Oberon

Play

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Summary

Oberon is the King of the Fairies and the play's supernatural authority figure. His quarrel with Titania over a changeling Indian boy has disrupted the seasons and the natural world. To punish and control Titania, he dispatches Puck to fetch a magical flower whose juice, applied to sleeping eyes, causes the victim to fall in love with the first creature seen upon waking. He uses this same potion — with imperfect results — to try to help Helena win Demetrius. Though imperious and sometimes ruthless, Oberon is ultimately a force of resolution, orchestrating the play's happy ending.

Notable Quotations

"I know a bank where the wild thyme blows, / Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows, / Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine, / With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine." *(II.i)*

"Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania." *(II.i)*

"What thou seest when thou dost wake, / Do it for thy true-love take." *(II.ii)*

Cross-references

• A Midsummer Night's Dream — the play
• Comedies — genre
• character_titania — his queen, with whom he is in conflict
• character_puck — his loyal and mischievous sprite and instrument
• character_helena_mnd — whose love match he attempts to restore