Throughout the play Puck does the kings bidding but makes a few mistakes like he is known to do and has a bit of a laugh.
In the play Oberon is very stubborn because he will not let Titania have the boy he wants it and so he will get it, “Give me that boy, and I will go with thee.” He is powerful because he is telling Titania that hs is her lord,
“Tarry, rash wanton: am not I thy lord?
Words that tell us about Titania’s character are: “Not for thy fairy kingdom. Fairies, away!” this shows how stubborn Titania is she will not give up the boy even if it costs her the fairy kingdom. She is unafraid and truthful:
“And for her sake do I rear up her boy,
And for her sake I will not part with him.”
She has given her word and even though her king and lord tells her to give up the boy she will not this shows that she is honest and truthful.
The mechanicals are the second main group they consist of six characters: Bottom the weaver, Francis Flute the bellows-mender, Robin Starveling the tailor, Tom Snout the tinker, Snug the joiner and Quince. The jobs of these men show that they are ordinary people of Athens. Bottom is used to create comedy and he takes part unwittingly in the revenge against Titania by Oberon. The mechanicals are rehearsing a play they want to perform to the duke and his wife on there wedding day.
Bottom is bossy, very enthusiastic and wants to play every part in the play:
“An I may hide my face, let me play Thisby too, I'll
speak in a monstrous little voice. 'Thisne,
Thisne;' 'Ah, Pyramus, lover dear! thy Thisby dear,
and lady dear!'”
The lovers are the third main group in the play they consist of four characters; Lysander, Hermia, Demetrius and Helena. Lysander loves Hermia who loves him as well but Demetrius loves Hermia and Helena loves Demetrius. Helena follows Demetrius around and annoys him in the play. Demetrius on the other hand has persuaded Egeus (Hermia’s father) that he should marry her instead of Lysander even though both men have the same amount of possessions and are of the same social status.
The lovers then run into the woods this is because Lysander and Hermia want to run away from Athens so that they can be together and so that Hermia will not have to become a nun or marry Demetrius. Helena tells Demetrius because she loves him that Hermia and Lysander have ran into the woods. He follows and then Helena follows him. Oberon and Puck see the four lovers running after each other and decide to make Demetrius love Helena because then everything will be made right.
Puck and Oberon see the four lovers running through the forest consecutively. They realize that to make everything right they need to put a love spell on Demetrius so he falls in love with Helena and to do this Oberon needs a flower. Take thou some of it, and seek through this grove:
A sweet Athenian lady is in love with a disdainful youth: anoint his eyes; But do it when the next thing he espies May be the lady”
Unfortunately Puck comes across Lysander in Athenian garbs and quite unlike his character he actually genuinely makes a mistake and he puts the ointment on Lysanders eyes. Lysander wakes up and falls in love with Helena.
The girls then fight because Hermia thinks that Helena has stolen Lysander away from her, “You thief of love! what, have you come by night
And stolen my love's heart from him?”
Helena thinks they are playing a trick on her:
“Wherefore was I to this keen mockery born?
The girls then fight Hermia calls Helena a ”juggler!” And a “canker-blossom!”. Because she thinks that Helena has now got two men and is juggling with them and a canker-blossom is in reference to Helena’s height. Helena calls Hermia a “puppet” because she thinks that Hermia is just following the men in the joke like a puppet. The lovers use this middle class type of language that the royals or fairies would certainly not use.
Because of the problem Puck has caused by making his mistake when he thought that Lysander was Demetrius. Oberon insists that Puck puts the lovers together with the right partners after making his earlier mistake so Puck casts spells causing there to be a mist so that he can lead all of the lovers together so they can wake up and see the person that they love by imitating there voices. The lovers then of coarse end up with the right partners.
The main themes of the play are love, jealousy, pride and deceit. The play shows the thin line between hatred and love an example of this is with Hermia and Helena who used to love each other and be the greatest of friends turn against each other and hate each other because each one thinks the other is deceiving them.
The play ends with all the groups coming together at the royals wedding: The fairies go to the royals wedding because Oberon and Titania have both come to bless Theseus the Duke of Athens and Hippolyta’s marriage: “To Theseus must be wedded, and you come To give their bed joy and prosperity.”. The mechanicals come to perform their play for the Duke. The lovers come at the duke’s command to get married at the same time as him. All the groups are happy.
In conclusion the plays four main groups the fairies that use light, airy and poetic language so that they do not seem to be human. The royals use very formal and polite language to show that they are rich and are royalty. The mechanicals that use malapropisms and colloquialisms to create comedy and add a light part to the play when it is becoming to serious and the lovers who use lots of reference to the person that they love to show clearly who they are in love with. The themes comedy, love and hatred show clearly that there is a very thin line between hatred and love. This is shown when the two women lovers (Hermia and Helen) who used to love each other as friends hate each other because they each one has played a trick with them.
