TITANIA         Sleep thou, and I will wind thee in my arms.

Fairies, be gone, and be always away.

[Exeunt Fairies.]

So doth the woodbine the sweet honeysuckle

Gently entwist; the female ivy so

Enrings the barky fingers of the elm.

O how I love thee! How I dote on thee!       (4.1.39-44)

Titania will do anything, anything that Bottom asks; if he wants a nap, he gets a nap. Sleep thou, and I will wind thee in my arms. I’ll cuddle you while you sleep… Fairies, be gone, and be always away. Off you go, kids, the grown-ups want to be alone for a bit. But there’s a homely ecstasy in Titania’s words, as she too prepares to sleep: so doth the woodbine the sweet honeysuckle gently entwist; we’ll be like two tangled vines, wrapped around each other as we sleep, so sweet, so supportive; the female ivy so enrings the barky fingers of the elm. I’ll cling to you like ivy around the rough branches of a tree. It’s gentle and mutual, even as it’s fantastical. O how I love thee! How I dote on thee! These are words that Titania perhaps hasn’t spoken to Oberon for a long time, if ever. Yes, she’s drugged, and Bottom’s ridiculous, but this doesn’t have to be dark, bestial, lascivious, the unconscious running wild (although it absolutely can be, too): it can just be rather lovely…