How Is Helena Similar In A Midsummer Night's Dream

Two close, best friends can be considered very similar but once love comes between their friendship, the two may seem to contrast each other and their differences begin to stand out. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, it is shown within several examples within the script of the play that love can twist the perception of man and can make someone who was very close to said man to be perceived in such a way that he or she seems opposite to said man. Shakespeare uses the motif of doubles and opposites in A Midsummer Night’s Dream to expose and sometimes accentuate the contrasts, opposing feelings and thoughts between the characters when under the influence of love. Such examples shown within the play are Helena comparing herself

During the argument between Helena and Hermia, Helena states that they were “like a double cherry, seeming parted but yet an union in partition” (III.ii.214,215)and that they could be considered to be almost identical and very close during their childhood years. Helena’s soliloquy which explains she and Hermia’s past goes further into saying that they were always doing things together and had always been together. This, however, cannot be said to their current situation because love had gotten in between their friendship. Love had separated the two as seen within the arguments between Helena and Hermia. During their argument, Hermia had said, “Her height forsooth, she hath prevailed with him and are you grown so high in esteem because I’m so dwarfish and so low?” (III.ii.308,309), which is a major opposite between these two once-close friends. They continue to argue and accuse each other of things that neither of them has done. The motif of opposites here causes the two women look two opposing sides, each defending and accusing each other. Each wrongly hating each other and insulting one another. This example represents how love can make two people seem like two polar opposites, repelling from each other and confronting one another under extreme circumstances. Love has peeled away their friendship and revealed the hatred beneath the past love and