http://www.baltimoreshakespeare.org/Muse/ScaryFairies.htm I found this brief article interesting. It’s all about how, prior to Shakespeare, “fairies” were actually scary little beasts that people feared. It also puts Puck/Robin Goodfellow into a bit of context, for anybody why in the beginning of Dream one of the characters says “Hey, I know you! You’re Robin Goodfellow!” He is not a Shakespeare creation, although Shakespeare appears to made some changes to his story.
In Our Time did a good discussion on FAERIES back in 2006 (still available for listening on line):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/
And the faeries in Shakespeare tend not to be quite so un-scary as post-Victorian productions make them: Oberon and Titania are both remarkably powerful and destructive – and what they do to bottom is very very ambiguous (in a sexual way).
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