Lysander: The will of man is by his reason sway'd And reason says you are the worthier maid. Things growing are not ripe until their season; So I, being young, till now ripe not to reason And, touching now the point of human skill, Reason becomes the marshal to my will, And leads me to your eyes, where I o'erlook Love's stories, written in love's richest book. (2.2.114-21)

12. Lysander reasoning Lysander's mini-lecture on "reason" is ironically punctuated by grossly suggestive thrusts of his pelvis. While similar to Lysander's humping action in School 20. Lysander attacks Helena), the action here is much more emphatic for being played in the round rather than against a backdrop. Because Helena is masked here, she cannot act her trauma with her face as in the School version. In place of facial acting and trauma then, is a puppet effect. The masked actor playing Helena jerks about in Lysander's grasp like a rag-doll. Acting is displaced from the face into the body, somewhat reminiscent of commedia del'arte . See also: Bar 25. Lysander drops pants