Mojo, The Bard, & Me

 

His speech was like a tangled chain; nothing impaired, but all disordered. Who is next?

-Theseus

A Midsummer Night’s Dream       Act V, scene i, line 125

 

Prologue

If we offend, it is with our good will.

That you should think, we come not to offend,

But with good will. To show our simple skill

That is the true beginning of our end.

Consider, then, we come but in despite.

We do not come as minding to content you,

Our true intent is. All for your delight,

We are not here. That you should here repent you,

The actors are at hand; and, by their show,

You shall know all that you are like to know.

 

This is the prologue to the play within the play, and it is what Theseus is referring to as like a tangled chain. I don’t know which of the players is speaking the Prologue, but I like to think it’s Peter Quince, the carpenter. 

I have to agree with Theseus, though, the line breaks and the punctuation, and the words are a little bit out of whack. The question is whether or not Prologue/Peter is purposefully doing it this way. Probably not. As far as Theseus's question of who’s next? Well, it's more of the Prologue, continuing to tell Theseus and the other viewers what’s happening next in the play. 

The play within a play takes up a major part of Act Five, Scene One, and since this is the last scene of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the play within a play and the play itself end almost concurrently. So that's kind of interesting.

Tangled Chains