The King of the Fairies and Titania's husband. Oberon is willful and demands obedience from his subjects, including his wife. When he's angry, he's not above using magic and plots to manipulate and humiliate in order to get his way. Yet at the same time he also seems to like using magic to fix problems he sees around him, particularly those having to do with love. He's had numerous extra-marital affairs.
Oberon Quotes in A Midsummer Night's Dream
The A Midsummer Night's Dream quotes below are all either spoken by Oberon or refer to Oberon. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 2, scene 1
Quotes
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:
There sleeps Titania some time of the night,
Lull'd in these flowers with dances and delight;
And there the snake throws her enamell'd skin,
Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in. (235)
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses, and with eglantine:
There sleeps Titania some time of the night,
Lull'd in these flowers with dances and delight;
And there the snake throws her enamell'd skin,
Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in. (235)
Act 2, scene 2
Quotes
When thou wakest, it is thy dear:
Wake when some vile thing is near. (22)
Wake when some vile thing is near. (22)
Act 4, scene 1
Quotes
Get the entire Midsummer LitChart as a printable PDF.
Oberon Character Timeline in A Midsummer Night's Dream
The timeline below shows where the character Oberon appears in A Midsummer Night's Dream. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 2, scene 1
...the forest outside Athens, a fairy meets with Robin Goodfellow. They discuss the conflict between Oberon, king of the fairies, and Titania, the queen of the fairies, about which of them...
(full context)
Puck quiets as Oberon and Titania enter. Oberon tells her, "ill met by moonlight, proud Titania" (2.1.62). They immediately...
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Titania tells Oberon that their fight has disordered nature, resulting in floods, fogs, dead livestock, and mixed-up seasons....
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Once Titania is gone, Oberon vows to punish her for not obeying him. He calls to Puck, and reminds him...
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Oberon continues that he saw where that arrow landed: on a little flower that turned from...
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Oberon, alone, muses on his plan: he'll wait until Titania is asleep and then place the...
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Just then, Oberon hears voices. Since he's invisible, he decides to spy. Demetrius and Helena enter, walking through...
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After they exit, Oberon promises that soon Demetrius will seek Helena's love. Once Puck returns with the love-in-idleness flower,...
(full context)
Act 2, scene 2
...night in the woods, Titania's fairy followers sing her to sleep in a beautiful glade. Oberon then sneaks past the guard protecting her, and drops the juice on her sleeping eyelids....
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...spurning the Athenian lady. He drops the potion on Lysander's eyes, and rushes back to Oberon.
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Act 3, scene 2
As Oberon wonders whether Titania has woken and with whom or what she's fallen in love, Puck...
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But just as Oberon asks about Puck's success with the Athenian youth and Puck says he used the potion...
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Oberon realizes what has happened and scolds Puck: "What hast though done? Thou hast mistaken quite...
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Oberon puts the love ointment on Demetrius' eyes as Puck returns with the warning that Helena...
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Oberon suspects Puck of having intentionally caused this mayhem. Puck swears he made an honest mistake,...
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Act 4, scene 1
Oberon and Puck enter. Oberon says that he now feels sorry for Titania, especially since she...
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Then Oberon drops the juice on Titania's eyelids. She wakes, and though confused how she could have...
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Act 5, scene 1
Puck enters, followed by Oberon, Titania and their fairy followers. They dance and sing to bless the three marriages and...
(full context)
Act 5, scene 2
Puck enters, followed by Oberon, Titania and their fairy followers. They dance and sing to bless the three marriages and...
(full context)
