Bar Version

22. Lysander bare chested

A bare-chested Lysander bows to Hermia, begging her for sex. Lysander's behaviour in this scene may remind the audience of similar acts of drunken licentiousness encountered in contemporary university students' drinking parties. (cf. Deguchi's words quoted under the glossary entry, "Sexual fantasy")

Lysander's strange "politeness" is one of the comic features of this version in which drunkenness and gross behaviour predominate. In School 15. Demure lovers, his politeness forms a prelude to his lechery, and the comic contrast is more conventional.

A Midsummer Night's Dream