Oberon’s thoughts are interrupted by the arrival of Helena and Demetrius. Demetrius is in the woods to stop Hermia from eloping with Lysander, and Helena is chasing after Demetrius because she is irrationally in love with him. Helena is not acting sensibly, but she cannot help herself. The power of love is too strong.
Helena and Demetrius do not see Oberon, who is invisible to them. But Oberon is able to see and hear them quite well.
In Demetrius’ first line in this scene, he tells Helena that he does not love her and that he wants her to stop following him (line 188). Despite the fact that Demetrius is both worried and anxious, his dialogue has some good wordplay and puns. He declares that he wants to “slay” or kill Lysander, but that Hermia slays (“slayeth”) him (line 190). Demetrius is metaphorically dying for love. Demetrius also adds that he is “wood within this wood” (192). The word wood could mean crazy (as well as refer to the forest or woods). Demetrius thus describes himself as being a crazy man in the woods or forest. Demetrius is crazy in love as well. Therefore, the audience should not expect him to act rationally either.
Yet Helena cannot act rationally either. She uses a metaphor of a magnet (with the word adamant in line 195) and iron to describe her situation. To her Demetrius is a magnet, and she is a piece of iron. The iron cannot resist being attracted to the magnet. It has no will of its own. Similarly, Helena cannot resist being drawn to Demetrius. She cannot control herself.
An even stronger metaphor is that of the small dog:
I am your spaniel, and Demetrius,
The more you beat me I will fawn on you. (203-04)
Helena likens herself to a poor abused animal that remains loyal to its master even though the master mistreats it. The word fawn means to show affection. Helena is declaring that she will continue to have affection for Demetrius even though he treats her cruelly. To Helena, not being near Demetrius is an act of cruelty; but she cannot stop loving him anyway.
Demetrius then warns Helena that she is being foolish – a young girl out alone in the forest at night could be a victim of rape or other violence (lines 214- 19). But Helena responds that she knows that Demetrius is a virtuous gentleman who would never harm her. Then Helena adds two metaphors common to lovers: (1) she does not fear the night because Demetrius is her light (line 221), and (2) she is not alone because Demetrius is “all the world” to her (line 224). Demetrius realizes that arguing with Helena will not accomplish anything. She is too irrational to listen to sense. So, Demetrius attempts to run away from her.
Helena realizes that a woman chasing after a man is unnatural, and she describes the oddity of the act with four metaphors (lines 231-34):
In Greek mythology Apollo, the powerful sun god, once became attracted to a beautiful nymph (a minor nature goddess) named Daphne and chased after her. To escape his attentions from being forced upon her, Daphne was transformed into a laurel tree. Helena thus realizes that her chasing after Demetrius is dangerous and foolish, but she cannot stop herself from acting irrationally because her love is so strong.
After Demetrius and Helena exit the stage, Puck returns with the magical flower that could be used to make a love potion. Oberon tells Puck that he knows about the secret place in the woods where Titania sleeps. He plans to go there that night and place the love potion on her:
And with the juice of this I’ll streak her eyes, And make her full of hateful fantasies. (257-58)
The word fantasies, in this line, means that Titania will imagine that she is in love with some fierce animal. When that happens, Oberon will then be able to take the little boy.
Oberon also tells Puck about Demetrius and Helena. Oberon orders Puck to find Demetrius and put some of the love potion on his eyes. Then, when Demetrius wakes up and sees Helena, he will fall in love with her and forget all about Hermia. Oberon once again represents a supernatural force interfering in the lives of men. He becomes indistinguishable from fate or even from Cupid in this instance.
Because Puck was not there earlier and did not see Demetrius, he does not know what Demetrius looks like. Oberon tells him that he will be able to recognize Demetrius because he is wearing “Athenian garments” (clothes unique to individuals from Athens: line 264). However, what Oberon does not know (but what the audience does know) is that Demetrius is not the only gentleman from Athens out in the forest that night. Lysander is also an Athenian gentleman in the same area. Shakespeare thus sets up the situation for a case of mistaken identity and its comic consequences.