Who willeth thee ill, dreameth thee ill

“Who willeth thee ill, dreameth thee ill” is Margarita’s sharp dismissal of her husband’s warning: she recasts Talano di Molese’s dream of danger as evidence that he wishes her harm. The saying becomes grimly ironic when she rejects his advice and the danger he foresaw comes to pass.

Meaning and Context

Talano recounts a dream in which a fierce Wolf springs from a thicket, seizes Margarita by the throat, and wounds her face and neck. He urges her not to leave the house that day, or at least to avoid their nearby wood. Margarita answers with the proverb, treating his concern not as a warning but as a hostile wish disguised as care.

Margarita’s Interpretation

The saying turns suspicion into a complete alternative account of Talano’s behavior. Margarita accuses him of pretending to care and imagines that he has arranged a meeting with another woman in the wood. Though she tells him she will heed his counsel, she privately resolves to go there and discover what he is doing. Her proverb thus expresses not only disbelief in the dream but confidence in her own reading of her husband’s motives.

Irony and Consequence

Margarita’s interpretation reverses the truth of the scene: Talano’s dream is not a pretext for a tryst but an accurate warning. After he leaves by one door, she slips out by another and hides in the wood. The Wolf attacks her, but shepherds hear the commotion and force it to release her; they recognize and carry her home badly injured. The proverb’s accusation that ill will produces ill dreams therefore rebounds on Margarita: by assuming malice, she dismisses the warning that might have kept her safe.