Queen Mab, is a fairy referred to in William Shakespeare's play "Romeo and Juliet", where "she is the fairies' midwife", in her play, her activity is described in a famous speech by which fictional character in William Shakespeare's 1597 tragedy, a close friend to Romeo and a blood relative to Prince Escalus and Count Paris?
Queen Mab Queen Mab (pronunciation: "M/ă/v") is a fairy referred to in William Shakespeare's play "Romeo and Juliet", where "she is the fairies' midwife." Later, she appears in other poetry and literature, and in various guises in drama and cinema. In the play, her activity is described in a famous speech by Mercutio written originally in prose and often adapted into iambic pentameter, in which she is described as a miniature creature who performs midnight pranks upon sleepers. Being driven by a team of atomies, she rides her chariot over their noses and "delivers the fancies of sleeping men." Additionally, while driving "O'er ladies' lips, who straight on kisses dream," she was known to change her mind and instead "plague" "ladies' lips" "with blisters" if she smelled "sweetmeats" or candied fruit eaten to sweeten their breath. Along with this interpretation, others believe the blisters were a reference to the plague or to herpes simplex. She is also described as a midwife to help sleepers 'give birth' to their dreams. She may be a figure borrowed from folklore, and though she is often associated with the Irish Medb in popular culture, and has been suggested by historian Thomas Keightley to be from "Habundia", a more likely origin for her name would be from Mabel and the Middle English derivative "Mabily" (as used by Chaucer) all from the Latin "amabilis" ("lovable").
Troilus and Cressida Troilus and Cressida ( ) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1602. It was described by Frederick S. Boas as one of Shakespeare's problem plays. The play ends on a very bleak note with the death of the noble Trojan Hector and destruction of the love between Troilus and Cressida. The work has in recent years "stimulated exceptionally lively critical debate". Throughout the play, the tone lurches wildly between bawdy comedy and tragic gloom, and readers and theatre-goers have frequently found it difficult to understand how one is meant to respond to the characters. However, several characteristic elements of the play (the most notable being its constant questioning of intrinsic values such as hierarchy, honour and love) have often been viewed as distinctly "modern," as in the following remarks on the play by author and literary scholar Joyce Carol Oates: