The fairies' ability to make people fall in and out of love is a constant source of dramatic irony. The protagonists awaken dazed and certain that what they witnessed was a dream, despite the fact that the reader is aware of the reality. Puck, the joker, says at one point, "Fear not, my lord. You have fought a good fight and have won much honor," even though by this time Shakespeare knows his audience includes King Henry VIII, who has been trying to get rid of his wife Catherine of Aragon for years. Also, although the players believe they are onstage performing before an audience, Shakespeare knows they are actually acting out scenes from a play they have just written. So the audience they think they're playing to isn't really there - it's only them! This means that everyone involved in making the play - including the characters in the play - is unaware of its ultimate success or failure. In addition, because the players are unaware of these things, they act in ways that seem natural but are actually based on false assumptions. For example, when Lysander tells Demetrius he loves him, it seems like a normal thing to say after a night of dancing with your friend's girlfriend. But since both men assume they are talking to someone real, there's no need for either of them to confirm whom they mean.