PUCK                  On the ground

                              Sleep sound.

                              I’ll apply

                              To your eye,

                    Gentle lover, remedy.

                              When thou wak’st,

                              Thou tak’st

                              True delight

                              In the sight

                    Of thy former lady’s eye;

          And the country proverb known,

          That every man should take his own,

          In your waking shall be shown.

                              Jack shall have Jill,

                              Nought shall go ill,

The man shall have his mare again, and all shall be well. [Exit.]  (3.2.448-463)

And so that’s that: Puck anoints Lysander’s eyes, and speaks what is as much a benediction as a charm: On the ground, sleep sound. I’ll apply to your eye, gentle lover, remedy. You just sleep there, and I’ll sort all this out, and this is what’s going to happen: when thou wak’st, thou tak’st true delight in the sight of thy former lady’s eye. You’ll be back where you started, back where you belong: seeing her will be everything that makes you happy, everything. Then Puck seems to extend his range to encompass the other lovers too, because, apparently, it’s all going to be OK after all, just as it should be: and the country proverb known, that every man should take his own, in your waking shall be shown. Yes, it’s patriarchal and heteronormative, but, in the circumstances, a good result all round, and surely no one will complain? (Demetrius, maybe, but he’s not going to get the chance.) The main thing is, when you all wake up, it’s going to be FINE. BETTER than fine. Jack shall have Jill, nought shall go ill, the man shall have his mare again, and all shall be well. All shall be well, a comforting benediction indeed, from this chaos-spreading mischief-maker.

And that, finally, is the end of the act, as the exhausted lovers slumber on…