Summary: Act II, scene ii
As Puck flies off to seek the flower, Demetrius and Helena
pass through the glade. Oberon makes himself invisible so that he
can watch and hear them. Demetrius harangues Helena, saying that
he does not love her, does not want to see her, and wishes that
she would stop following him immediately. He curses Lysander and Hermia,
whom he is pursuing, hoping to prevent their marriage and slay Lysander.
Helena repeatedly declares her adoration for, and loyalty to, Demetrius,
who repeatedly insults her. They exit the grove, with Helena following
closely behind Demetrius, and Oberon materializes. He declares that
before the night is out, Demetrius will be the one chasing Helena.
Puck appears, carrying the flower whose juice will serve
as the love potion. Oberon takes the flower and says that he knows
of a fragrant stream bank surrounded with flowers where Titania
often sleeps. Before hurrying away to anoint Titania’s eyelids with
the flower’s juice, Oberon orders Puck to look for an Athenian youth being
pursued by a lady and to put some of the juice on the disdainful
youth’s eyelids, so that when he wakes he will fall in love with
the lady. He informs Puck that he will know the youth by his Athenian garb.
Puck agrees to carry out his master’s wishes.
After her dancing and revelry, Titania falls asleep by
the stream bank. Oberon creeps up on her and squeezes the flower’s
juice onto her eyelids, chanting a spell, so that Titania will fall
in love with the first creature she sees upon waking. Oberon departs,
and Lysander and Hermia wander into the glade. Lysander admits that
he has forgotten the way to his aunt’s house and says that they
should sleep in the forest until morning, when they can find their
way by daylight. Lysander wishes to sleep close to Hermia, but she
insists that they sleep apart, to respect custom and propriety.
At some distance from each other, they fall asleep.
Puck enters, complaining that he has looked everywhere
but cannot find an Athenian youth and pursuing lady. He is relieved
when he finally happens upon the sleeping forms of Lysander and
Hermia, assuming that they are the Athenians of whom Oberon
spoke. Noticing that the two are sleeping apart, Puck surmises that
the youth refused to let Hermia come closer to him. Calling him
a “churl,” Puck spreads the potion on Lysander’s eyelids, and he
departs.
Simultaneously, Helena pursues Demetrius through the glade. He
insults her again and insists that she no longer follow him. She complains
that she is afraid of the dark, but he nonetheless storms off without
her. Saying that she is out of breath, Helena remains behind, bemoaning
her unrequited love. She sees the sleeping Lysander and wakes him
up. The potion takes effect, and Lysander falls deeply in love with
Helena. He begins to praise her beauty and to declare his undying
passion for her. Disbelieving, Helena reminds him that he loves
Hermia; he declares that Hermia is nothing to him. Helena believes
that Lysander is making fun of her, and she grows angry. She leaves
in a huff, and Lysander follows after her. Hermia soon wakes and
is shocked to find that Lysander is gone. She stumbles into the
woods to find him.
Read a translation of
Act II, scene ii →
Analysis
Act II, scene ii introduces the plot device of the love
potion, which Shakespeare uses to explore the comic possibilities
inherent in the motif of love out of balance. Oberon’s meddling
in the affairs of humans further disrupts the love equilibrium,
and the love potion symbolizes the fact that the lovers themselves
will not reason out their dilemmas; rather, an outside force—magic—will
resolve the love tangle.
