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Glite Dictionary
Titania

Titania

3 8.2
A fairy queen in Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream
  • proper noun
  • /tɪˈteɪniə/
  • Literature
: Titania
  • In Shakespeare's play, Titania is portrayed as the powerful queen of the fairies.
  • Titania and Oberon

Examples

  • At no point in A Midsummer Night's Dream is Titania subordinate to Oberon.

    Academic text (1998)

  • Here comic bluster—"Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania"—offers hope of freedom.

    Academic text (1998)

  • Now, my Titania... wake you, my sweet queen.

    A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)

  • Why should Titania cross her Oberon?

    A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)

  • Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania.

    A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)

  • "We deal with them thoroughly if they actually hurt someone," Titania said, her voice ominously low.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • You must be Titania.

    Tideland (2005)

  • Ah, Titania!

    Paws (1997)

  • "We hear you've been looking for us," Titania said lazily, inspecting her long red fingernails as she spoke.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • Everything indicates that, rather than being overmastered by the play's ending, Titania enjoys the freedom offered by this resounding, unexpected pause in marital strife.

    Academic text (1998)

Surface Forms

Titania main

Etymology

Titania comes from Titan meaning 'a very large or powerful being' in old stories, with the female ending -ia. Shakespeare gave this grand name to the queen of the fairies, so Titania sounds noble and powerful and fits her role as the ruler of the fairies.