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Hermia Hermia, daughter of Egeus, is in love with Lysander but betrothed to Demetrius. In much the same way as other characters in Greek tragedy, such as Antigone, defy the arbitrary rule of law, Hermia challenges her fathers unfair demands, on pain of death or lifelong exile into solitary confinement. She appeals to a higher law of justice that is eternal, universal, and divinely-given, that is higher in authority than the temporal laws made by men. Her resistance to authority represents the theme of the individuals resistance to the State. She is beloved first of both men; then, because of the fairies manipulations, of neither. Hermia is Helena's childhood friend, and, as Helena remarks, though she be but little, she is fierce (III.
ii. 325). Lysander Lysander is the young man in love with Hermia who has wooed her in the manner every sucker for romance dreams of: with flowers, serenades, fanciful trifles, and little gifts. And he does all this despite the knowledge that he is not Hermia's fathers choice for marriage. Lysander, like Hermia, represents virtue and goodness of character; some might find the love between Hermia and him too sticky-sweet. The relationship between Helena and Demetrius is far more interesting, if less pure. Helena Helena, friend to Hermia, is in love with Demetrius after a one-night stand with the man.
She pines pathetically for her beloved, and, in her tormented quest to win Demetrius favor, lies to and betrays her friend Hermia. Shakespeare paints Helena as a little promiscuous, a little catty, a little out of control, and full of contradictions: she pouts to Hermia that Hermia is so much prettier than she is, and that she gets all the guys. Later, she tells the audience that she believes she is just as pretty as Hermia and cant understand what makes Hermia so special that she should have both guys chasing her. Then she goes behind Hermia's back and betrays Hermia and Lysander's escape plan to Demetrius in the hopes of winning at least some small measure of thanks.
The fairies give Helena her due, however, when both men vie for her love, and she believes they are taunting her for her excessive pining. Helena complements Hermia: both are feisty characters, fierce in the pursuit of their loves, with Hermia the more virtuous of the two, Helena the more dubious. In the end, she wins her Demetrius, an equally flawed character, and makes up with her best friend. Demetrius We never see any true manifestation of Demetrius love for Hermia, and because he sides with Egeus in wanting Hermia as his wife, even when he knows she loves Lysander and not him, we can assume that he is driven only by pride and ambition. He wants Hermia as a status symbol, not because he cares anything for who she is as a person.
This is further substantiated when we learn that he is a player; he snuck off with Helena, while engaged to Hermia, apparently just to get some play, and not because he had any true feelings for Helena. It seems from the depiction of Helena's character that she was just an easy lay. Thus, the couple of Demetrius and Helena serve as foils, or contrasts, to the couple of Lysander and Hermia: Demetrius and Helena are driven by less admirable character traits like jealousy, ambition, and pride, while Lysander and Hermia represent honor and virtuous love. Titania Titania, Queen of the Fairies, represents the voice of female wisdom and virtue. Often, she is cast as a sexy, desirable character. She will not bend to Oberons desire for the Indian boy, because she owes it to the boys mother, a good friend of hers, who died in childbirth, to raise the boy herself.
She keeps the boy as her own out of duty to her friends memory. She also points out that Oberon is being unreasonable and out of line in his demand for the child. Titania speaks with a fluency that emphasizes her authority over her kingdom, the natural world. Puck Puck, otherwise known as Robin Goodfellow, has been beloved of audiences of all eras for his mischievous meddling; as Oberons helper, he aids in instigating the plot conflict as a benevolent antagonist, especially when he honestly mistakes Lysander for Demetrius and applies the love juice to the wrong mans eye. Rather more of a hobgoblin than a dainty fairy, Puck stirs up trouble wherever his attention is directed. In folklore, the character of Puck would often include more sinister dispositions, but in this play he tells us only of how he can prevent milk from churning into butter, mislead night travelers, and embarrass sweet old ladies.
All the harm this trickster inflicts is remedied, and, in his famous final speech, he even apologizes for any offenses he may have committed and extends a hand of friendship to the audience. Bottom Bottom is the most boisterous and egotistical of the Athenian tradesmen participating in the play of Pyramus and Thisbe. Perhaps for this reason, Puck chooses him as the victim of his prank: he changes Bottoms head into that of a donkey. This is both a symbol of Bottoms character (he makes an ass of himself), and also a clever reversal of the figure in classic mythology with the upper half of a man and the lower half of a powerful beast.
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Research essay sample on Lysander And Hermia Demetrius And Helena Love
