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A Midsummer Night's Dream Essay

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In the play A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare, the characters will do anything for love. In the beginning of the play, Egeus wants his daughter to marry Demetrius but she refuses because she is in love with someone else. William Shakespeare depicts the idea that the characters will do anything for love through the characterization of Lysander, Hermia and Egeus. Throughout the play, there were many events in which the characters went to great lengths for love. One character who will do anything for love is Hermia's father Egeus. Egeus wants his daughter to marry Demetrius because of his status and wealth, he is angry when he finds out that Hermia would much rather be with her true love, Lysander. This is shown when Egeus says,“Full …show more content…

Stand forth, Demetrius. My noble lord, this man hath my consent to marry her” (1.1.26). Shakespeare displays Egeus’ anger towards his daughter, describing him as “full of vexation” because she refuses to marry the “noble” man he wants her to marry. “I know not by what power I am made bold, Nor how it may concern my modesty In such a presence here to plead my thoughts, But I beseech your grace that I may know The worst that may befall me in this case If I refuse to wed Demetrius” (1.1.59). In this quote, Shakespeare’s word choice conveys the idea that although Egeus does not care, insisting that his daughter should marry Demetrius, Hermia is in love with Lysander and wants to marry him. Hermia’s use of the word “beseech” shows her desperation and unwillingness to marry Demetrius. Shakespeare shows Hermia’s desperation as she begs to learn the worst that could possibly happen if she …show more content…

Although her father, Egeus, said that there would be major consequences if she did not marry him, Hermia did not care, and went against her fathers wishes by refusing to marry Demetrius because of her love for Lysander. Hermia says, “So will I grow, so live, so die, my lord, Ere I will my virgin patent up Unto his lordship, whose unwished yoke My soul consents not to give sovereignty” (1.1.85). Hermia refuses to marry Demetrius and surrender her virginity to him. She doesn't want to give up her happiness or her love for Lysander by obeying her fathers harsh rules. The bleak language “so I will grow, so live, so die” describes how desperate Hermia is to be with her true love; Hermia is even prepared to die in the name of love. Hermia disobeying her fathers wishes shows how devoted she is to Lysander, and she is okay with risking her own life so she can be with the one she loves. Another example of Hermia doing anything for love is when she agrees to run away to the woods with Lysander to escape her father. After Lysander asked Hermia to run away from home and meet him at the woods, Hermia says, “In that same place thou hast appointed me, Tomorrow truly will I meet with thee” (1.1.180). Hermia agreed to run away from her father to avoid having to marry Demetrius. Even after hearing the consequences, as extreme as death if she refuses to marry Demetrius, Hermia still

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/ O, then, what graces in my love do dwell / That he hath turn'd a heaven unto a hell!'” which is a quote stated by Hermia; I think this quote is discussing what she think may happen to her if she follows her heart to marry Lysander she is unsure whether she will go to heaven or hell for the disobedient actions she has taken. So as you can see the love/hate triangle going on is very somewhat “Out of whack” There’s not much good coming out of how they feel about each other, definitely not a kind of relationship that I would enjoy getting deep into reading about, but I have to be honest this is a story filled with very eager and brave women who will go after what they want with no problem or scarce in their hearts(Sounds exactly like me)!

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