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fairies in the forest and the world of humans set in Athens. The world of the fairies in the
forest is characterised by magic, adventure and a lack of reason. Puck, for example,
could be considered the chief mascot of this chaotic world, and he has the magical ability
to transform himself into any shape he wants, as his taunts of the Mechanicals in Act III
scene 1 demonstrate:
Sometime a horse I'll be, sometime a hound,
A hog, a headless bear, sometime a fire;
And neigh, and bark, and grunt, and roar, and burn,
Like horse, hound, hog, bear, fire, at every turn.
By contrast, the world of Athens is one that is defined in Act I scene 1 by the harshness
and severity of the law, which could lead to the loss of Hermia's life if she does not agree
to her father's demands to marry the man he would have her marry. If Athens is
characterised by reason, the world of fairies is characterised by a kind of topsy-turvy
chaos that impacts all who enter it. Interestingly, many productions have the characters
of Hipolyta and Theseus play the characters of Titania and Oberon as well, drawing an
interesting contrast between these two sets of lovers. Both at the beginning of the play
have problems in their relationship, but both by the end are reconciled.