More handpicked essays just for you.
A midsummer night's dream comedic devices
A midsummer night's dream characters
Comedy in a midsummer nights dream
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Midsummer night's dream Act 1&2 Blog post
The first thing to look at in A Midsummer Night's Dream is the struggle of men trying to dominate women. When Theseus said, "Hippolyta, I wooed thee with my sword" (1.1.16), here he is implying that he has won Hippolyta by defeating her, it's also indicating his desire to dominate Hippolyta as well as his obsession with her. One could say Theseus trying to win over Hippolyta, not with love but with power. Another would be the conflict between father and daughter, Egeus and Hermia. Through the whole act Egeus repeat many times that Hermia is his possession, "As she is mine, I may dispose of her" (1.1.42), "And she is mine and all my right of her" (1.1.97), therefore Hermia must follow his demand and marry to Demetrius. According to the law of Athens, she must choose death or to obey her father and marry Demetrius or become a nun and forever be alone. Such laws have given Theseus right to oppress Hermia's life and took away her freedom. This scene here then reminds me of Romeo and Juliet, none of these options are feasible for Hermia. Therefore, she chooses to run away rather than face death. None of Theseus and Egeus's actions toward Hippolyta
…show more content…
and Hermia could be called love. It's nothing but one trying to oppressing another. While men are trying to hold their authoritative over women, then women in A Midsummer Night's Dream are trying to free themselves from these authoritative and sexual conflicts.
Just like how Hermia decided to escape with Lysander and free herself from the law of Athens. As for Helena, she chose to fight for her love, or rather she willing to do anything for Demetrius, "I'll follow thee, and make a heaven of hell, To die upon the hand I love so well" (2.1.243-244). Even though, Demetrius has made it clear to Helena that he does not love Helena, "Tempt not too much the hatred of my spirit, For I am sick when I do look on thee" (2.1.211-212). To gain love from Demetrius, she sold out her friend, Hermia. At this point, Helena's love is no longer could call love but rather an
obsession. One could say that these characters are madly in love with each other. However, once they crossed a certain line, it is no longer love but another ugly form of obsession and oppression. What they seek for is the satisfaction of being able to control and to dominate others. Such relationship tends to collapse and end in tragedy. Another thing that I have noticed in A Midsummer Night's Dream is the location where these struggles and conflict take place and must be resolved is again forest, one of common thing that often happens in many of William Shakespeare's works. Here in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hermia and Lysander seek their freedom and try to escape Athens's law, however in the forest, Lysander decides to forget about Hermia and follow Helena instead. Hermia woke up and call for Lysander but he no longer near her, she then leaves to go search for him.
Demetrius is a fool because he is unaware that his love changes through out the play. We learn from Demetrius that he has loved Helena before bestowing his affections on Hermia ( 1.1 106-107 , 242-243 ). It is not for nothing that he is termed “spotted and inconstant man'; ( 1.1 110 ). Athough at the start of the play Demetrius no longer loves Helena. ( 2.1 195 ) Demetrius says, “I love thee not , therefore pursue me not.'; ( 2.1 201 ) “Hence , get thee gone , and follow me no more.'; In Act 3 Scene 2 , Demetrius after being juiced begins to love Helena. ( 3.2 172-176 ) Demetrius says , “Lysander , keep thy Hermia; I will none. If e’er I loved her , all that love is gone. My heart to her but as guest – wise sojourned , And not to helen is it home returned , there to reamain.'; This proves how fickle he is , for he is not aware of his changing love once for Helena then for Hermia then returning to Helena with the help of the mystical father Oberon.
After the love potion has been administered and Lysander and Demetrius have both fallen in love with Hermia, they both plot to kill one another instead of fairly attempting to in Helena’s love. When Lysander is searching for Demetrius, he states, “ I'll find Demetrius and revenge this spite/... Where art thou, proud Demetrius?/ speak thou now... /Here, villain; drawn and ready.” Lysander is drugged from the power that the love potion has over him.
The hilarious play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare, tells the twisted love story of four Athenians who are caught between love and lust. The main characters: Hermia, Helena, Lysander, and Demetrius are in a ‘love square’. Hermia and Lysander are true love enthusiasts, and love each other greatly. Demetrius is in love with Hermia, and Helena, Hermia’s best friend, is deeply and madly in love with Demetrius. Hermia and Lysander try to elope in the woods because Egeus, Hermia’s father, disapproves of Lysander.
What does the title mean? Midsummer Night was a festival in late June that included dancing and myths of enchantment. The moon and the deep forest of fairies may or may not refer to this night. But enchantment is definitely a large part of the play. The desperation of Helena and the planning escape of Lysander and Hermia bring them into the magical woods. The traveling theatre group also stumbles into a fantasy world that takes them beyond the play they are preparing to perform. The dream is real and changes the lives of the main characters. So the title of the play refers to the mystery and enchantment of lovers in the forest at night.
In the play A Midsummer Night's Dream Theseus talks about how the power lay with the father to choose who may marry his daughter. Theseus talks about the law with Hermia and Egeus because Hermia contests the law. Theseus also talks about how she may be put to death if she does not comply with the law.
What is love? Different people have different characteristics and adjectives of love. For example new lovers might think that love is the only hope, while people who have had some experience might think that it is a pain. In the Book A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare writes about the different types of love. Shakespeare uses his characters to show how people different people may view love.
Similar to other works by Shakespeare, such as The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night’s Dream embellishes the pressures that arise between genders dealing with complicated family and romantic situations. The plot includes a duke who is going to marry a woman he conquered in battle, the king and queen of the fairies embroiled in a fight so fierce that it unbalances the natural world, and a daughter fighting with her father for her right to marry the man she chooses. The girl’s father selects Demetrius to marry his daughter, but she is in love with another man, Lysander, who loves her in return, and her friend Helena is in love Demetrius, but he wants nothing to do with her. Considering the fact that males were dominant during that era, whereas, men chased women, and women remained submissive, Shakespeare dallies with those traditional roles and there are several possible reasons why. Perhaps he made women a stronger force in his plays because he wanted to give his audience a break fr...
The relationship between Demetrius and Hermia is problematic, in that Demetrius is seeking the affections of Hermia, while she is in love with Lysander. However, Hermia’s father approves of Demetrius and tries to force her to marry him, but Hermia refuses because of her love for Lysander (A Midsummer Night’s Dream 1.1.22-82). Lysander points out the flaw in the situation through this comment, “You have her father 's love, Demetrius –/Let me have Hermia 's. Do you marry him,” (A Midsummer Night’s Dream 1.1.93-94). The second flawed relationship is between Lysander and Helena, as a result of an enchantment put on Lysander that made him fall in love with Helena. Helena does not want the affections of Lysander, but rather the love of Demetrius, and believes that Lysander is taunting her. In addition, this relationship creates tensions because Hermia is in love with Lysander (A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2.2.109-140). Both relationships are not desirable due to a lack of mutual admiration and the creation of non-peaceful and unsatisfying
Then along come Helena and Demetrius to this spot. They are still arguing and Demetrius leaves her with the sleeping Lysander and Hermia. Helena notices them there and tries to wake Lysander. Lysander wakes and the first thing he sees is Helena. " And run through fire for thy sweat sake.
Although Helena’s love for Demetrius may have been constant, it’s also destructive in the way that Helena demeans herself in order to rationalize Demetrius’s harsh words towards her, “—spurn me, strike me, neglect me, lose me. Only give me leave, unworthy as I am, to follow you.” (Act 2 Scene 1) Helena even goes as far as to reveal Lysander and Hermia’s plan to elope together to Demetrius in a desperate and illogical attempt to somehow get him to acknowledge her. She even admits that her pining for him is wrong, albeit only because Demetrius is also wrong in his one-sided love towards Hermia, “And as he errs, doting on Hermia’s eyes, so I, admiring of his qualities,” (Act 1 Scene 1) indicating that her feelings are out of her own control. Demetrius did originally love Helena, but then he instantly fell out of love with her then in love with Hermia. This maybe have been unfair in Helena’s eyes, but it wasn't his own conscious decision, love is not a
Oprah Winfrey once said, “The best thing about dreams is that fleeting moment, when you are between asleep and awake, when you don't know the difference between reality and fantasy, when for just that one moment you feel with your entire soul that the dream is reality, and it really happened.” But, what actually is a dream and what do dreams really have to do with one’s everyday life? In essence, a dream is a series of mental images and emotions occurring during slumber. Dreams can also deal with one’s personal aspirations, goals, ambitions, and even one’s emotions, such as love and hardship. However, dreams can also give rise to uneasy and terrible emotions; these dreams are essentially known as nightmares. In today’s society, the concept of dreaming and dreams, in general, has been featured in a variety of different mediums, such as literature, film and even music. While the mediums of film and music are both prime examples of this concept, the medium of literature, on the other hand, contains a much more diverse set of examples pertaining to dreams and dreaming. One key example is William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. While the portrayal of dreams, in general, plays a prominent role in Shakespeare’s play, the exploration of many aspects of nature, allows readers to believe that dreams are merely connected to somewhat unconventional occurrences.
Helena was the younger sister of Hermia. It often bothered her that her sister got all the attention, and she even want it. Helena was madly in love with Demetrius, However Demetrius was arranged to marry Hermia. Helena truly believe she was not good enough, and could not understand why Demetrius did now want
In the first part of the play Egeus has asked the Duke of Athens, Theseus, to rule in favor of his parental rights to have his daughter Hermia marry the suitor he has chosen, Demetrius, or for her to be punished. Lysander, who is desperately in love with Hermia, pleads with Egeus and Theseus for the maiden’s hand, but Theseus’, who obviously believes that women do not have a choice in the matter of their own marriage, sides with Egeus, and tells Hermia she must either consent to marrying Demetrius, be killed, or enter a nunnery. In order to escape from the tragic dilemma facing Hermia, Lysander devises a plan for him and his love to meet the next evening and run-off to Lysander’s aunt’s home and be wed, and Hermia agrees to the plan. It is at this point in the story that the plot becomes intriguing, as the reader becomes somewhat emotionally “attached’’ to the young lovers and sympathetic of their plight. However, when the couple enters the forest, en route to Lysander’s aunt’s, it is other mischievous characters that take the story into a whole new realm of humorous entertainment...
During much of the play, Helena relentlessly chases Demetrius, giving him love no matter how many times he spurns her. While in pursuit of him in the woods, where he tells her that he will never reciprocate her feelings, she tells him, “I am your spaniel; and, Demetrius,/The more you beat me, I will fawn on you” (II.i.203-204). She is so desperate to win him over that she lowers her own status, calling herself his dog; no matter how many times he may abuse her, she will always adore him. Out of love, Helena is willing to swallow her pride to prove her devotion to him. More evidence of Helena’s blind love towards Demetrius can be found in her overlooking the flaws in Demetrius’ character. For example, he proves himself to be quite insensitive towards Helena: when they are in the woods, he says he will “leave [her] to the mercy of the wild beasts” (II.i.228) if she doesn’t stop following him. He also says to her, “…I am sick when I do look on thee” (II.i.212). Lastly, he threatens her, saying “…if thou follow me, do not believe/But I shall do thee mischief in the wood” (II.i.237). Helena acknowledges this aspect of his character, though choos...
Both Hippolyta and Titania, as well as Hermia and Helena, share common interest in defying the laws of a patriarchal society. The foremost problem associated with a male dominated society in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" was love. Therefore, a common focus associated with Hippolyta, Titania, Helena, and Hermia, in spite of their social standing, is their likenesses and contrasts in handling the idea of love in a patriarchal society. Still, the patriarchal society in which Hippolyta, Titania, Helena, and Hermia reside in strives to impede the feelings and attitudes which make up their idea of what love should become in a patriarchal society.