Thursday, July 14, 2016

What are the main quotes of A Midsummer Night's Dream act 3, scene 1?

In act three, scene one, Bottom's head is transformed into that of an ass, and then Titania, influenced by the love potion, becomes infatuated with him. The most important quotations in this scene involve this comical event and how it relates to A Midsummer Night's Dream's central theme: the idea that romantic love is irrational.

And thy fair virtue's force perforce doth move meOn first view to say, to swear, I love thee (124–125).

This quotation is delivered by Titania to Bottom after she awakes to his obnoxious singing. This hammers home the idea that love can be an irrational force, one where the lover does not view the object of desire clearly. Titania believes Bottom to be a gorgeous, noble creature, even though to the audience, this is certainly not the case. But her infatuation makes her believe he is so.
This idea of love as madness is expanded upon by Bottom himself when he responds to the queen's declarations of love.

And yet, to say the truth, reason and love keep little company together nowadays—the more the pity that some honest neighbors will not make them friends (127–129).

Bottom is essentially calling romantic love a kind of madness, since it and "reason" "keep little company together." Throughout the play, love moves characters to do desperate, reckless things, even before the fairies complicate matters with magic. In the world of the Athenian court, romantic love is ruled by reason and social conventions: the Duke will marry Hippolyta because he has conquered her in battle. Even though they seem fond of one another, they are only together because Hippolyta lost the war. Likewise, Hermia is to marry Demetrius because he is her father's choice. However, love does not always adhere to reason: Hermia prefers Lysander, and Helena pines for Demetrius even though he is cold to her.
In the woods, this madness intensifies in comedic ways: Lysander and Demetrius go crazy for the love of Helena, and the noble, ethereal Titania longs to be the lover of Bottom, a crude, bumbling man with an ass's head. Shakespeare is suggesting through these actions, and through Bottom's lines above, that love rarely adheres to what reason believes it should.

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