A weirdly dark Puck speech.

Puck’s second-to-last speech in Midsummer Night’s Dream is weirdly dark. It comes at the very end, when Puck is waiting for Oberon and Titania to come bless the house of Theseus and Hippolyta, specifically their “best bride bed” and the issue they create in it.

Puck says stuff like: the hungry lion roars, the wolf behowls the moon; the wasted brands do glow; the screech owl, screeching loud, puts the wretch that lies in woe in remembrance of a shroud; graves are gaping wide; triple Hecate’s team, from the presence of the sun, following darkness like a dream, now are frolic: . . . .

That’s all pretty dark. I thought this was the happy ending? Why would he say things like this?

And there’s another dark thing alluded to in this scene: the issue of Theseus and Hippolyta, the recipient of Oberon and Titania’s blessing, is Hippolytus: he’s the subject of Euripides’ Hippolytus and Seneca’s Phaedra, both of which are quite tragic. I think it’s worth noting here that Oberon and Titania might have motive to harm Theseus and Hippolyta because, hilariously, at the beginning of the play, we learn Titania is in love with Theseus, and Oberon with Hippolyta.

That’s two dark things, right together, and right at the end (where they shouldn’t be): 1. Puck’s speech, and 2. the allusion to Hippolytus, a classically tragic character.

Does anyone know why these would be here? (I think they might be cursing the house!)

Do you like Puck’s speech here? (I love it, whatever it means, it sounds great, and I think it’s a great example of Shakespeare making his comedy not too light — a last second coda, where this perhaps malevolent Puck is caught saying dark and concerning stuff.)