Act III, sc. 2

More remarks we made in class...
 
After the quarrel - Oberon vs. Puck

Watch the Adrian Noble RSC 96 rendition and find out:

1. How Oberon reacts to Puck’s mistakes

-His reaction is two-fold: he reacts at the beginning by… . Then at the end again he accuses him of / reproaches him for/with / blames him for making mistakes / being negligent / not being careful. Contrary to Puck he is not happy with the way things turn out (he blames it on Puck). He then gives Puck orders = instructions to put things right: bring on the night, confuse the nobles, and set everything right.

Mood: calm = composed, gloomy (bluish colour that is calming = soothing…)

2. What sort of spirits Puck’s speech conjures up

- he talks about dragons, ghosts, churchyards (cemeteries=graveyards), damned spirits, burial, “wormy beds” (coffin or tomb)

He is conjuring up a lugubrious picture, the notion of death... It sounds like a vision of hell / a nightmare / damnation. This would have echoed in the original audience’s mind: they may have been afraid of the dark and they certainly were superstitious. The spirits he is talking about are dark, malevolent, frightening, evil

3. How Oberon distances himself from evil

He says he likes dawn / watching the sun rise. He opposes darkness and evil to sunlight, and reassures the audience by saying “they are spirits of another sort” than the ones described by Puck. He confirms that he is good / benevolent (if we put aside his strange obsession for the Indian boy and…)