Queen Mab

Queen Mab is a fairy referred to in Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. She later appears in other poetry and literature, and in various guises in drama and cinema. In the play her activity is described in a famous speech by Mercutio written originally in prose and often adapted into iambic pentameter, in which she is described as a miniature creature who drives her chariot into the noses and into the brains of sleeping people to compel them to experience dreams of wish-fulfillment. She would also "plague" "ladies' lips" "with blisters", which is thought a reference to the plague or to herpes simplex. She is also described as a midwife to help sleepers 'give birth' to their dreams. She may be a figure borrowed from folklore, and though she is often associated with the Irish Medb in popular culture and has been suggested by historian Thomas Keightley to be from Habundia, a more likely origin for her name would be from Mabel and the Middle English derivative "Mabily" (as used by Chaucer) all from the Latin "amabilis".

Read more about Queen Mab:  Mercutio's Speech (in The Adapted Prose Version), in Other Literature, Film, Music, Personal Correspondence, Places, Video Games

Famous quotes containing the words queen and/or mab:

    Just as the queen bee, the highest-ranking, peerless creature of her hive, is surrounded by lowly drones to please her, whereas the workers produce honey, the same way is the one who sits on the throne an equal only to himself, and no one’s companion.
    Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872)

    Romeo. I dreamt a dream tonight.
    Mercutio. And so did I.
    Romeo. Well, what was yours?
    Mercutio. That dreamers often lie.
    Romeo. In bed asleep, while they do dream things true.
    Mercutio. O then I see Queen Mab hath been with you.
    She is the fairies’ midwife, and she comes
    In shape no bigger than an agate stone
    On the forefinger of an alderman,
    Drawn with a team of little atomi
    Over men’s noses as they lie asleep.
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)