Bottom's friends believe he has been, according to Starveling, "transported." His word choice conflates two meanings: metamorphosed and carried away. As the audience knows, Bottom was indeed carried away by Titania and is the only mortal other than the Indian boy who has successfully penetrated the fairies' bower. Transported is also a word associated with drama, describing the elation and otherworldliness an audience feels when viewing a particularly moving dramatic performance. Like Bottom, the audience of this Dream should be transported into a dream world, transformed by the magical performance unfolding in the theater. The actors feel that only Bottom has the correct attributes to have this type of impact on the audience. Only he can correctly personify Pyramus because of his wit, his good looks, and his sweet voice.
Once again, the actors' incorrect use of language adds a comic element to the play. Quince claims Bottom is a "very paramour for a sweet voice," but Flute recognizes the error in his statement. He corrects Quince, explaining that "paragon" is the word he should have used, and that a paramour is something shameful. Flute is correct, but in some sense so is Quince. Bottom was involved in an illicit relationship with Titania, so he warrants the title of paramour, and his "sweet voice," his singing, is what first attracted her to him. Much of the humor in this exchange hinges on the layers of meaning hidden in each incorrect word used; in fact, the improper words contain more meaning than the correct ones because they expand the audience's sense of the truth. Unlike Quince and Flute, for example, we know that Bottom has been a paramour, so this word actually accounts for more of our experience of the play than Flute's more technically correct "paragon." In fact, Bottom seems to be a paragon, or shining example, only of an ass.
