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Critical Analysis of Midsummer Night's dream
hermia and helena a midsummer night's dream
critical essays on a midsummer night's dream
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Monologue in a midsummer night’s dream Monologue is an uninterrupted speech by a character in a drama, the use of monologue occurs when a person is speaking his or her thoughts aloud, directly referring to another character, or speaking to the audience. In the book a midsummer night’s dream monologue is used excessively because the writer (Shakespeare) intended for the characters to interact with the audience. Bottom has just woken up after having a strange “dream” and talking to himself he tries to think of whst his dream could mean but decides that no man should ever say such madness. (IV.i.199-216). Like Bottom Hermia wakes up after having a nightmare(strange dream) and screams at Lysander to “help” her only to realize that he is not there, no one is around to hear her scream for “help” therefore it is another example of a monologue(II.ii.151-162). Helena contradicts what Hermia was telling her earlier, (that she hopes Demetrius will love her back) she does not think Demetrius will ever love her back unless she tells him Hermia’s plan. Hermia knows noth...
Infatuation causes Helena to lose all sense of dignity, as can be seen when in the woods, she desperately pleads with Demetrius to ?but treat me as your spaniel?. Here, Helena also becomes irrational, obsessed with pursuing Demetrius, though it is obvious that Demetrius is fixated on winning Hermia?s hand in marriage. Helena?s infatuation also causes her to see things from a skewed perspective, for she falsely believes that when she divulges Hermia?s plans for eloping with Lysander, Demetrius? love for Helena will rekindle. As the audience, we know that the most probable course of action for Demetrius upon hearing such news is to pursue Lysander and Hermia, or to report them to Theseus or Egeus. Clearly, infatuation has clouded Helena?s ability to think clearly, and she sees things in her own idealistic way.
Hermia’s father, Egeus, wants her to marry Demetrius. Hermia is in love with Lysander and does not want to marry Demetrius. Demetrius truly loves Hermia. Helena, who was once engaged to Demetrius, still loves him. The whole story is a convoluted love triangle. Because Egeus will not allow Hermia and Lysander to marry, they are running away to his aunt’s town and eloping. Helena hears word of it and secretly tells Demetrius. They both go into the woods in search of their lover.
As in virtually every love story, Lysander and Hermia’s love story has a twist to it: Hermia's father demands Hermia to marry Demetrious. This is a very classical situation. In the past, parents had the rights to arrange their daughter’s marriage to whoever they please. Usually they would exercise their rights which is the very case in Hermia’s life. This creates a big problem and cause a tremendous pressure for Hermia and Lysander, as they love each other. In addition, the Athenian rule that governs father's right to choose groom for his daughter promotes the duke to warn Hermia to make a decision in very short period of four days that either she wants to be a nun for life or marry Demetrious.
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream’s Act 2(scene 2), Puck is assigned to put the flower juice on Demetrius’s eyelids by the king of fairies, Oberon, but he accidentally puts the magic juice on Lysander’s eyelids. As a result, when Lysander wakes up, he falls in love with the person—Helena—who he first sees. Lysander said that “Transparent Helena, nature shows art/ That through thy bosom makes me see thy heart.” In this case, this is a significant turning point in the play because the mistake which Puck commits makes the play become dramatic. Lysander no long loves Hermia. In contrast, Lysander loves Helena who does not know the way to deal with the situation. Helena gets confused just like dreaming. Furthermore, the story has more possibilities to the audiences because of this turning point. Therefore, Puck is one of the important characters in the play. In the same way, Helena is another character who appears at this moment, which makes her become a vital role in this play. Puck and Helena indicate that love has limitless possibility just like
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.
The story starts with a fight about love. Egeus, who is Hermia’s father, does not want Hermia to be in love or with Lysander at all. Egeus wants his daughter to be with Demetrius who is in love with Hermia, but Hermia does not love him. Egeus goes to Theseus who is the Duke of Athens. Egeus tells him about the situation, and of course the Duke will go with Egeus side since he is the father of Hermia and he decides what she should do. Now Hermia is stuck with marrying Demetrius, becoming a nun, or being put to death. Hermia and Lysander decide to run away in the woods where there are no rules and where nothing can stop them from being in love. Hermia trusting Helena, who is her best friend with the secret she tells her. Helena is in love with Demetrius. She goes to tell Demetrius that Hermia has decided to run to the woods in hopes Demetrius would take her back.
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
To begin with, this play is filled with comedy but also conflicts between characters. Helena is the kind of woman who has no self-esteem. This is because she does everything to be loved back by a man that doesn’t love her and that is Demetrius. Helena represents a character of a woman that is desperate of having love. In other words, Helena is different from Hermia because she’s an insecure woman full of jealousy. Helena tries to do everything to get Lysander away from her old best friend Hermia. She thinks that love can be found by letting the one you love do anything to you. Consequently, Hermia believes that lo...
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
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 doesn’t believe that any of the two gentlemen is sincere and believes that both of them and Hermia are playing jokes on her.
Here, Helena says that Hermia is pretty but that she is not, so in a
was not directed towards the audience but to himself. The usage of an internal monologue led
Demetrius, Helena, Lysander, and Hermia are the for young teens of the story. At the beginning of the play it is Lysander and Helena who are madly in love, and are planning to to escape from Athens to elope. Helena is in love with Demetrius, and Demetrius cared for Helena and liked her a lot but was not in love with her. As soon as Demetrius sees Hermia he immediately stops having any feelings for Helena whatsoever and is deeply in love with Hermia. Demetrius thought that he had fallen in love at first sight, but Helena was determined to show him differently. Demetrius: ³ Tempt not too much the hatred of my spirit,/ For I am sick when I do look on thee.² Helena: ³And I am sick when I look not on you.² (Act II, sc. i, lines 218-220) This piece of dialogue shows how much Demetrius is now in love with Hermia from just seeing her, and how disgusted he feels when he looks upon Helena who he used to care about. Helena is simply just expressing how much she is love with Demetrius and how bad she feels that he is treating her in such a manner of hatred.
At the core of Buber’s theory is a distinction between dialogue and monologue. Dialogue is described as an I - thou relationship. Meaning that both persons in the conversation experience the other as a person like themselves. There is a respect for the person and a genuine interest in the others view. There are differing views but the same moral status (lecture notes). Monologue is an I - it relationship. It is an emphasis on the objectification of the other in a conversation and nonattendance to feelings or not understanding their views. Most often an objectified relationship happens when there is a routine transaction or when the other person in the conversation is being used and is instrumental for some means. In dialogue, conversation is treated as an end to itself, in monologue the it is a means to an end.