Lord, what fools these mortals be!
Quote Analysis
Said to Oberon by Puck in Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare in Act 3 Scene 2, this phrase is quite ironic, because the fairies aren’t portrayed as less foolish. Of course, from Puck’s point of view, observing human with their romantic struggles looks like a fun game, especially when he messes everything up with the love potion. But when Oberon gets angry with his wife and orders Puck to include her into all the love triangles, we see that not only mortal humans are fools here. Oberon, the king of Fair Folk is as blinded with jealousy and petty offences as the humans he is so amused to look at.
It may count as double irony, considering the fact that Puck acts incredibly foolish all through the play, failing to obey Oberon’s orders and comically ruining his plans with attempts to fix everything up. In general, mortal humans are able to sort their things out, if not the involvement of supernatural powers. But Oberon isn’t affected by any potion, still acting as silly as they are.
Author: Angel Bell