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All Site ContentMidsummer Night's DreamAct 2Scene 1
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"wood within this wood"
Wordplay
Act 2,
Scene 1
Lines 188-194

An explanation of the wordplay on wood in Act 2, Scene 1 of myShakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Demetrius

I love thee not, therefore pursue me not.
Where is Lysander and fair Hermia?
The one I'll slay, the other slayeth me.
Thou told'st me they were stol’n unto this wood,
And here am I, and wood within this wood
Because I cannot meet my Hermia.
Hence, get thee gone, and follow me no more.

Demetrius is playing on the word “wood,” which, when used as an adjective, means angry. Demetrius is "wood" because he cannot find Hermia in the "woods." If he could, he would woo her.