The wedding celebration includes entertainment. Theseus asks Egeus for a list of the diversions that the citizens of Athens have prepared to perform before their Duke. Egeus briefly describes three possibilities:
Theseus rejects the first one because it is a story he is too familiar with the story. According to Ovid's Metamorphoses, Theseus fought against ands killed Eurytus, the most dangerous of all the centaurs (wild half-horse, half-man creatures). Moreover, the appearance of a eunuch (a male singer who has been castrated as a young boy in order to preserve his high-pitched singing voice) would be in too sharp a contrast to the lustful desires of Theseus. The Duke also rejects the second performance. The bacchanals were drunken women who served Bacchus (called Dionysus by the Greeks), the Roman God of Wine. They killed Orpheus, a musician of tremendous skill, because he would not have sex with them. This story also appears in Ovid’s work. Theseus rejects the play because it is an “old device” (50). Theseus is commenting that the play has become tiresome because it has been performed too many times. Shakespeare himself may be commenting that the play has been performed too many times during the Renaissance. Theseus rejects the third item on the list as well because it is too serious, and he wants his wedding day to be light and happy.
Egeus then reads, somewhat reluctantly, the fourth item on his list:
A tedious brief scene of young Pyramus
And his love Thisbe: very tragical mirth. (56-57)
Egeus reads the title as the artisans had written it. The artisans do not understand drama very well, but they wanted their title to sound important. The title contains two oxymorons (describing a word by its opposite): “tedious brief” and “tragical mirth.” A play cannot be both tedious (long and boring) and brief (short). Nor can a play be both tragic and mirthful (comical). Theseus wonders about these oxymorons and lays emphasis on their strangeness by using two more oxymorons: “hot ice” and “black snow.” Theseus finds the word choice amusing.
Egeus, however, explains that the play is both brief and tedious. It is an extremely short play – Egeus exaggerates the shortness of it by commenting that it is “some ten words long” (61). It is actually longer than that, but the play is extremely short according to Renaissance standards. Yet, since all of the words are awkwardly and foolishly written, Egeus also finds the play to be extremely tedious. He cannot tolerate watching such a bad performance. Egeus also explains that the play is both tragic and comical. Although the subject matter – the death of young lovers – is tragic, the performance of it by the artisans is so awkward and ridiculous that the play becomes funny.
Despite the negative comments by Egeus, Duke Theseus decides that he would like to see the artisans perform their comic tragedy. Theseus defends his choice by explaining …
… never anything can be amiss
When simpleness and duty tender it. (82-83)
Theseus is implying that although the performers may not be very good, their intentions are good. The artisans are attempting to pay their respect to their Duke (a sense of duty), and they are doing it to the best of their abilities.
Hippolyta is not so sure. She believes that if the play is too wretched, too incompetently performed, that the respect or sense of duty in it will be absent (lines 85-86). But Theseus argues that their respect and duty will be evident despite the incompetence of the actors. Theseus then explains his point with a metaphor. The Duke relates how often, when he goes to visit the courts of kings in other lands, he is greeted by a clerk or minor court official who has prepared a special speech to welcome the Duke. However, the clerk or official is extremely nervous upon meeting the great hero
Theseus. And because he is nervous, the clerk or official turns pale and reads his speech awkwardly, making many mistakes along the way or perhaps not even finishing the speech. Theseus, however, is gracious and does not let the mistakes bother him. He realizes that the intentions of the clerk are good, and he accepts the speech as if it were recited perfectly.
Love, therefore, and tongue-tied simplicity
In least speak most, to my capacity. (104-05)
The word love refers to the feelings – the intentions – of the speaker. Theseus finds respect in the intentions of the speaker even though the words of respect are never spoken.
The speech by Theseus here also serves the function of meta-theater (when the playwright comments upon drama or acting through his characters). Shakespeare seems to be implying that he would rather see a play performed poorly by actors who were trying their best than to see a more polished performance by actors who did not take their roles or themselves seriously. In Shakespeare’s time there may have been more than a few actors who were too conceited or too full of themselves to perform a role properly. Although such actors may have spoken all of their lines correctly, Shakespeare would not have enjoyed their pompous performances.