In Act V, scene i of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, the play is coming to a close as disorder has evolved into order. Shakespeare concludes the play with words from Oberon, and then Puck.
In Act V, scene i of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the play is coming to a close as disorder has evolved into order. Shakespeare concludes the play with words from Oberon, and then Puck. With his final words, Oberon enlightens the audience as to the will of the fairies- to bless the bridal beds of Theseus and Hypolyta, Hermia and Lysander, Helena and Demetrius. Through various literary devices, Shakespeare states the will of the fairies, proclaims their positive dominion, and concludes that this very dominion will allow the shift from disorder to order.
Shakespeare proclaims the dominion of the fairies and emphasizes the positive nature of their will through sound value, imagery & diction. Oberon takes an authoritative stance at the very outset of his monologue as he begins with, “Now,” and immediately gives commands to his fairies. Such diction occurs once again when Oberon tells his fairies to “stray” through each house. That the fairies are able to enter into the house and “stray” about implies a certain authoritativeness about them. Also, in giving his commands to the fairies, many of Oberon’s words have powerful, pounding sounds: break of day, best bride-bed, and blessed be. His repeated use of ‘b’ sounds creates a commanding tone which tells the audience of the dominion that the fairies have. These very words also act as images of a new beginning- the “break of day” indicates the possibility of a fresh start. Such use of imagery re-occurs with the use of “bride-bed” which also denotes the optimistic opportunity of a new beginning, as marriage is often looked at as a reawakening experience. Oberon next instructs his fairies to “bless” these bride-beds and allow for “issue” to be “created.” The creation of issue, meaning children, is another example of a new beginning. Thus far, Oberon has established not only that the fairies have true dominion of what happens in the human world, but also the positive nature of this dominion as new beginnings are often looked at as positive and bright.