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All Site ContentMidsummer Night's DreamAct 1Scene 1
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“stol’n the impression of her fantasy"
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Act 1,
Scene 1
Lines 28-38

An explanation of the phrase “stol’n the impression of her fantasy” in Act 1, Scene 1 of myShakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Egeus

Thou, thou, Lysander, thou hast given her rhymes,
And interchanged love tokens with my child.
Thou hast by moonlight at her window sung
With feigning voice verses of feigning love,
And stol’n the impression of her fantasy
With bracelets of thy hair, rings, gauds, conceits,
Knacks, trifles, nosegays, sweetmeats — messengers
Of strong prevailment in unhardened youth.
With cunning hast thou filched my daughter's heart,
Turned her obedience, which is due to me,
To stubborn harshness. And, my gracious duke,

There are two images suggested by this passage. In the first, Lysander has stolen Hermia's feelings, her imagination. In the second, he has sneaked ("stolen") into her imagination and used a stamping tool to leave an "impression" of himself there, like a minter stamping the image of the king onto a new coin.