Theseus explains to Hermia that if she disobeys her father, she could be forced to become a nun. The Duke then digresses for a few lines to contrast life as a nun to life as a wife. Theseus asks Hermia to consider whether she …
… can endure the livery of a nun,
For aye to be in shady cloister mewed, To live a barren sister all your life,
Chanting faint hymns to the cold fruitless moon. Thrice blessed they that master so their blood To undergo such maiden pilgrimage;
But earthlier happy is the rose distilled
Than that which, withering on the virgin thorn, Grows, lives, and dies in single blessedness. (70-78)
Theseus does suggest that the nun is three times more blessed than the woman who chooses marriage. After all, the nun is a devoted servant to God; and God will surely reward those who serve him so devoutly and who give up their earthly life to worship Him.
However, the language of Theseus (and, thus, the language of Shakespeare) clearly suggests that life as a married woman is far better than that of a nun. Theseus suggests that a nun’s life is bleak and desolate. First, he describes the nun as being mewed in a “shady cloister.” The word mewed indicates being trapped or confined. Theseus is thus indicating that being a nun is like being a prisoner locked away in a small dark cell. Second, Theseus refers to every nun as a “barren sister.” The word barren literally indicates that the nuns, being unmarried, will not have children. But the word also connotes emptiness and meaninglessness. Theseus is perhaps indicating that such a life is meaningless. And, third, Theseus describes the life of the nun as someone who chants “faint hymns to the cold fruitless moon.” The hymns or songs are faint or barely heard. Such music brings no pleasure and no joy. The moon becomes a metaphor for the nuns. They are cold and fruitless. They have no emotion and they produce nothing of value to the world.
Although the reader of the play cannot hear the tone of voice that an actor might use during this speech, a good actor will use a subtle tone of scorn and disgust when he describes the lifestyle of the nuns. Theseus clearly does not think that life as a nun is a good choice for any woman.
The reader, however, should guess this from the lines spoken by Theseus at the start of the play (lines 3-6). Theseus is a man of lust, and the idea of celibacy – even a celibacy of four days in length – is a horrid thought to him.