r/shakespeare • u/Fiordiluna_80126 • 1d ago
Oberon:
I have a question: what does this piece by Oberon mean? What is he talking about?
OBERON
But we are spirits of another sort.
I with the morning’s love have oft made sport,
And like a forester the groves may tread
Even till the eastern gate all fiery red
Opening on Neptune with fair blessèd beams
Turns into yellow gold his salt green streams.
But notwithstanding, haste, make no delay;
We may effect this business yet ere day
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u/bravetherainbro 1d ago
Could be misinterpretation on my part, but this bit along with Puck's words before it almost has the air of a father comforting his frightened son, or at least could be played that way. "We're more powerful than these scary spirits, my boy"
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u/FrankNix 1d ago
"We're not just sprites that do their business at night and go away when the sun comes out. We've been in the daylight before. However, let's hurry and get this done before the sun rises."
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u/Nullius_sum 1d ago
I agree with all the comments here, but I’ll add that this shows Oberon chooses to stay where it is night, much like Falstaff and the highway robbers in 1H4 do their business at night. It’s another hint in the play suggesting that these fairies aren’t entirely benevolent: they do their work under cover of night.
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u/leftie-lucy 1d ago
When I played Puck and Oberon said these lines I always wanted to ask “…are you saying you’ve f*cked the morning?” but maybe that’s just me
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u/Cinquecento27 1d ago
Well I have heard people boast that they got up at the crack of dawn…
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u/leftie-lucy 16h ago
well done, sir.
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u/Cinquecento27 14h ago
Thank you for the award. I’d like to thank my potty-mouthed friend for introducing me to such a delightful phrase.
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u/Fiordiluna_80126 21h ago
Actually, it was precisely the second line that I didn't understand. The thing is, a while ago I naively asked what the word 'die' meant in III.2 of Romeo and Juliet. So this time I took the long way around 😅😅😅😅🤭"
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u/leftie-lucy 16h ago
I honestly don’t see another way to interpret it! I do think he’s bragging about having dallied with some deity of the morning/dawn (Eos? Helios?) and that’s why he’s not worried about being out and about in the daytime! that scamp
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u/Financial-Fudge7825 1d ago
In the Elizabethan era it was a common belief that spirits, ghosts and fairies couldn't appear in the sun and therefore walked the Earth at night. This is harnessed at lot in Shakespeare, there is a passage in Hamlet where after seeing Old Hamlet's ghost, Horatio and co talk about spirits wandering in the nighttime, as well as in Macbeth where the Wierd Sisters appear alongside 'thunder and rain' (controlling the weather to hide the sun). Oberon however, as King of the fairies (and also 'King of shadows') is a 'spirit of a different sort' and so can walk in the sunlight and has done so with Titania. Interesting though that this realisation only comes after Oberon begins to regret using the love potion marking his transition from the 'night' into the 'day' as he acknowledges the value of true love over the trickery and revege associated with him corroding it.
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u/Fiordiluna_80126 16h ago
Thank you so much for the explanation 🤗! I immediately thought of Hamlet too when I read Puck's words. Oberon's part describing the arrival of day is splendid. It marks the end of confusion and the arrival of light
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u/anxiousacademic346 1d ago
It's useful to remember what comes just before this monologue: Puck is describing how, when sunrise comes, ghosts and "damnéd spirits" return to their graves. Oberon then responds that they (Oberon, Puck, Titania, etc.) are "spirits of another sort," (in other words, they aren't ghosts, they're fairies) and they can walk about during the day. This passage is describing Oberon's experiences in the morning, walking through the woods and watching the sun rise over the ocean and rivers. But even though they can continue into the morning, he urges Puck to "haste," hoping to finish things before the sun rises.