Though there are many magical transformations in the play, which changes stick? The four lovers’ circumstances change for the better. Hermia and Helena fight, but, in the end, the two marry their lovers. The love potion administered by Puck seems to have stuck in Demetrius’s eye. He appears to undergo a more permanent change than the others, claiming that he has been restored to health, preferring Helena to Hermia:
But, like in sickness, did I loathe this food;
But, as in health, come to my natural taste,
Now I do wish it, love it, long for it,
And will for evermore be true to it.
Helena says, “I have found Demetrius like a jewel, / Mine own, and not mine own.” Now that Demetrius shows no interest in Hermia, Theseus overrules her father’s wishes and allows Hermia to marry Lysander. Theseus’s impending nuptials, or a more magical force, might cause him to inexplicably change his mind.
The fairy queen Titania’s circumstances change, though not necessarily for the better. As far as we know, Oberon takes the child Titania swore to keep, and Puck humiliates her by making her fall in love with the donkey-headed Bottom. A positive development comes from Oberon and Titania’s reunion. Their quarrels had caused a disorder in the natural world, which Titania describes as a “progeny of evils.” They can now bring harmony to the earth and bless the many couples that marry at the end of the play.
Bottom physically transforms more than anyone, briefly gaining the head of an ass and frolicking with the fairies. However, does his personality alter? Though he is amazed by his “dream,” Bottom shows his usual hubris by planning to sing a ballad describing his dream at the end of his performance before the duke. Thus, everyone’s experiences drastically change their lives, but they do not always alter their personalities and motivations.
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