A Midsummer Night’s Dream · Act 2, Scene 1

Titania: “These are the forgeries of jealousy”

What is happening, what every line means, how to perform it, and how to use it in an audition, with the full text.

The Offbook team

Oct 8, 2026

What is happening

It is night in the wood outside Athens. Titania, Queen of the Fairies, and Oberon, the Fairy King, are locked in a feud. She is raising a young boy whose mother was her devoted follower, and Oberon wants the boy for himself. She refuses. They have been avoiding each other, and now they run into each other with their followers in tow.

The meeting turns ugly fast. Titania mocks Oberon's flings and says he has only come because his old flame Hippolyta is about to marry Duke Theseus. Oberon fires back that she is the one in love with Theseus.

This speech is her answer, spoken straight to Oberon in front of both their courts. She wants to throw his accusation back in his face, and then to make him see what their fighting has done to the world. Right after she finishes, he tells her she could fix it all by handing over the boy.

Lines: 37
Words: 277
At 150 wpm: 1.8 min
Form: Verse

The speech, beat by beat

The full text in 6 beats. Under each beat: what it means in plain English, and a note for playing it.

Lines 1–7 · You're making this up

1These are the forgeries of jealousy:
And never, since the middle summer’s spring,
Met we on hill, in dale, forest or mead,
By paved fountain or by rushy brook,
5Or in the beached margent of the sea,
To dance our ringlets to the whistling wind,
But with thy brawls thou hast disturb’d our sport.

In plain English Those are lies invented by your jealousy. Ever since the start of midsummer, every time we've met to dance in the wind, on hills, in valleys, in forests and meadows, by fountains, streams or the seashore, you've ruined it with your quarrels.

Acting note The first line is a slap. Then the list of places builds; each one is another time he spoiled things. Let the anger grow through it.

Lines 8–12 · The winds take revenge

8Therefore the winds, piping to us in vain,
As in revenge, have suck’d up from the sea
10Contagious fogs; which falling in the land
Hath every pelting river made so proud
That they have overborne their continents:

In plain English So the winds, which played for us for nothing, have taken revenge by sucking up poisonous fogs from the sea. The fogs fell as rain and made every little river swell until it burst its banks.

Acting note 'Therefore' is the key word, and it comes back again and again. She is building a chain of cause and effect, and he is the first link.

Lines 13–20 · The ruined countryside

13The ox hath therefore stretch’d his yoke in vain,
The ploughman lost his sweat, and the green corn
15Hath rotted ere his youth attain’d a beard;
The fold stands empty in the drowned field,
And crows are fatted with the murrion flock;
The nine men’s morris is fill’d up with mud,
And the quaint mazes in the wanton green
20For lack of tread are undistinguishable:

In plain English The ox has pulled the plough for nothing, the farmer has sweated for nothing, and the young corn has rotted before it could ripen. The sheep pens stand empty in flooded fields, crows grow fat on dead, diseased flocks, the outdoor game boards are filled with mud, and the patterns in the grass have vanished because no one walks them.

Acting note See each picture clearly. These are small, specific human losses, and they make the disaster real.

Lines 21–25 · No joy, and the angry moon

21The human mortals want their winter here;
No night is now with hymn or carol blest:
Therefore the moon, the governess of floods,
Pale in her anger, washes all the air,
25That rheumatic diseases do abound:

In plain English People have lost their winter cheer; no nights are blessed with hymns or carols anymore. So the moon, who rules the tides, pale with rage, soaks the air with damp, and colds and fevers are everywhere.

Acting note The moon is a powerful female figure, pale with anger. Titania may see herself in her.

Lines 26–34 · The seasons are mixed up

26And thorough this distemperature we see
The seasons alter: hoary-headed frosts
Fall in the fresh lap of the crimson rose,
And on old Hiems’ thin and icy crown
30An odorous chaplet of sweet summer buds
Is, as in mockery, set: the spring, the summer,
The childing autumn, angry winter, change
Their wonted liveries, and the mazed world,
By their increase, now knows not which is which:

In plain English Because of this disorder, the seasons have changed places. White frost falls on red roses in full bloom, and old Winter wears a sweet-smelling crown of summer buds, as if to mock him. Spring, summer, fruitful autumn and angry winter have swapped their usual clothes, and the bewildered world can't tell which is which by what each produces.

Acting note This is the most lyrical section. Enjoy the images, but keep them pointed at Oberon. It is still an argument.

Lines 35–37 · We are to blame

35And this same progeny of evils comes
From our debate, from our dissension;
We are their parents and original.

In plain English And this whole family of disasters comes from our fighting, our quarrel. We are their parents and their source.

Acting note Notice the word 'our.' After blaming him for 34 lines, she admits she shares the guilt. Decide whether that costs her something or is a final challenge to him.

Hard words

Word	Line	Meaning
forgeries	1	lies, inventions
middle summer’s spring	2	the beginning of midsummer
mead	3	meadow
margent	5	edge, shore
ringlets	6	circle dances
pelting	11	paltry, petty (small rivers)
continents	12	banks that contain a river
murrion	17	dead from cattle disease
nine men’s morris	18	a game played on squares cut into the turf
Hiems	29	Winter, pictured as an old man
childing	32	fruitful, bearing crops
wonted liveries	33	usual clothing; their normal appearance

How to perform it

Remember who you are talking to. This is not a nature poem; it is a fight with your husband in front of both your courts. Titania's objective is to win the argument: deny his charge, then crush him with the evidence of what his jealousy has caused. Every image is a piece of evidence.
Play her status. She is a queen with real power over nature, and she speaks like one. Don't overdo a floaty, 'fairy' quality. Ground her in authority and real anger.
Use 'therefore.' It appears three times (lines 8, 13, and 23), and each time it starts a new wave of consequences. Let each one hit harder, as if she is stacking up proof.
Breathe at the full stops and colons, which are your section breaks: after line 7, line 12, line 20, line 22, line 25, and line 34. Within each section, carry the thought across the line ends. Lines 26 to 34 run on with only colons to rest on; plan your breaths so you don't run out halfway through the seasons.
Know every image. If you see each picture clearly (the empty sheep pen, the mud-filled game board, frost on a rose), the audience will follow even the strange words.
Common mistakes: reciting the speech as beautiful description; losing energy in the middle; and treating the final three lines as a wrap-up. 'We are their parents and original' is a turn, and Oberon answers it at once by telling her she can end all this.

Using it in an audition

A rich, demanding piece that shows vocal range, command and a grasp of complex verse. It suits women from their 20s to their 50s with strong presence. At 37 lines it runs about two minutes, long for many slots. To trim, stop at line 20, or jump from line 12 straight to line 35 ('And this same progeny of evils comes') to keep the accusation, the flood and the final admission. Pair it with something personal and contemporary, or a grounded emotional classical speech, so the panel sees you away from heightened language.

Titania, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 2, Scene 1. William Shakespeare. Public domain text.

How long it runs

Pace	Words a minute	Run time
Deliberate	130	2.1 minutes
Conversational	150	1.8 minutes
Brisk	170	1.6 minutes

These are speech times before pauses. To time your own run, paste the text into the monologue timer.

Practice it: first-letter version

Each word is cut to its first letter. Say the whole line from the letters, then check the text. Make cues from any script with the first-letter memorizer.

T a t f o j:

A n, s t m s s,

M w o h, i d, f o m,

B p f o b r b,

O i t b m o t s,

T d o r t t w w,

B w t b t h d o s.

T t w, p t u i v,

A i r, h s u f t s

C f; w f i t l

H e p r m s p

T t h o t c:

T o h t s h y i v,

T p l h s, a t g c

H r e h y a a b;

T f s e i t d f,

A c a f w t m f;

T n m m i f u w m,

A t q m i t w g

F l o t a u:

T h m w t w h;

N n i n w h o c b:

T t m, t g o f,

P i h a, w a t a,

T r d d a:

A t t d w s

T s a: h-h f

F i t f l o t c r,

A o o H’ t a i c

A o c o s s b

I, a i m, s: t s, t s,

T c a, a w, c

T w l, a t m w,

B t i, n k n w i w:

A t s p o e c

F o d, f o d;

W a t p a o.

Sources

Questions actors ask

How long is Titania’s These are the forgeries of jealousy speech?

37 lines and 277 words. At 150 words a minute it runs about 1.8 minutes; a slower, more deliberate delivery at 130 takes about 2.1 minutes. Pauses add time, so time a full run out loud.

Is it a good audition monologue?

What is the fastest way to memorize it?

Learn it in sense units, not line by line: say each thought out loud until you can do it without looking, then add the next. The first-letter version below keeps the shape of every line in view while you test yourself.