All 3 Uses of
wanton
in
A Midsummer Night's Dream
- OBERON Tarry, rash wanton: am not I thy lord?†
Scene 2.1 *
- And the quaint mazes in the wanton green, For lack of tread, are undistinguishable: The human mortals want their winter here;†
Scene 2.1
- His mother was a vot'ress of my order: And, in the spiced Indian air, by night, Full often hath she gossip'd by my side; And sat with me on Neptune's yellow sands, Marking the embarked traders on the flood; When we have laugh'd to see the sails conceive, And grow big-bellied with the wanton wind; Which she, with pretty and with swimming gait Following,—her womb then rich with my young squire,—Would imitate; and sail upon the land, To fetch me trifles, and return again, As from a voyage, rich with merchandise.†
Scene 2.1
Definitions:
-
(1)
(wanton) of something considered bad: excessive, thoughtless indulgence -- such as waste, cruelty, violence, and (especially in the past) sexual promiscuity
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
In classic literature, wanton can also describe people who are playful or plants that are growing profusely.