Quote 1
OBERSON
Fetch me that flower; the herb I shew'd thee once.
The juice of it on sleeping eye-lids laid
Will make or man or woman madly dote
Upon the next live creature that it sees. (2.1.175-178)
As Oberon explains here, when the magic love juice is sprinkled into someone's eyes, it causes the person to fall instantly in love with the first creature he or she sees. Hmm. This seems to be symbolic of "love at first sight," don't you think? Go to "Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory" for more on this.
Quote 2
OBERON
Fetch me that flower; the herb I showed thee once.
The juice of it on sleeping eyelids laid
Will make or man or woman madly dote
Upon the next live creature that it sees. (2.1.175-178)
Oberon tells us that, when the magic love "juice" is sprinkled into someone's eyes, it causes the person to fall instantly in love with the first creature he or she sees. Shakespeare seems to have borrowed this concept from Book 14 of Ovid's Metamorphoses, where Circe uses a magic potion to transform men into beasts.
OBERON
Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania.TITANIA
What, jealous Oberon? Fairies, skip hence.
I have forsworn his bed and company.OBERON
Tarry, rash wanton: am not I thy lord?TITANIA
Then I must be thy lady. But I know
When thou hast stolen away from fairy land,
And in the shape of Corin sat all day (2.1.62-68)
King Oberon and Queen Titania's tumultuous relationship is often described as the ultimate "battle of the sexes." Like Kate and Petruchio in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, the fairy King and Queen are constantly at each other's throats. Their feud over Titania's foster child (Oberon wants him to be his private page but Titania won't give him up) is so fierce that it throws nature into disarray and causes the worst weather imaginable.
Quote 4
OBERON
Then crush this herb into Lysander's eye,
Whose liquor hath this virtuous property,
To take from thence all error with his might
And make his eyeballs roll with wonted sight.
When they next wake, all this derision
Shall seem a dream and fruitless vision.
And back to Athens shall the lovers wend,
With league whose date till death shall never end. (3.2.387-394)
Oberon posits that this night's crazy events will seem like a dream tomorrow, which will hopefully cause the four Athenian lovers to forget everything and go back to Athens as proper pairs. The Athenians are thus able to choose their own version of reality – they can consider the night either real or a dream.
Quote 5
OBERON
And, gentle Puck, take this transformèd scalp
From off the head of this Athenian swain,
That he awaking when the other do
May all to Athens back again repair
And think no more of this night's accidents
But as the fierce vexation of a dream.
But first I will release the Fairy Queen. (4.1.65-71)
Oberon again hints that, if all of the young Athenians think of the past night as a dream, everything will be forgotten. This way, not only do the lovers have some easy resolution, but Puck and Oberon are absolved of any blame for their mischief and manipulation. The dream world, in this respect, is as much a remedy as an excuse.
Quote 6
OBERON
Now, until the break of day,
Through this house each fairy stray.
To the best bride-bed will we,
Which by us shall blessèd be,
And the issue there create
Ever shall be fortunate.
So shall all the couples three
Ever true in loving be,
And the blots of Nature's hand
Shall not in their issue stand.
Never mole, hare-lip, nor scar,
Nor mark prodigious, such as are
Despised in nativity,
Shall upon their children be. (5.1.418-431)
Right before this speech of Oberon's, Puck gave a pretty dark view of the rest of the world. Oberon rescues the play from a dark ending by giving a lighter, happier account of man's place in the natural world. The Fairy King touches on man's natural means to immortality: the act of procreation. Though the characters will naturally die, their love will live on in their children. Again, Oberon is responsible for showing magic in the natural world.
Quote 7
OBERON
That very time I saw (but thou couldst not)
Flying between the cold moon and the earth,
Cupid, all arm'd; a certain aim he took
At a fair vestal, throned by the west,
And loos'd his love-shaft smartly from his bow
As it should pierce a hundred thousand hearts.
But I might see young Cupid's fiery shaft
Quench'd in the chaste beams of the wat'ry moon,
And the imperial vot'ress passèd on,
In maiden meditation, fancy-free.
Yet mark'd I where the bolt of Cupid fell.
It fell upon a little western flower,
Before milk-white, now purple with love's wound,
And maidens call it "love-in-idleness."
Fetch me that flow'r, the herb I showed thee once.
The juice of it on sleeping eyelids laid
Will make or man or woman madly dote
Upon the next live creature that it sees. (2.1.1561-178)
Oberon explains why the pansy has a magical quality. His explanation reveals magic's complexity, and how many strange factors magic relies on, especially the natural world. Cupid's arrows, aimed at a royal virgin, were misdirected by the beams of the moon, as the moon is personified by Diana, the virgin goddess. As a result, Cupid's arrow hits the pansy, which becomes magic. Shakespeare thus reveals that magic is not just some cheap tool that can easily explain away holes in a plot—it is actually the intersection between the mythic and natural worlds.
Quote 8
OBERON
seek through this grove.
A sweet Athenian lady is in love
With a disdainful youth; anoint his eyes,
But do it when the next thing he espies
May be the lady. Thou shalt know the man
By the Athenian garments he hath on.
Effect it with some care, that he may prove
More fond on her than she upon her love. (2.1.267-274)
At first, it seems Oberon means to do good with his magic, but it turns out there is a streak of mischief in him after all. He wishes Demetrius to fall in love with Helena, but he wants Demetrius to be so in love with Helena that she will get annoyed. This raises the question of whether magic always has to be a little devious. Magic does not come from the natural world, so it makes sense that it plays out in a slightly twisted (or unnatural) way.
Quote 9
OBERON
But we are spirits of another sort.
I with the Morning's love have oft made sport
And, like a forester, the groves may tread
Even till the eastern gate, all fiery red,
Opening on Neptune with fair blessed beams,
Turns into yellow gold his salt green streams.
But, notwithstanding, haste, make no delay.
We may effect this business yet ere day. (3.2.410-417)
Oberon points out that the fairies are not dark spirits cursed to stay out of daylight. He and the fairies wander freely morning, noon, and night. These habits contrast with those of Puck, who is always trying to get out of morning's way. By pointing out that fairies can be out during the day, Oberon casts suspicion on Puck's nocturnal limitation. Puck, like the graveyard ghosts, seems to have some element in his magic that's more sinister than that of the others.