Act 2, Scene 2 Journal Entry, A Midsummer Night's Dream

How do you think Oberon is able to sneak by the “sentinel” referred to in   1.32?  Can you suggest some stage business that makes this possible?

Stress	Subtext
If “thou” is stressed…	What thou seest when thou dost wake  what you’ll see is what no one else will see
If “thy” is stressed	Do it for thy  true-love take, Do it for him but really it’s for me, to get the boy
If “his” is stressed	Love and languish for his  sake Again for him, but this whole show is so I get the boy, he will believe you too probably but it’s all fake
If “Be it” is stressed…	Be it ounce, or cat, or bear, It doesn’t matter how ridiculous it is
If “bristled” is stressed…	Pard, or boar with bristled hair  He might going to be ugly and disgusting
If “appear” is stressed…	In thy eye that shall appear It will all be fake but seem real to you
If “dear” is stressed…	When thou wakest, it is thy dear fake lover, might even be a deer
If “vile” is stressed…	Wake when some vile thing is near It’s going to be horrible but you’ll “love” it

As Oberon did in Act 2, Scene 1, he made himself invisible to Demetrius and Helena, maybe he can do that again. Make it seems like he puts on a cape to camouflage into the bushes while he puts the flower juice on Titania’s eyes or perhaps tip toes while the “Sentinel” is looking the other way. The other option to show this on stage would be to have the Fairy fall asleep next to Titania so Oberon has a way to sneak by quietly.

You are Oberon and see Titania sleeping.  Are you angry?  Do you want to revenge yourself on her with this magic juice?  Or, do you see this as simply a light-hearted prank to play on her, similar to what we would call a practical joke today? 
       “Ah finally, Titania is asleep. Now is my time to sneak in and apply this magical flower juice. She has been so terrible lately, I am so mad at her. There is no reason that she gets to keep the beautiful orphan boy all for herself! It’s selfish of her to act this way and she deserves to be tricked, I need my revenge. She has made me look like a fool in front of the Fairy Kingdom and now everything has been in turmoil because of her nastiness. This will serve her right; she will give me the boy without realizing. Then I’ll reverse the curse and she will know nothing of it. “

Now take a look at the last lines of the scene.  Describe Puck’s “merry mix-up” (2.70-75) and its effect on:

          Puck has accidentally put the magical potion on Lysander’s eyes as he was only instructed to give it to the young Athenian man. He does not know the difference between Demetrius and Helena, he assumes that the couple sleeping is the same couple that Oberon saw earlier. He has completely messed things up for the four people. Lysander now loves Helena who loves Demetrius and Demetrius is out looking for Hermia who is now confused as to where her lover, Lysander went.

Lysander: Is in a reverie that he loves Helena, does not know what happened or why; he is completely obsessed with her now and won’t let her go, he doesn’t care at all over Hermia and is saying things that are not true

Helena: Helena thinks that Lysander is making fun of her. She thinks that he is purposely complimenting her to make her feel worse about herself because Demetrius just recently offended her. His behavior is so absurd that she wants to get away from him, his compliments are darts to her self-esteem

Hermia. Hermia wakes up completely confused because she just had a nightmare and Lysander is gone.She is worried as well that she will either find him dead or alive and runs off to find her lover.

Lysander keeps arguing that he has fallen in love with Helena because of his “reason” (2.121-6). How true is this?  

         Lysander talks of this "reason" of loving Helena as if he is finally realizing that Helena is the better girl but this is not all true. He may think that he has woken up to the truth and had not previously seen Helena as a perfect wife, but that is only due to Puck's mix up with the magical flower potion. The “reason” of which he speaks is that potion; the magic is the reason he is in love with Helena.

Reflect upon the following biblical passages and their meaning:

Matthew 12: 33-37 about how words reveal our true heart

      I think that this biblical passage is trying to tell us is through verbal communication we share what we truly feel inside. We can twist our words and manipulate others but eventually what is truly in our heart, whether good or bad will come out. We are also responsible for what we say, so if we tell a lie or speak without value, it will come back to us in a negative way. Words are  powerful, they can make the situation better or worse and we have to be careful with our speech because that is how our heart and our true feelings are communicated.

James 3: 1-12 about the power of positive words.

       I think this quote links nicely with the first passage. James focuses on the power of our words here and how we can completely change situations with them. This can be a good or bad  thing, therefore, we must watch what we say and think before we speak. We have every power to create problems like when is it said that, “a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.” But we can also spread good news with positive words. “Out of the same mouth come praise” It is up to us if we want to rejoice and be glad or wallow in negative vibes. The verse it also mentions how we are in control of what we say, other people might persuade or manipulate us but at the end of the day, we are responsible for what comes out of our mouth. So however we use our gift of communication, just make sure that you mean what you say.