The Queen of the Fairies and Oberon's wife. Titania is strong willed and independent, willing to fight her husband for control of the changeling boy. She is also powerful. Her fight with her husband causes nature to act strangely, and her fairies always follow her commands. She is not, however, immune to the power of the juice from the love-in-idleness flower. As a lover, she is doting, though jealous. It also seems that, like her husband, through the years she's had many an extra-marital amorous affair.
Titania Quotes in A Midsummer Night's Dream
The A Midsummer Night's Dream quotes below are all either spoken by Titania or refer to Titania. 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 3, scene 2
Quotes
When in that moment, so it came to pass,
Titania waked and straightway loved an ass. (33)
Titania waked and straightway loved an ass. (33)
Related Characters:
Robin Goodfellow (Puck) (speaker), Nick Bottom, Titania
Related Symbols:
The Love Juice
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Midsummer LitChart as a printable PDF.
Titania Character Timeline in A Midsummer Night's Dream
The timeline below shows where the character Titania appears in A Midsummer Night's Dream. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 2, scene 1
...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 should get to keep a beautiful...
(full context)
Puck quiets as Oberon and Titania enter. Oberon tells her, "ill met by moonlight, proud Titania" (2.1.62). They immediately begin to...
(full context)
Titania tells Oberon that their fight has disordered nature, resulting in floods, fogs, dead livestock, and...
(full context)
Once Titania is gone, Oberon vows to punish her for not obeying him. He calls to Puck,...
(full context)
Oberon, alone, muses on his plan: he'll wait until Titania is asleep and then place the juice on her eyes. When she wakes she'll fall...
(full context)
Act 2, scene 2
That night in the woods, Titania's fairy followers sing her to sleep in a beautiful glade. Oberon then sneaks past the...
(full context)
Act 3, scene 1
A while later, the laborers unknowingly enter the glade where Titania sleeps to rehearse their play. Before they start, Bottom states his concern that parts of...
(full context)
Titania wakes at the sound of Bottom's voice. She begs Bottom to continue singing and tells...
(full context)
Titania tells Bottom he must stay with her in the woods whether he wants to or...
(full context)
Act 3, scene 2
As Oberon wonders whether Titania has woken and with whom or what she's fallen in love, Puck enters and tells...
(full context)
...and tricks. Puck does just that as Oberon exits to go get the changeling from Titania.
(full context)
Act 4, scene 1
In her bower, Titania dotes on Bottom, placing flowers in his hair and kissing his mule-like ears as Bottom...
(full context)
Oberon and Puck enter. Oberon says that he now feels sorry for Titania, especially since she gave him the changeling the night before. He tells Puck to give...
(full context)
Then Oberon drops the juice on Titania's eyelids. She wakes, and though confused how she could have loved an ass, reconciles with...
(full context)
Act 5, scene 1
Puck enters, followed by Oberon, Titania and their fairy followers. They dance and sing to bless the three marriages and all...
(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 all...
(full context)