Tag Archives: folklore

Changeling: Usage In “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” vs European Folklore

In “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Fairy King Oberon and Queen Titania are at odds with each other because of some individual referred to as a “changeling.” Puck, Oberon’s main attendant, describes the source of the strife: “For Oberon is passing fell and wrath, Because that she as her attendant hath a lovely boy, stolen from an Indian king; She never had so sweet a changeling:” (Ii.i.20-24). Continue reading