Quote 1
OBERSON
Fetch me that flower; the herb I shew'd thee once.
The juice of it on sleeping eye-lids laid
Will make or man or woman madly dote
Upon the next live creature that it sees. (2.1.175-178)
As Oberon explains here, when the magic love juice is sprinkled into someone's eyes, it causes the person to fall instantly in love with the first creature he or she sees. Hmm. This seems to be symbolic of "love at first sight," don't you think? Go to "Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory" for more on this.
Quote 2
OBERON
Fetch me that flower; the herb I showed thee once.
The juice of it on sleeping eyelids laid
Will make or man or woman madly dote
Upon the next live creature that it sees. (2.1.175-178)
Oberon tells us that, when the magic love "juice" is sprinkled into someone's eyes, it causes the person to fall instantly in love with the first creature he or she sees. Shakespeare seems to have borrowed this concept from Book 14 of Ovid's Metamorphoses, where Circe uses a magic potion to transform men into beasts.
OBERON
Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania.TITANIA
What, jealous Oberon? Fairies, skip hence.
I have forsworn his bed and company.OBERON
Tarry, rash wanton: am not I thy lord?TITANIA
Then I must be thy lady. But I know
When thou hast stolen away from fairy land,
And in the shape of Corin sat all day (2.1.62-68)
King Oberon and Queen Titania's tumultuous relationship is often described as the ultimate "battle of the sexes." Like Kate and Petruchio in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, the fairy King and Queen are constantly at each other's throats. Their feud over Titania's foster child (Oberon wants him to be his private page but Titania won't give him up) is so fierce that it throws nature into disarray and causes the worst weather imaginable.