Midsummer Night Dream Essays - Hermia, Demetrius, Helena

Midsummer Night Dream Sometimes in our lives reality can seem like a dream come true, in "A Midsummer Night's Dream," by William Shakespeare, to the characters, their dreams are reality. Shakespeare focuses on comic love scenes to portray dream within reality and reality within dreams. This play takes you to a fantasy world where fairies live and pixie dust is real and where anything is possible. In this world, dreams become reality and reality is alluded as a dream. The first act gives us a look at our first conflict. Hermia is betrothed to Demetrius by her father Egeus. Hermia is in love with Lysander because, as her father describes it, Lysander has "by moonlight.... interchanged love tokens with my child." Egeus is angry that his daughter would go against his wishes so he presents his case to the king of Athens, Theseus. According to the law of Athens, death should be the sentence if you go against your father's wishes. "By the next new moon," she must make her decision, death or a life with Demetrius. Lysander and Hermia, of course upset by this news, plan to leave Athens and marry in another land, "I have a widow aunt.... from Athens is her house remote seven leagues; there, gentle Hermia, may I marry thee, and to that place the sharp Athenian law cannot pursue us." They plan to meet the next night in the woods. This next scene is the scene that I will be presenting, in which Demetrius enters looking for Hermia. He is looking for them because "thou (Helena) toldst me they were stol'n unto this wood;" Helena is following him and dotting on him. She is in dreamland because she loves Demetrius. Helena is a friend of Hermia, she wants Hermia to "teach me(Helena) how you look and with what are you sway the motion of Demetrius' heart." Helena is very much in love with Demetrius and doesn't understand how Hermia can reject him. Helena told Demetrius of Lysander and Hermia's plan, thinking that maybe just maybe his love will be transferred onto her. This would be her dream come true. Demetrius is annoyed by Helena, "I love thee not; therefore pursue me not." She could care less what he thinks. The more he rejects her "and even for that do I love you the more." The climax of my scene is when Demetrius is angry and at his wits end and Helena, still enamored, dots more. The tone in this scene helps better portray the difference between the two characters. Helena makes loving gestures and voice inflections while Demetrius responds with disgust to everything she says. These characters have completely opposite feelings for each other. This sets them up to have an encounter with Lysander and Hermia. Lysander and Hermia escape into the woods but they grow very weary. They decide to rest and this is where the trouble all begins. This is where the reality is alluded as a dream. Hermia makes Lysander "Lie further off, in human modesty." This is not a custom which lovers would normally follow. When Puck (a fairy) arrives on the scene he sees them sleeping away from each other and assumes that Lysander has a "lack -love" for Hermia. So he decides to take it upon himself to help the situation, which actually didn't need any help. He "churl, upon thy eyes I throw all the power this charm dot owe," while putting a love juice to Lysander's eyes. Lysander awakens and because of the love juice, which causes him to fall in love with the first person he sees, in this case Helena. He falls instantly in love "Not Hermia but Helena I love." Lysander leaves to follow Helena, his new found love, forgetting and leaving Hermia alone. Hermia awakens to find Lysander gone, causing more build up towards the climax. Hermia wants to know "where is he?(Lysander)." She believes that Demetrius might have killed him. Demetrius sees that "there is no following her in this fierce vein". So he lies down to sleep. Oberon (King of the fairies) makes Demetrius sleepy so he will not leave because Puck "hast mistaken quite and laid the love juice on some true love's sight." He sends Puck to find Helena so he can make Demetrius love her before things get too messy. Oberon casts love juice into Demetrius eyes. Puck returns with Helena and Lysander is also with her. Demetrius wakes up and falls in love with Helena. This is where the play builds to a climax