When we first meet Hermia in the play called A Midsummer Night's Dream, written by William Shakespeare, she is a girl in love against her father's wishes. From the very start of the play we can see how much enamored she is with Lysander. We can also see that Hermia is a woman with her own desires, and does not liked to be forced to do things that she does not want. She does not want to marry the man that her father betrothed to her, even though it could mean her demise. Her choices of living in a nunnery and live the life of chastity was not an option for Hermia. She loved Lysander and all she wanted was to be with him.
Hermia is the daughter of Egeus. She is a tiny woman that possessed sparkling eyes and a lovely voice. Hermia is very adamant about what she wants from the balance of the play. She has only eyes for Lysander and is very faithful, even when faced with the obstacles of death or the nunnery. Throughout the play Hermia emotions were confused at times. She even says "Am I not Hermia? Are you not Lysander? (Act III Scene 2 Line 292). We see at this point that she is confused and her feelings are hurt. At that very moment I think she feels like she has lost part of herself, a part that she has given to Lysander. So when Lysander returns to her, she is her self once again.
Presented with many obstacles and complications to overcome, we know that Hermia is the protagonist in the play. She has relations with almost all the characters in the play. The first and most important relationship is her love, Lysander. From the very beginning we see that Hermia loves Lysander with all her heart and soul and he loved her the same. The only tragic flaw in their relationship was when Puck put the magic juice in Lysander's eyes and he fell in love with Helena. Hermia felt sad and rejected when that happened. But when Puck finally realized that he had made a mistake and corrected it, Hermia and Lysander were in their heavenly bliss of love once again.
The mood immediately changes and we discover that Hermia rather than being filled with filial love is determined to marry Lysander rather than her father’s choice for her. And so the love theme is made more complex as we have the wrathful love of her father confronted by the love of her daughter for the man who is not her fathers’ choice. The love theme is further complicated by the arrival of Helena. Here we see the platonic love of two friends.
This is evident in the quote where Lysander says, “Athenian law cannot pursue us.” This would not of been a trial for them, but fate had something else in store. “Content with Hermia? No, I do repent The tedious minutes I with her have spent. Not Hermia, but Helena I love” (II.i ll. 118-12). Puck, a fairy, put cupid’s love juice into Lysander’s eyes. This is evident in the quote, “Night and silence! Who is here? Weeds of Athens he doth wear. This is he my master said, despised the Athenian maid, and here the maiden, sleeping on the ground. Pretty soul, she durst not lie near this lack-love, this kill-courtesy. Churl, upon thy eyes I throw all the power of this charm doth owe” (II.i ll. 76-85). As it states in the quote, it made him fall in love with the first person he saw, which happened to be Helena. This is proven when Lysander said, “but Helena I love”. Lysander told Hermia he was in love with Helena, not her, so the elopement was off. This is evident when he says, “I repent the minutes I spent with her.” This is difficult for Hermia because she is confused, and does not know what is going on, or why Lysander was acting this way. This is evident when she takes her
Staying true to one's love is so very important when one believes in their true love with every fibre of their being. Hermia and Lysander are so in love that nothing else seems to matter. They want to be together at all costs and they will not let anything get in their way, this is true especially for Hermia. In this example she is defending her true love and standing up for herself, “I do entreat Your Grace to pardon me./ 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” (Shakespeare 1.1: 58-64). This shows that although she has no way of controlling what happens to her future she still wants to let others know of her convictions. No woman in that time period would ever attempt to defy the command of her father and the law, but in this case Hermia's true love has taken over. She wants the world to know that her and Lysander share this same true love. She is willing to sacrifice her life and become a nun or even face the ultimate finale of death in order to get what she wants at this point. Lysander also came up with an idea to temporarily get them out of this situation, “A good persuasion. Therefore, hear me, H...
Theseus supports his argument, saying: “Be advised, fair maid / To you your father shall be as a god: / One that composed your beauties; yea, and one / To whom you are but as a form in wax / By him imprinted; and within his power / To leave the figure, or disfigure it” (I.i.48-53). Hermia faces much more serious consequences than her father’s wrath, however. When Hermia states that she loves Lysander, and not her father’s choice, Demetrius, Theseus tells her the full extent of the law. If she did not comply and marry Demetrius, they would send her to a nunnery or condemn her to
From the beginning, Hermia defiantly denies her father’s attempts at an arranged marriage, in favor of her whirlwind romance with and marriage to Lysander. In her defense, she uses words of chastity and moral purity to claim her fidelity and love towards Lysander and inability to wed Demetrius “I know not by what power I am made bold / nor how it may concern my modesty” (pp). The concern, or befitting, of Hermia’s modesty, by not wedding Demetrius, is protecting the very essence of her womanhood from someone whom she feels isn’t worth of the ultimate consummation of love – marriage (and the subsequent sex). This is continued in her next dialogue, where Hermia states that she would rather die “quote” (pp) or become a nun than give up her virgin “privilege” “quote” (pp). Hermia’s claims of “privilege” and “sovereignty” validate her chastity and moral purity as something that should only be shared with Lysander, not Demetrius. However, the sovereignty of Hermia’s claims also fits in with Demetrius’ arguments regarding his rights to Hermia’s hand in marriage: “quote” (pp). Demetrius’ use of “sovereignty” and “right” turns the supposed “love” of Hermia and Demetrius’ arranged marriage into a legal contract, where Hermia is property and social placeholder instead of a loving companion.
To start off, my favorite character in A Midsummer Night’s Dream is Hermia because she is loving. At the beginning of the play, Hermia’s father is ordering her to marry a man she doesn’t love. When she hears this news, yes she is very, very troubled and sad, but she doesn’t have an emotional freak out in front of everyone. Once they leave the room, she and Lysander plan to escape so they may be married. Leaving her family and everything behind was a huge risk, but she was willing to do it for her undying love for Lysander. You could really see how much these two loved one another. In A...
Although Hermia’s father did not want her to marry Lysander, she was madly in love with him and wanted to go against her fathers’ wishes just to be with him, and she did just that. By the end of the play, Hermia and Lysander’s relationship with one another was a success. True love is defined as a love worth fighting for and that is exactly what Hermia and Lysander did, they fought for each other.
She exemplifies her strengths in one occurrence by standing up to her father’s wishes concerning her wedding. Speaking to her father, Hermia proclaims, “So will I grow, so live, so die, my lord, ere I will yield my virgin patent up unto his lordship whose unwished yoke my soul consents not to give sovereignty” (I.i.81-84). Hermia demonstrates immense courage and strength by standing up to her father and threatening to pursue the occupation of a nun for the rest of her life. This persistence in marrying the love of her dreams, Lysander, shows incredible courage that resonates throughout the play. Here, Hermia exhibits boundless courage and strength and from now on, her vigor only grows stronger. Later on in the play, knowing that the rules of Athenian law of marriage did not apply outside of Athens, Hermia and Lysander snuck out of the city. As Hermia and Lysander conversed alone, Hermia demands, “Nay, good Lysander. For my sake, my dear, lie further off yet. Do not lie so near” (II.ii.47-48) when Lysander desires to draw nearer to Hermia. By this point, Hermia battled her father and contains immeasurable mental strength. At this instance, Hermia gains greater moral strength when she resisted Lysander’s inappropriate love. Displaying courage to stand up to her father and her moral strength to resist Lysander, Hermia exemplifies a strong
In act 1, Scene 1, we are introduced to the paternal love of Egeus and Hermia. Egeus, being Hermia’s father has all right over who she marries and so he chooses Demetrius as Hermia’s to-be husband however she doesn’t truly love Demetrius and has her heart set in Lysander. This led to troubled times for her as if she didn’t marry Demetrius she had two options: execution or becoming a nun.
In this scene, Lysander wants to rest near Hermia but she tells him to back off because they're not married yet. Lysander tries to persuade Hermia, however she's not having it. Lysander becomes a bit deceitful to Hermia when he is in the woods with her. Lysander says Lysander says “ O, take the sense, sweet, of my innocence “ ( 2. 2. 699 ). The diction “ sweet, of my innocence “ suggests that Lysander is trying to give an impression to Hermia that he didn’t mean anything naughty. Further, Lysander says “ Then by your side no bed-room me deny; For lying so, Hermia, I do not lie “ ( 2.2.705 - 706 ). Lysander is being dishonest to her in this scene. When Lysander was in front of Duke Theseus, he dared not say this to Hermia. Lysander demonstrates
Hermia is in love with Lysander, however her father does not care. He wants her to marry Demetrius and at the beginning of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream it seems as though he is never going to change his mind and allow his daughter to choose the person she wants to spend the rest of her life with. As her father it is his right to choose whom she marries, and if he does not find a suitable suitor he is the one that will be taking care of his daughter for the rest of his life, and she would then become the responsibility of another male relative, until they either find a suitor for her, or she dies. The entire premise of this Shakespearian comedy revolves around Hermia and her love for a man her father does not approve of, and the fact
In order to accurately describe the role of women in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, one must first explore the female characters in the text. Shakespeare's works had few females because women were not allowed to act in London in the late 1500s and early 1600s. Disregarding the standards imposed on women of his time, Shakespeare created many female characters that were strong-willed, intelligent, and daring. Hermia of A Midsummer Night's Dream is one such character. She disobeys her father, her king, and the Athenian law so that she might marry the love of her life. She discards all the luxuries of her familiar and comfortable existence for the uncertainties of a distant land in exchange for the freedom to love Lysander. The only complaint against Hermia by feminist critics stems from her willingness to defy one set of confinements derived and maintained by men-her father, the king, and the male authors of Athenian law-to become the subordinate of yet another man. However, even though she rebels away from the limitations she ultimately runs towards, she is much more indep...
Without a doubt, Hermia would do anything for love even if it means that she has to sacrifice things for herself. For example, Hermia stated, “So will I grow, so live, so die, my lord, Ere I will yield my virgin patent up unto his lordship whose unwished yoke my soul consents not to give sovereignty.” (I, i, 78-82). The reader can clearly see Hermia is willing to be a virgin in order to be with Lysander. This is a perfect example of Hermia sacrificing things to be with the special person she loves, Lysander.
When Puck mistakenly applies the love potion to Lysander’s eyelids. At this point, both male characters of the main plot have fallen in love with Helena, leaving Hermia out of balance. The struggle of the four lovers is one of the more complicated conflicts in the play. The conflict could have been avoided if Puck had not misused his magic. However, because Puck mistakenly used his magic on Lysander, conflict erupted.
Hermia has been promised to Demetrius by her father; however she is unwilling to marry him as she is in love with Lysander. We are introduced to this theme when they visit Thesus, the figure of authority in the play, who makes it clear that women are not to have their own identity, but instead are to be ‘a form in wax’ (I.i.49), meaning that women are to exist without existing. Women were not allowed to gain an education, or have jobs of importance. This shows that Thesus (Duke of Athens) doesn’t believe that women show have power. However, in the forest, Hermia exerts her dominance over Lysander as she insists that he ‘lie further off’ (II.ii.43) so she can keep her virginity as she is less likely to be tempted into having sex with him. At the time a woman who had lost her virginity before she was married, especially to someone whom she was not betrothed, was a social sinner