Thursday, October 10, 2013

What emotion does Oberon show he is capable of? How does he show this?In Act III, Scene 2

In the second scene of Act II of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer's Night Dream," Oberon tells Puck,



But we are spirits of another sort:


I with the morning's love have oft made sport (II,ii,404-405)



Oberon is a mischievous fairy, but he only wishes to have fun.  When the mistaken identities occur, Oberon instructs Puck that they can hurry and "effect this business ere day"; that is, they can rectify the errors made by Puck in placing the nectar on the eyes of the wrong young man. 


That he is not malicious is evident when Oberon tells Puck to imitate Lysander to Demetrius and Demetrius to Lysander in order to tire them so that they will not be able to duel because they are both in love with Helena.  While Oberon may enjoy "What fools these mortals be!" as Puck declares, he does not want them to suffer bodily harm.  So he instructs Puck to exhaust the men and correct the errors when they fall asleep.  Likewise, Oberon has enjoyed his sport with Titania who has fallen in love with Bottom wearing the head of an ass, but he wishes to have her restored to her senses so he again can have his queen.


A fairy who delights in sporting with the foibles of both human and fairy, Oberon yet has a sense of fairness and even kindness, so he restores all situations to normal.  His sense of fair play is in contrast to that of the mortal who do not acquire such knowledge until the end of the play.

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