ipl-logo

A Midsummer Night's Dream Essay

1229 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Critical analysis of a midsummer night's dream

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

Show More
Related

Comparing Bless Me, Ultima And House On Mango Street

1255 Words | 6 Pages

In the play A Midsummer’s Night Dream by William Shakespeare, many of the characters relentlessly pursue their goals in the face of illogical decisions, and, while fictional items such as the “love-in-idleness” flower are used to explain the character’s sudden love for each other, the play does illustrate how love and ambition can lead to unforeseen consequences. For example, when Puck accidently anointed Lysander’s eyes with the “love-in-idleness” juice, he started a chain of events leading to Lysander and Demetrius fighting over Helena while Hermia is treated as though she is worthless. Moreover, at one point, Lysander and Demetrius even threatened to duel each other when Lysander awoke after being anointed with the flower 's juice and said, "Where is Demetrius? O, how fit a word is that vile name to perish on my sword" (61). This shows how the character’s love for certain other characters, and their ambition to pursue said love, can lead to the destruction of previous relationships and lead them to make dangerous decisions.

Read More

Pursuing Of True Love Hermia Literary Analysis

1063 Words | 5 Pages

Demetrius once loved Helena and then loves Hermia after he met Hermia while he was in love with Helena. It is obviously that Demetrius is a bad man to fall in love with, but Egeus persists in marrying his daughter to him without any distinct reason. It is ridiculous for a father to marry his daughter to someone who is not loyal to love. However, this happens to Hermia and because of the home dictatorship that the daughter must obey her father, no one can change it, even Lysander`s accusement to Egeus and Demetrius. Comparing the Lines in the Original Version to That in the No Fear Version

Read More

How Does Shakespeare Present Helena In A Midsummer Night's Dream

660 Words | 3 Pages

(Shakespeare 3.2.201-202). Her rhetorical question symbolizes her cynicism; she doubts Hermia’s motives, even though they had been “like two artificial gods” since their childhood. Instead of considering the honesty of the spontaneous love from Lysander and Demetrius, Helena skeptically presumes that their feelings are not genuine but merely a product of

Read More

Examples Of False Love In A Midsummer Night's Dream

1182 Words | 5 Pages

On the first view to say, to swear, I love thee.” (Shakespeare 3.1.64-68). As noted earlier, Egues had chosen a man for Hermia to marry. This man was Demetrius, although Hermia was not in love him, Demetrius was madly in love with Hermia. Puck is instructed to place lotion into

Read More

Control In A Midsummer Night's Dream Essay

1024 Words | 5 Pages

He does this to win the disagreement and gain the favor of Theseus. When Demetrius cannot win over Hermia through the approval of Theseus, he speaks right to Hermia, asking her “O, why rebuke you him that loves you so?” (Shakespeare 3.2.45) Hermia constantly rebukes Demetrius' love, proving he has no authority in this situation. Hermia is set on Lysander and Demetrius cannot change that due to the deficit of power that he wields.

Read More

Examples Of Self Harm In A Midsummer Night's Dream

455 Words | 2 Pages

Shakesphere’s writing conveys how disregarding oneself and hurting oneself will bring love and relationships. We see this when in Act 2, Demetrius has learned of Lysander and Hermia’s plan to escape into the woods and he decided to pursue them to get his love back, Helena who was desperate to be with Demetrius followed him into the woods, then they had a confrontation.

Read More

Justice In A Midsummer Night's Dream

779 Words | 4 Pages

Toba Beta once said: "“Justice could be as blind as love.”   Shakespeare 's play A Midsummer Night 's Dream captures the blind bias of both love and justice.   Egeus, a respected nobleman in Athens, arranged for his daughter, Hermia, to marry nobleman Demetrius.   Egeus tells his daughter that she must obey his wishes: if she does not, she can either choose to become a nun, or die.   Hermia, much to her father 's dismay, is deeply in a mutual love with a different nobleman, Lysander.

Read More

Sexism In A Midsummer Night's Dream

1910 Words | 8 Pages

The woods is apart from society and it is here that women’s stereotypical gender roles start to break. By going into the woods to run off with Lysander, Hermia is committing the ultimate crime, disobeying not only her father’s orders, but also the orders of the duke of Athens. It is here that Hermia makes a decision of her own and where she is finally free of the stereotypical roles of women. It is also here where Helena takes control of her life. Usually, the stereotype is that the man goes after the woman, not the other ways around, and that if a man tells the woman to go away, the woman must go away; however, Helena turns these ‘rules’ upside down.

Read More

Control In A Midsummer Night's Dream

879 Words | 4 Pages

Egeus, who is Hermia’s father, wants her to get married to a man named Demetrius. Egeus then tells her she has three choices, “Either to die the death or to abjure/ Forever the society of men '' (1.1.67-68). Due to Egeus’s behavior, Hermia was emotionally controlled until she had enough of it and planned on fleeing with her lover, Lysander.

Read More

Jealousy In A Midsummer Night's Dream

890 Words | 4 Pages

In her telling Demetrius it caused a pursuit in the woods, and with that, all the chaos in the rest of the story ensued proving that jealousy causes the main conflicts of the story.. Later, when Lysander gets the love potion in his eyes, he falls in love with Helena instead of Hermia. When Hermia finds him, so rude and unkind, she becomes jealous of his sudden love for Helena. She says to Helena “O me!/ You juggler, you cankerblossom,/ You thief of love!/ What, have you come by night/

Read More

Text Complexity Analysis

170 Words | 1 Pages

Text complexity to achieve student career and college readiness Only about half of the nation's high school ACT test takers passed for college level reading (ACT, 2006). Communication skills are continuously rated high for college/career readiness, whereas these ACT results have shown, only about half of the graduates have these skills at this level. Teachers are challenged every year with instilling these skills to each generation of students that come through the school systems. With updated common core state standards or CCSS, the need for more complex texts and informational reading for career and college readiness are being stressed. Educators everywhere are left with answering the question of what can we do?

Read More

Character Analysis Of Hermia In 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'

895 Words | 4 Pages

/ 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)!

Read More

Helena's Soliloquy Analysis

1157 Words | 5 Pages

Hermia, a proud character, says she loves Lysander and that she would rather become a nun than marry

Read More

How Does Shakespeare Use Symbols In A Midsummer Night's Dream

279 Words | 2 Pages

This spontaneous love is exemplified even more so when Hermia mutters the words “since night you loved me, yet since night you left me” (3.2.275). Much like today’s generation, specifically amongst people in high school and even college, it is not uncommon for young people to go through multiple significant others. The similarity between Shakespeare’s generation and today’s is seen in the way that young people claim to love one another and then soon after end abruptly. This adds to the spontaneity of young love that Shakespeare tries to illustrate through the inclusion of the love juice. The inconsistent love written in by Shakespeare is characteristic of young love in today’s society as well as

Read More

Patriarchy In A Midsummer Night's Dream

986 Words | 4 Pages

The male characters in this play often feel uncomfortable when their female counterparts break gendered stereotypes. This is the same feeling that drove Theseus to war with the Amazons. An equally important woman is Hermia: Theseus and her father have in mind Demetrius for Hermia’s groom, yet she still refuses even after a small threat from Theseus, “Be advised, fair maid. To you, your father should be as a god” (1.1.47-48). Here in patriarchal Athens, fathers are the head households and hold influence over near-all decisions.

Read More

More about A Midsummer Night's Dream Essay

Open Document