You are here

All Site ContentMidsummer Night's DreamAct 1Scene 1
Back to the Play
"form in wax"
Metaphor
Act 1,
Scene 1
Lines 46-51

An explanation of Theseus’ sculptor metaphor in Act 1, Scene 1 of myShakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Theseus

What say you, Hermia? Be advised, fair maid,
To you your father should be as a god,
One that composed your beauties, yea, and one
To whom you are but as a form in wax,
By him imprinted and within his power
To leave the figure, or disfigure it.

Theseus is comparing three examples of a creator’s control over what it has created: 

1) A father's control over his child.

2) God’s control over mankind.

3) A sculptor's control over his or her statue.