The dialogues between the two pairs of lovers now overheard by Oberon
makes the error clear, and so enables him to take the first step in
clearing up the tangle. Meantime, the poet and his audience agree with
Puck that they are so far 'glad it so did sort, As this their
jangling' is esteemed 'a sport.'

POINTS 1. Explain 'It shall be written in eight and sixe,' III. i.
23-4. 2. The custom in Shakespeare's day as to the women's parts.
Would it have been as amusing to the audience then as it would be to
us when Quince says 'Robin Starveling, you play Thisbies mother'? 3.
Pyramus and Thisbe. This may have been derived from Ovid, or from
Chaucer's "Legend of Good Women," or C. Robinson's "Handful of
Pleasant Delights." (1504.) 4. Explain 'Two of the first like coats in
heraldry,' III. ii. 220. 5. Describe the personal appearance of the
heroines from the references made.

QUERIES FOR DISCUSSION

Is Puck or Bottom the presiding genius of this act?

Does the jangling between the two women belittle them as heroines, and
is it, therefore, a blot upon the beauty of the play?


ACT IV

HARMONIZING EFFECTS OF OBERON'S SPELL

Trace throughout this act the smoothing-out process.