Theseus and Hippolyta who have completely different outlooks on things.
Act 5 scene 1 shows more obvious contrasts between the two characters. In explaining the lovers’ strange dream, Theseus compares lovers to “madmen”,“lunatics” and “poets” he dismisses the possibility of it being true:
“ I never may believe these antique fables, nor these fairy toys”
This is ironic as Theseus himself plays a part in one of these “foolish tales”. Shakespeare again makes mild fun of the court to amuse his audience but is careful not to cause too much offence.
Words such as “frantic” and “frenzy” suggest that Theseus associates the lovers’ behaviour with being out of control and dismisses it as “airy nothing” as he cant find a rational explanation. He puts it down to the tricks of imagination.
“Such tricks hath strong imagination”
Hippolyta on the other hand contradicts Theseus, emphasized by the word “but”. She believes that there could be some truth in what the lovers are saying
“ But all the story of the night told over, and all their minds transfigured so together”.
The idea of the minds being transfigured together contrasts Theseus’s theory that the lovers are “lunatics” and “mad men” Hippolyta finds them “More witnesseth than fancy’s image” and sees the situation as “strange and admirable”. This is the only moment in the play where Hippolyta directly confronts Theseus with her views and it shows how strongly she feels about love and how Theseus’s attitude makes her unhappy.
Theseus and Hippolyta speak in blank verse. This plain verse represents the world of the court and clearly shows the contrast between the blank verse of the court and the couplets used in the fairy world. Blank verse for Theseus is smooth and dignified to represent his sense of control. However during the presentation of “Pyramus and Thisby” Theseus and Hippolyta talk in prose which contrasts to the usual blank verse used by courtiers and the couplets used in the play, but also suggests that Theseus and Hippolyta are now reconciled of their differences and also shows a sense of unity between the two.
During theatrical performances, the two couples would be played by the same actors, which would suggest that the characters are “two sides of the same coin”.
Oberon and Titania are also key characters in the play. Their relationship unlike Theseus and Hippolytas is based on love whereas Theseus and Hippolytas have a specific reason behind it. It is not only love, but also true love as they are constant all the way through the play. This love and reason shows the contrasts between the two worlds of the court and the fairies but also the ideals of the relationship, in the court reason rules but in the fairy world love and passion rule in a relationship.
Act two, scene 1 finds Oberon and Titania in the middle of an argument:
“Ill met by moonlight proud Titania”
“ What, jealous Oberon?”
The language in their argument shows that the characters have an equal relationship; both of them use insulting accusations, “proud” and “jealous”. Neither are considered lower status unlike Theseus and Hippolyta’ s relationship where it is the typical idea, in Shakespeare’s time of men being superior. “Proud Titania” would suggest that Titania was a strong character in likeness to the qualities of a man. In this way, she could be compared to Hippolyta, who theoretically, is a very strong character being queen of the Amazon warriors but is restricted by the rules of the court. However, Titania is not restricted as the fairy world has very open boundaries:
“ Thorough bush, thorough brier, over park, over pale…I do wander everywhere”
The openness of boundaries represents the openness of Oberon and Titania’s relationship, which contrasts with Theseus and Hippolyta’s closed relationship in which they fail to communicate with each other and discuss their feelings whereas Oberon and Titania’s feelings are made clear in the argument.
Both Titania and Oberon use jealous accusations in their argument,
She accuses…
“Your buskined mistress, and your warrior love”
He counters with…
” I know thy love to Theseus”
Their words indicate a lack of trust in their relationship and again the jealousy can be associated with the emotion and passion in the fairy world represented by these two characters.
Titania’s description of Hippolyta as being “bouncing Amazon…buskined mistress” suggests that she is making fun of the fact that Hippolyta is quite a masculine character which is ironic as in Shakespeare’s time Titania would also appear to have masculine characteristics as she is on an equal level with her husband. This would only have been acceptable to a Shakespearian audience as she is part of the fairy world, therefore make believe, so the audience would take it light heartedly. This could also be why Hippolytas character does not appear too dominating as she is part of the court.
Despite the equality in their relationship Oberon does try to assert his power, not in a direct way as Theseus would over Hippolyta but, by making Titania fall in love with bottom, he sexually humiliates her, by creating the absurd situation of the “proud Titania” falling in love with an ass! In this Shakespeare mocks the idea of “love at first sight ”The humiliation (to the great amusement of the audience), is stressed by Titania’s constant wooing of bottom, whilst bottom himself is more concerned with scratching and a donkey’s diet:
“ O how I love thee! How I dote on thee!”
“ I could munch your good dry oats”
By causing this, Oberon makes fun of some of Titania’s strongest qualities, her sexuality, by reducing her to love a “beast” and her pride, by finally having to submit to Oberon and give him the changeling boy. However, Oberon’s control over Titania’s emotions is not real. It is only through the “love potion” that Oberon is able to get his own way. Therefore, Titania will remain an equally dominant character in their relationship.
Oberon and Titania use many images to do with love during their argument. For example, “Corin” and “Phillida” are the names of lovers in stories or poems. It reinforces the fairy world’s ideas of love and passion. The fact that they are part of poems is interesting as Theseus earlier on had established the link between poets and “mad men” showing that Oberon and Titania believe in the power of imagination whereas Theseus dismisses it completely. Even the Indian boy is a symbol of something exotic and mysterious. These images effectively create the general atmosphere of the play and convey some of the key themes.
The images associated with Theseus and Hippolyta on the other hand, are quite different. The moon appears to be their main symbol.
This is very different to the bright and vibrant images of the fairies. The moon represents stability; it is constant and in control much like Theseus and Hippolyta’s relationship. However, it is also used in quite a negative way; “the cold fruitless moon” which would be linked to the problems in the relationship.
The use of natural elements in the argument between Oberon and Titania creates vivid images:
“Contagious fogs…rheumatic diseases…angry winter”
This makes Oberon and Titania appear as Gods as it gives them ultimate power over human nature. Their argument is the cause of all this and so it gives them control over the human world. It is suggesting that passion (the argument) rules over reason (The human world of the court) therefore in this way Oberon and Titania are stronger characters than Theseus and Hippolyta.
Unlike Theseus and Hippolyta, Oberon and Titania speak in couplets
“ We the globe can compass soon,
Swifter than the wandering moon.”
This is a typical example of fairy language. Couplets express harmony and unity with the rhyming words. They show the strong nature of Titania and Oberon’s relationship.
As blank verse is used by Theseus and Hippolyta as a representation of the court, Oberon and Titania use blank verse as an expression of disharmony. For example, in the argument. When the two are reconciled at the end they revert back to couplets.
Oberon and Titania and Theseus and Hippolyta’s relationships are vital. They introduce some of the key themes and ideas central to the play. All other relationships are in some way linked to them, whether it is through themes or directly. Shakespeare uses them as a basis for creating two different worlds, which explore both the conventional and passionate sides to love and how it can be looked upon in different ways. They raise the questions should passion rule over reason? Or does passion in the end give way to reason?
