Marriage as Comic Closure | A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
In A Midsummer Night's Dream the difference in the nature of the experiences offered by marriage to men and to women is signalled right at the outset, in the opening dialogue between Theseus and Hippolyta. The couple seem to be united in their eagerness for the approach of their ensuing wedding:
The. Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour16
Draws on apace; four happy days bring in
Another moon: but O, methinks, how slow
This old moon wanes! She lingers my desires,
Like to a step-dame or a dowager
Long withering out a young man's revenue.
Hip. Four days will quickly steep themselves in night;
Four nights will quickly dream away the time;
And then the moon, like to a silver bow
New bent in heaven, shall behold the night
Of our solemnities.
In fact, Hippolyta's lines are susceptible of a very different interpretation, as was shown...
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