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Oberon

King of the fairies in medieval, Renaissance literature

Oberon tricks Titania into giving him back the child using the juice from a special flower that makes one "madly dote upon the next live thing that it sees". The flower was accidentally struck by Cupid's arrow when he attempted to shoot a young maiden in a field, infusing the flower with love. Oberon sends his servant, Puck, to fetch the flower, which he does successfully.

Furious that Titania will not give him the child, Oberon puts juice from the magical flower in her eyes while she is asleep, the effect of which will cause Titania to fall in love with the first living thing she sees upon awakening. Titania awakens and finds herself madly in love with Bottom, an actor from the rude mechanicals whose head was just transformed into that of a donkey, thanks to a curse from Puck.

Meanwhile, two couples have entered the forest: lovers Hermia and Lysander are pursued by Demetrius, who also loves Hermia, and Helena, who loves Demetrius. Oberon witnesses Demetrius rejecting Helena, admires her amorous determination, and decides to help her. He sends Puck to put some of the juice in Demetrius's eyes, describing him as "a youth in Athenian clothing", to make him fall in love with Helena. Puck finds Lysander – who is also a youth wearing Athenian clothing – and puts the love potion on Lysander's eyes. When Lysander wakes, he sees Helena first and falls in love with her. Meanwhile, Demetrius has also been anointed with the flower and awakes to see Helena, pursued by Lysander, and a fight breaks out between the two young men. Oberon is furious with Puck and casts a sleeping spell on the forest, making Puck reverse the potion on Lysander, admonishing Puck to not reverse the effects on Demetrius. Both couples awake and begin the journey back to Athens.

Oberon now looks upon Titania and her lover, Bottom, and feels sorry for what he has done. He reverses the spell using a magic herb. When she wakes, she is confused, thinking that she had a dream. Oberon explains that the dream was real and the two reunite happily. They then return to Athens in the epilogue to bless the couples, becoming once again the benevolent fairy king and queen.

Other historical and cultural references

Oberon is a character in The Scottish History of James IV, a play written by Robert Greene.
In 1610, Ben Jonson wrote a masque of Oberon, the Faery Prince. It was performed by Henry Frederick Stuart, the Prince of Wales, at the English court on New Year's Day, 1611.
Oberon is a main character in Michael Drayton's narrative poem Nimphidia (1627) about the fairy Pigwiggin's love for Queen Mab and the jealousy of King Oberon.
In the anonymous book Robin Goodfellow, His Mad Pranks and Merry Jests (1628) Oberon is known as "Obreon" and is the father of the half-fairy Robin Goodfellow by a human woman.
Christoph Martin Wieland first published his epic poem Oberon in 1780; it in turn became the basis (as indicated on the title page) for the German opera Huon and Amanda (Hüon und Amande in German), later known as Oberon, by Sophie Seyler. A plagiarized version of Seyler's opera called Oberon by Karl Ludwig Giesecke with music by Paul Wranitzky debuted in Vienna shortly afterwards. Both operas enjoyed popularity. After extensive performances of the Giesecke version at the coronation of Leopold II in Frankfurt in 1791, it was much performed in Europe until it was surpassed in popularity by Weber's opera Oberon.
Oberon and Titania are main characters in the 1789 Danish opera Holger Danske, with music by F.L.Æ. Kunzen and libretto by Jens Baggesen.
Johann Wolfgang Goethe included the figures from Shakespeare's work in Faust I. Oberon is married to Titania, and the couple are celebrating their golden wedding anniversary in Faust I.
In the first chapter of Sir Walter Scott's 1819 epic novel Ivanhoe the fool Wamba suggests that a passing procession of dignitaries "are come from Fairy-land with a message from King Oberon".
In 1826, Carl Maria von Weber's opera, Oberon, (written after a poem by Christoph Martin Wieland translated to an English libretto by James Robinson Planche) debuted at Covent Garden in London, England.
Oberon appears with Titania in Richard Dadd's unfinished painting, The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke, displayed in the Tate Museum.
Two main characters in John Crowley’s Little, Big, a 1981 multi-generational novel about a family’s interaction with the fae, are named Auberon.

A fanciful etymology was given for the name Oberon by Charles Mackay in his book The Gaelic Etymology of the Languages of Western Europe along with many other theories on words found in the English language that have not found mainstream acceptance. Oxford Etymologist

In popular culture

In 1830, botanist John Lindley named a flowering plant in the family Orchidaceae, Oberonia after the fairy king.
In the manga and anime The Ancient Magus' Bride, which aired from October 2017 to March 2018, the King of the Fairies is named Oberon and his wife, the Queen of the Fairies, is named Titania.
In the videogame Warframe , Oberon was added as a playable character in the 11.5 Update The Cicero Crisis

References

Rose, Carol. (1996). "Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns and Goblins: An Encyclopedia". W.W. Norton.
(2006). "A Dictionary of First Names". [[Oxford University Press]].
Briggs, Katharine Mary. (1976). "A Dictionary of Fairies: Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures". Pantheon Books.
Bourchier, Lord Berners, John. (1887). "The Book of Huon de Bordeaux.". Early English Text Society.
Josepha, Sherman. (2008). "Storytelling: An Encyclopedia of Mythology and Folklore". Sharpe Reference.
Bullfinch, Thomas. (2004). "Legends of Charlemagne". Project Gutenberg.
Nutt, Alfred. (1900). "The Fairy Mythology of Shakespeare". David Nutt.
Henslowe, Philip. (1904). "Henslowe's Diary". A. H. Bullen.
"Description of " The Song of Los, copy B, object 5 (Bentley 5, Erdman 5, Keynes 5)"". [[William Blake Archive]].
"The Song of Los, copy B, object 5 (Bentley 5, Erdman 5, Keynes 5)". [[William Blake Archive]].
[[Peter Branscombe]], ''W. A. Mozart: Die Zauberflöte'', [[Cambridge University Press]], 1991, p. 28
"The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke".
The author of ''Word Origins…And How We Know Them'', Oxford University Press, 2005 and ''An Analytic Dictionary of English Etymology: An Introduction'' University Of Minnesota Press, 2008
Burkhardt, Lotte. (2022). "Eine Enzyklopädie zu eponymischen Pflanzennamen". Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin.
"The Ancient Magus' Bride TV Anime's 3rd Promo Video Previews JUNNA's Theme Song".
"Warframe Update 11.5 The Cicero Crisis".

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