Oberon is not pleased that Titania will not give him the boy, so he decides to get revenge. Oberon decides to make a love potion from the juice of a special magical flower to play a trick on Titania, and Oberon calls his servant Puck to get that flower for him. Oberon describes the origin of the flower to Puck:
… I saw …
Flying between the cold moon and the earth Cupid, all armed. A certain aim he took
At a fair vestal thronèd by the west,
And loosed his love shaft smartly from his bow As it should pierce a hundred thousand hearts. But I might see young Cupid’s fiery shaft
Quenched in the chaste beams of the wat’ry moon, And the imperial vot’ress passèd on
In maiden meditation, fancy-free. (155-64)
Shakespeare actually accomplishes two purposes with this passage: (1) he explains the origin of the love flower, and (2) he praises Queen Elizabeth. Cupid is the Roman god of love, and he traditionally carries a bow and arrows. His arrows, tipped with gold, have the magical ability to cause the person who is hit by one to fall madly and hopelessly in love. No one, not even the other gods, can resist the power of Cupid’s arrows. In other words, love is too strong to resist. In Oberon’s tale, Cupid took a powerful shot at Queen Elizabeth (referred to as the “fair vestal” and the “imperial vot’ress”); but Cupid missed. And Oberon saw, by the rays of the moon, where Cupid’s arrow fell.
Queen Elizabeth was sometimes referred to as the Virgin Queen. She never had a husband. In a clever manner, Shakespeare explains that the reason his Queen never married was due to Cupid missing her with his arrow.
Oberon then finishes his tale by telling Puck that Cupid’s arrow struck a little white flower, which turned purple when the arrow wounded it (lines 166- 68). This flower, the pansy, is also called love-in- idleness because its perfume supposedly has the powers of a love potion.
Shakespeare creates this tale about the origin of the pansy, but his story is similar to one from Greek mythology. In the story of “Pyramus and Thisbe” the mulberry turned purple from being covered with Pyramus’ blood. Very cleverly, Shakespeare thus connects his fairy story with the Pyramus tale in an extraordinarily indirect way.
Oberon directs Puck, then, to get the pansies for him. Puck responds with the following:
I’ll put a girdle round about the earth In forty minutes. (175-76)
Puck’s response also reveals the extent of the fairy power. They can move so quickly that they can circle the earth in less than an hour.
After Puck exits, Oberon has a brief soliloquy (a speech or monologue revealing his innermost thoughts) in which he explains his intentions. The King of the Fairies intends to put some of the sleeping potion in Titania’s eyes while she is sleeping. Then, when she wakes up, the first person or animal she opens her eyes upon …
Be it on lion, bear, or wolf, or bull,
On meddling monkey, or on busy ape –
She shall pursue it with the soul of love. (180-82)
And, while Titania thus pursues some animal out of love, Oberon will steal the boy from her. Titania will be too obsessed over some animal to stop Oberon.