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Oberon Titania And Puck With Fairies Dancing (1786)

Afterwards, Oberon, Titania, Puck, and other fairies enter, and bless the house and its occupants with good fortune. After all the other characters leave, Puck 'restores amends' and suggests that what the audience experienced might just be a dream.

Blake, William. Oberon, Titania and Puck with Fairies Dancing. 1786. Photograph. Tate Gallery, London. A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Paintings. Southern Sinfonia, 16 Oct. 2012. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. http://southernsinfonia.blogspot.com/2012/10/a-midsummer-nights-dream-in-paintings.html

This image portrays the last scene from A Midsummer Night’s Dream where Titania tells her fairy subjects to form a fairy ring. This piece of art represents the important concept of fairy dance rings. Fairies were known for dancing and these dance circles. Dancing and music has always been an important characteristic that separates the fairies from the humans. If you were to come across these dances and were to join in the dancing and festivities, it was believed by many that you could be led away into the world of Fairy forever. Their music, dancing and beauty is overpoweringly enchanting but according to myth and folklore it is best to observe from the outside. These dance rings usually represent the line between the fairy world in nature and the human world. If you were to join the dance the fairies have been known in lore to speed up the dance until the human becomes disoriented and falls, then the fairies seek consequences on the human for entering into the fairy domain by throwing them in the air, humiliating them or worse. This painting captures the fun graceful spirit of the fairy, and their joy when in their element of nature. The fairy dance rings are also important because they bring an element of realism to a mythical belief. Where these dances are held there will be left a ring of mushrooms or other ground plant to signify the circle of enchantment that humans should not touch. When you see these rings of mushrooms people even to this day take stock in the myth and say “the fairies have been here”. It is an idea that has survived from before Shakespeare’s time.

  • In William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Lysander, Demetrius, and the Fairy Queen Titania fall victim to this manipulation, thanks to Oberon and his right-hand man Puck.
  • A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare, Act IV Scene I - Oberon, Titania and Puck with fairies dancing, illustration ID: HHW48E (RM) Three Fairies Dancing Sculpture in the winter frost at sunrise at The Rollright stones.

“Hence Oberon him sport to make,
Their rest when weary mortals take, 50
And none but only fairies wake,
Descendeth for his pleasure ;
And Mab, his merry Queen, by night
Bestrides young folks that lie upright
(In elder times, the mare that hight),
Which plagues them out of measure.

Hence shadows, seeming idle shapes
Of little frisking elves and apes
To earth do make their wanton scapes,
As hope of pastime hastes them ; 60
Which maids think on the hearth they see
When fires well-near consumed be,
There dancing hays by two and three,
Just as their fancy casts them. “

—excerpt from:

Drayton, Michael. “Nymphidia: The Court of Fairy.” Luminarium Editions. Anniina Jokinen. 2002. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. http://www.luminarium.org/editions/nymphidia.htm

This poem written in 1627 is a beautifully written tale of Pigwiggen a fairy knight being in love with the fairy queen Titania. I believe this is a great primary source poem because it gives you an idea of the things that came out of Shakespeare’s play from others. It also gives insight into the idea that if children did not obey they would be pinched black and blue. It is a prime example of works that would be circulating during the time and would be read to children to keep them in line. It meshes queen Mab, Titania, Puck and Oberon prior knowledge and creates a new story. In ways it exemplifies the jealousy that Oberon would have felt in A Midsummer Night’s Dream after enchanting Titania’s love to a donkey headed man. She was sweet and caring to him and Oberon would have been very jealous and this poem puts a new spin on that idea. It also shows the idea that people thought of Shakespeare’s characters as the real ones. Most of the works you find use the same names for the king and queen as well as Puck, as Shakespeare did. That’s important because it shows just how much his play impacted society and the future writers of fairy lore. It also exemplifies the world of the fairy as nature. It goes to great lengths to describe the interactions of the fairies with the nature world. This further proves that the forest is the fairy domain and there is something mystical about the forest. This was probably another incentive for children to not enter the woods alone because they may end up there forever.

Oberon’s Feast by Robert Herrick excerpt:

A LITTLE mushroom table spread,
After short prayers, they set on bread ;
A moon-parch’d grain of purest wheat,
With some small glittering grit to eat
His choice bits with ; then in a trice
They make a feast less great than nice.
But all this while his eye is serv’d,
We must not think his ear was sterv’d ;
But that there was in place to stir
His spleen, the chirring grasshopper,
The merry cricket, puling fly,

Witherspoon, Alexander M., and Frank J. Warnke. Seventeenth-century Prose and Poetry,. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1963. Print.

This poem was dedicated to a close friend of Herrick’s, Snapcot. It was written somewhere between 1591 and 1674. In the beginning phrase he says he dedicates it to him because Snapcot prizes things strange and unfamiliar. This poem is all about describing a feast the king of fairies might have. Herrick draws attention to how strange the lives of the fairies are and how unfamiliar we are with their customs and traditions. This poem very much shows the connection with nature that the fairies have and it shows how excessive the fairies could be. The feast shows an exorbitant amount of food and it reminds of how the fairies lounge around in the woods and don’t work for their meals. The poem mentions wheat as part of the feast. The fairies would have stolen that wheat from a hard working farmer in the village. The fairies did return the favors as lore tells us, but if the wheat or water wasn’t given then they sought retribution and revenge on the poor soul who didn’t give them food. It also shows how at one with nature fairies are. Almost all of the food comes from the animals of the forest. They live in a cohesive world with the forest creatures sharing food, shelter, protection etc. The poem also talks of not getting wine by ravaging the vines but gently pressed instead. They are respectful of nature and would not harm anything in the woods even for their benefit. This poem also shows again how Oberon has become the name of the king since Shakespeare’s writing.

Exerpt of Queen Mab:

A little fairy comes at night,
Her eyes are blue, her hair is brown,
With silver spots upon her wings,
And from the moon she flutters down.

She has a little silver wand,
And when a good child goes to bed
She waves her wand from right to left,
And makes a circle round its head.

And then it dreams of pleasant things,
Of fountains filled with fairy fish,
And trees that bear delicious fruit,
And bow their branches at a wish;

Hood, Thomas. “Queen Mab.” Thomas Hood’s Poem:. N.p., 2011. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/16252/

This poem was written around 1842 by Thomas Hood as well I can surmise. Queen Mab reminds me of a child’s bedtime story. This piece is past the Elizabethan era but I find it useful. Far after the Elizabethan era and Shakespeare the myth still existed. Mab has been referenced in many a literary text from Romeo and Juliet to Nymphidia. Her connotation and representation has changed over the years but it still stands true that she is a fairy Queen. This poem reminds me of a child’s story because this is something I would read to my child that might deter them from being mean and evil. This was the tradition of fairy stories from the very beginning of their time, to create stories to tell children and adults at times to keep them in line and doing the right thing. It is reminiscent of Santa Clause in our time. That was why there were so many fairy stories during the Elizabethan time especially because they firmly believed in this myth and wanted their children to take it seriously and act right as well. This poem gives heed to the idea that fairies controlled everything in life, from the fact that your floors were swept to your dreams at night. People believed that they were responsible for many things and Queen Mab only exemplifies that. This poem along with the rest also reminds the reader of the connection with nature. This poem also gives us a description of a fairy. It shows how the fairy image was changing from before the Elizabethans to the 1800s.

Exerpt from the The Mad Merry pranks of Robin Goodfellow:

If any wanderers I meet
that from their night-sports doe trudge home,
With counterfeiting voyce I greet
and cause them on with me to roame,
Through woods, through lakes,
Through bogs, through brakes, —
Ore bush and brier with them I goe;
I call upon
Them to come on,
And wend me, laughing ho, ho, ho!

Sometimes I meet them like a man;
sometimes an oxe, sometimes a hound;
And to a horse I turne me can,
to trip and trot about them round.
But if to ride
My back they stride,
More swift than winde away I goe;
Ore hedge and lands,
Through pooles and ponds,
I whirry, laughing, ho, ho, ho!

Jonson, Ben. “The Mad Merry Pranks of Robin Goodfellow.” The Ballads of Robin Goodfellow. Allen Wright. 2004. web. 26 Nov. 2013. http://www.boldoutlaw.com/puckrobin/roxbur.html

This song credited to Ben Jonson was written in early 17th century. This song is a wonderful primary text because it in one fell swoop classifies Puck the mischief maker. It also gives insight to the other fairies as well about the changeling child and their only being out at night in the human world. Puck is a mischievous fairy always doing things to the humans and causing havoc. Puck was once the name of an entire group of fairies but after Shakespeare it became better known as one fairies name. The fairies will live in harmony with you if you follow their rules, but if you don’t Puck will come out and do all sorts of roguish things. This song encompasses all the myths and beliefs of Puck and the mischief making fairy. That he is a shape shifting fairy and can walk among you without your knowledge, that he does not condone slovenly behavior, and that he sometimes does mean and spiteful things simply because he can. Sometimes he does good things just for the sake of it to show that he isn’t inherently evil. This source is useful to mesh all the beliefs of Puck into one place and understand him in a full capacity. This song also represents the mood of Puck, he is fun loving and impish and this song captures that in his words and the melody of the song. This song would have been a good song to sing to people to make them understand the fairies and their concerns about what they are capable of.

Excerpt from A fairy Tale:

He spoke, and all a sudden there
Light Musick floats in wanton Air;
The Monarch leads the Queen:
The rest their Faerie Partners found,
And Mable trimly tript the Ground
With Edwin of the Green.

William Blake Oberon Titania And Puck With Fairies Dancing 1786

The Dauncing past, the Board was laid,
And siker such a Feast was made
As Heart and Lip desire;
Withouten Hands the Dishes fly,
The Glasses with a Wish come nigh,
And with a Wish retire.

But now to please the Faerie King,
Full ev’ry deal they laugh and sing,
And antick Feats devise;
Some wind and tumble like an Ape,
And other-some transmute their Shape
In Edwin’s wond’ring Eyes.

Parnell, Thomas. “A Fairy Tale in the Ancient English Style.” ENGLISH POETRY 1579-1830: SPENSER AND THE TRADITION. David Radcliffe, n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. http://spenserians.cath.vt.edu/TextRecord.php?action=GET&textsid=33879

This source is a fairytale written in 1712 by Thomas Parnell. I decided to use this source because it is a legitimate fairytale of the time that involves fairies. It’s not a poem or song but a story that would be something told to children all over the country. It is a story of a man witnessing the fairies interacting. It gives credence to the fact that fairies only come out at night and flee when light of day approaches. This tale shows what messing with or intruding on the fairy world will get you. I decided to use this source because it is representative of the oral tradition of storytelling that was important to the spread of fairy lore. It discusses the importance of not intruding on the fairies and their privacy rules. As well it discusses how mischievous and slightly dangerous fairies can be if provoked. This story would keep people from trying to pursue fairies or invade their world for fear of retribution. This story also brings to mind a bit of romanticism and the idea of fairy lovers. The fairy dance ring is also present in this story giving evidence to the dangers of entering a fairy circle even when the fairies are not there. This tale also uses the same names that most other fairy works did after Shakespeare, Puck, Mab, and Oberon. I find it interesting that even fairytales used the same names and stuck to the ideas of Oberon and Puck. That’s another reason why I chose this story to use for the name usage and how well it stays true to the fairy myth and beliefs.

Lucy Crane, The Baby’s Bouquet: A Fresh Bunch of Old Rhymes and Tunes. Illustrated by Walter Crane. London: George Routledge & Sons 1878 (Cotsen 21153).

Identifying the fairy in this famous illustration isn’t hard. This next example isn’t difficult either…

The fairy Cri-Cri. Fairy Tales, Consisting of Seven Delightful Stories. London: T. Hughes, 1829. (Cotsen 33142).

Don’t be too quick to say there aren’t any fairies in this lovely drawing by William Blake….

Oberon, Titania and Puck with Fairies Dancing c.1786 William Blake 1757-1827 Presented by Alfred A. de Pass in memory of his wife Ethel 1910 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/N02686

Blake

What Does Puck Tell Oberon About Titania

Did Blake forget to draw the wings on the dancing fairies???? That’s a good question to which I don’t have a definitive answer. But I think probably not, because eighteenth-century illustrations of fairies rarely have them (I confess I have not done a survey of illustrated editions of Pope’s Rape of the Lock).

Here is the plate illustrating “Peau d’ane” in an edition of Perrault’s Contes from 1798. The girl with the donkey’s skin thrown over the blue dress must be the heroine, so the fairy has to be the lady in the rose gown with the billowing yellow scarf sitting in a cloud. When goddesses appear to mortals, they frequently descend in clouds–but fairies? Yes, they can, to quote Rose Fyleman..

“Peau d’ane,” in Charles Perrault, Contes des fees. Paris: Chez Devaux, 1798 (Cotsen 60006).

Of course fairies can disguise themselves to test mortals. In Perrault’s “La fee,” the girl sent to the well by her cruel stepmother to draw water for the family pauses to give the poor old woman a drink, when she ought to hurry back home with the full pitcher. The reader can’t tell from this picture what the fairy looks like when she is not undercover as an old woman. Nor does she reveal her true self later in the tale.

“The Fairy,” Charles Perrault, Histories, or Tales of Passed Times. Third edition, corrected. London: R. Montagu, and J. Pote at Eton, 1742 (Cotsen 25143).

Incidentally, this copy was owned by a Mary Fearman in the 1740s. She tried to protect her property from the light-fingered by writing a book curse on the rear endpaper…

The last item in this identification guide is one of my favorite books in Cotsen. The frontispiece seems to be a very early picture of tiny wingless fairies dancing in a ring before their king and queen, who are the size of human beings. The fairies are all wearing brimmed hats with steeple crowns–the kind of hat that witches wear. Or Mother Goose…

d’Aulnoy, Mme. History of the Tales of the Fairies, newly done from the French. London: Eben. Tracy, 1716 (Cotsen 25203).

This translation of a selection of Mme d’Aulnoy’s fairy tales seems to have been someone’s prize possession, perhaps the George Jones who wrote his name in the back of the book. George (or someone else) tried to copy a portion of the frontispiece on its blank side.

He also left traces at the very end of the book. The drawing on the top might be his take on a scene in Mme d’ Aulnoy”s “The Blue Bird.”

Cotsen 25203

Why did the appearance of fairies change so drastically over time? Was it the influence of Victorian ballet and theatre productions, where fairies had gauzy wings attached to the shoulders of their costumes? Perhaps some enterprising fairy tale scholar will concentrate on exploring the history of fairy wings…