| Oberon | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Real Name |
Oberon |
|
First Appearance |
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595–1596) |
|
Created by |
William Shakespeare |
Origin[]
Oberon is the king of the fairies and husband of the Fairy Queen, Titania. The pair are depicted as powerful natural spirits who together guarantee the fertility or health of the human and natural worlds.
Oberon and his wife were engaged in a marital quarrel over which of them should have the keeping of an Indian changeling boy. It is this quarrel which drives the plot, creating the mix-ups and confusion of the other characters in the play.
Due to an enchantment cast by Oberon's servant Puck, Titania magically falls in love with a "rude mechanical" (a labourer), Nick Bottom the weaver, who has been given the head of a donkey by Puck, who feels it is better suited to his character. While under the spell, Titania loses the powerful attributes she previously held and becomes fawning instead.
After Oberon and Puck have had enough of watching Titania make a fool of herself to woo "a monster", Oberon reverses the spell and the two reunite after Titania pronounces "what visions have I seen! Methought I was enamour'd of an ass." At the play's conclusion, Titania and Oberon lead a fairy blessing of the marriages of the play's protagonists.
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595–1596)
- The Scottish History of James IV (1590)
- Oberon, the Faery Prince (1610)
- Nimphidia (1627)
- Robin Goodfellow, His Mad Pranks and Merry Jests (1628)
- Faust I (1770s)
- Oberon (1780)
- Holger Danske (1789)
- Oberon (1825–26)
Public Domain Comic Appearances[]
- World Famous Stories #1
- Ibis the Invincible #5
Notes[]
- On 11 January 1787 William Herschel discovered both the outermost major satellite of Uranus, along with its overall two largest moons. In 1852, his son John Herschel named the two moons Oberon and Titania, respectively.