Question

Draw a character sketch of Oberon as an enemy of his wife but a friend of the lovers.

Answer 1

Oberon is the King of the magical land of the fairies. He is an authoritative figure, who wants all his subjects to obey him. According to him, no one else in the entire realm holds more power than him. When he sees his wife, Titania, being affectionate towards the Indian boy whom she is raising, he becomes jealous and wants Titania to give up the boy so that he can make the boy his servant. Titania‘s refusal to give up the boy leads to a fight between her and Oberon, which results in the confusion that forms a major part of Act III, Scene (ii). At the beginning of Act III, Scene (ii), Oberon is seen wondering about the outcome of the plan he had devised, of pouring a love potion on his wife‘s eyelids, so that she falls in love with the first person she sees and he can take the Indian boy away from her. Even the fact that she falls in love with a donkey-headed man does not discourage him, rather, he finds it amusing. This shows Oberon‘s vengeful side as he is not willing to spare even his wife when she disobeys him. His need to assert his power makes him instruct Puck to get the love potion so that he can teach his wife a lesson. However, in the end, he removes Titania from under the spell, but by then he has already taken the Indian boy from her.
Though Oberon is unkind towards his wife, he also has a kind and loving side, which can be seen when he witnesses Demetrius‘ cold behaviour towards Helena in the forest. Unhappy about the way Helena is being treated by Demetrius, he decides to make Demetrius fall in love with Helena. He wants Helena‘s love to be requited, which makes his character a stark opposite of how it seemed to the audience so far. Even when Oberon realises that Puck has made an error and poured the potion on the wrong man, he decides to set everything right. The actions were taken by him to ensure that the true lovers end up together prove that he is a romantic, who wants love to triumph above all else. Oberon‘s actions throughout the play make him a complex character, who cannot be categorised as simply good or evil.