She is the daughter of Nedar, and also a friend of Hermia with whom she often compares herself. What kind of character is Hermia? Lesson Summary At various points throughout Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hermia is a fearful, hopeful, bewildered, and joyful character. Her father, Egeus, and the king, Theseus, tell her that her only choices are to marry the smug Demetrius, become a nun, or die.
What does Hermia fear? Although she reciprocates his feelings and wants to be with him, their relationship is in grave danger. Legally, Hermia and Lysander cannot marry in their home city of Athens. Does Demetrius really love Helena? Demetrius says only that his love for Hermia has faded and he now loves Helena. So the pair are married in a triple wedding with Hermia and Lysander and the Duke of Athens and his bride. So while they are happy at the end, it is not exactly a true love, as Demetrius has been spelled into loving Helena.
What is Lysander's last name? Lysander is a young man who falls in love with a beautiful woman named Hermia in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Hermia's father, Egeus, has another young man named Demetrius in mind for his daughter. When Hermia expresses a desire to marry Lysander instead of Demetrius, Egeus is furious.
Why does Titania give Oberon the child? Titania gives Oberon the child because she is under the spell and is in love with Bottom. Oberon removes the spell he has cast over his queen because he wants Titania back and because he now has the boy. Finding the two couples asleep in the wood and learning of their more balanced love, what order does Theseus give? Are Helena and Hermia friends? Helena and Hermia are depicted to be lifelong friends in the play.
When they awake in the morning, the night's crazy events will seem like a dream except that Demetrius will be in love with Helena. Oberon then rushes to Titania's bower to beg for the Indian boy. Shakespeare's parody of love reaches its peak in this scene. Although Hermia claims Lysander's love is truer than the sun onto the day, previous scenes have shown that his love was easily altered with the application of a little love juice. The comedy of the situation appeals to Puck, who muses on what fools "mortals be.
In declaring his love for Helena, Demetrius focuses first on her eyes, which he believes are clearer than crystal. Her lips are luscious fruit, like ripe and tempting cherries, but, more interestingly, he emphasizes her "whiteness. But it also has a racial overtone. As whiteness becomes associated with purity, darkness becomes linked with its opposite, with evil.
This creates a hierarchical dichotomy in which whiteness is prized and darkness is denigrated. As a result, dark-skinned people are also maligned, as happens here with Hermia. Lysander critiques her by labeling her an "Ethiope" and a "tawny Tartar" and implying that her darkness makes her somehow inferior to Helena.
Not surprisingly, Helena is angered by what she views as her friends toying with her, so she adds to the criticism by commenting on Hermia's stature. Indeed, height seems to play a role in love, and Hermia seems to believe that Lysander loves Helena simply because she is the taller of the two women. This exchange emphasizes the arbitrariness of the factors that create or repel love: eye color, hair color, height.
Like Helena earlier in the play, Hermia is here pushed beyond the limits of "maiden's patience" 66 ; when dealing with love, women forget the gender limits that have been imposed upon them, perhaps because they are judged by such seemingly ridiculous standards. Retaliating against suggestions that she is small, even dwarfish, Hermia calls Helena a "painted maypole. The fight that ensues between the two women puts them both beyond the limits of supposedly feminine gentleness.
Helena further critiques Hermia by calling her "keen," "shrewd," and a "vixen. In calling Demetrius a serpent, an adder, Hermia creates continuity with Act II, Scene 2, in which she dreamed that a serpent ate her heart out. But in this instance, Hermia mistakes the snake; Demetrius has not killed Lysander, but her heart will soon be pierced with an even greater shock.
Hermia's hatred of Demetrius parallels his loathing of Helena, again adding continuity to the text. Notice how carefully Shakespeare has structured his play; by repeating key images, such as the moon or the serpent or Cupid's arrow, and key relationships and feelings, he has created a fluid, continuous text.
The relationship of Hermia and Helena is also parallel with that of Titania and her Indian votress. Like Titania and her friend, Helena and Hermia are as close as sisters. Together they sang with one voice, often working as if their hands and minds were united. Indeed, Helena compares them to a "double cherry" that seems to be parted, yet is united at the stem.
Close friendship is another form of love exalted in this play. Helena chides her friend for destroying this ancient bond for the sake of a man; not only is this action a treachery against Helena, but it is an injury against all women.
When she learns that her beloved Lysander now claims to love Helena, as does Demetrius, she is appalled and incredulous. Helena, who is likewise unable to fathom that both men could be in love with her, assumes that Hermia is involved in the joke that she believes the men are playing on her, and she chides Hermia furiously for treating their friendship so lightly.
She grows furious with Helena and threatens to scratch out her eyes. Helena becomes afraid, saying that Hermia was always much quicker than she to fight. Demetrius and Lysander vow to protect Helena from Hermia, but they quickly become angry with each other and storm off into the forest to have a duel. Helena runs away from Hermia, and Hermia, reannouncing her amazement at the turn of events, departs.
Oberon dispatches Puck to prevent Lysander and Demetrius from fighting and says that they must resolve this confusion by morning. Puck flies through the forest hurling insults in the voices of both Lysander and Demetrius, confusing the would-be combatants until they are hopelessly lost. Eventually, all four of the young Athenian lovers wander back separately into the glade and fall asleep.
The confusion in Act III continues to heighten, as the Athenian lovers and the fairies occupy the stage simultaneously, often without seeing each other. The comedy is at its silliest, and the characters are at their most extreme: Helena and Hermia nearly come to blows as a result of their physical insecurities, and Lysander and Demetrius actually try to have a duel.
With the falling action of Acts IV and V, however, matters will sort themselves out quickly and order will be restored.
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