A Midsummer's Night Dream Fact Sheet

Hermia, originally the Apple of all Athens’ eye, put on an impossible pedestal by both Lysander and Demetrius, seems to trade social standings with the outcast Helena. It seems that Hermia doesn’t fully appreciate the quality of her state. She complains that her father will not allow her to merry her true love Lysander, and pawns her off to the inadequate Demetrius. Never can she accept the flattery of Demetrius’ unrequited love which her best friend would do anything to sincerely receive. Instead she revels in wonderment: “The more I [Hermia] hate, the more he [Demetrius] follows me” (I.i.198). Her unhappiness is far heightened when her two followers are given the love potion, turning them against her and beckoning to Helena. The cruel swap of fates lets the two female characters feel as though in the others’ shoes. It’s Hermia’s karma for being ungrateful at the attention bestowed upon her all these years that leads her to this harsh lesson.

Demetrius and Helena present us with a different type of love, unrequited love. Devoted to Demetrius, Helena willingly gives him her heart, body and soul, just for his attention. But even when he proclaims his feelings for Helena, “I love thee not, therefore pursue me not. Hence get thee gone, and follow me no more!” Helena still refuses to leave him and continues to chase after him. Demetrius and Helena also have a situation of unrequited love. No matter how much Demetrius claims his love for Hermia, she still rejects him, “A privilege – never to see me more. And from thy hated presence part I so, see me no more, whe’r he be dead or no.”

Helena and Hermia have this kind of love and would do anything for each other. It happens that Helena is in love with Demetrius who Hermia is being forced to marry. Demetrius does not want Helena but Hermia. Helena loves her friend Hermia but at the same time wants to get her man.

The love for Helena appeared out of nowhere. He did not develop the passion for her, it happened in one day. True love needs true passion, not passion from a potion. Love is not something that is material; it is felt from the heart, not a potion. Demetrius’ and Helena’s love is forged

Exposition: The story is set in Athens, Greece. Theseus and Hippolyta are both noble and wealthy and they were planning their wedding in 4 days. Hermia and Lysander were in love, but another guy named Demetrius was also in love with Hermia. Helena loves Demetrius but is all alone, because he does not love her. Egeus who is Hermia’s father is not happy about her relationship with Lysander, he wants her to marry Demetrius. Hermia and Lysander plan to run away to another city to be married. Helena tell Demetrius the plan hoping that he will forget Hermia and fall in love with her.

At one time, Demetrius loved Helena, and then he fell in love with someone else. Initially, Demetrius had given his love to Helena: “He hailed down oaths that he was only mine, / And when this hail some heat from Hermia felt, / So he dissolved, and showers of oaths did melt” (MND 1.1.243-245). Helena loved Demetrius, and he promised to be with her forever. However once he met her friend, Hermia, Demetrius left Helena to chase after her friend. Helena’s jealousy of Demetrius’ love drives her to think about what he really wants. Helena believes that Hermia’s beauty is why Demetrius desires her. She tells Hermia, “Demetrius loves your fair”, and she goes further to say, “Were the world mine, Demetrius being bated, / The rest I’d give to be to you translated” (MND 1.1.182, 190-191). Her jealousy of Demetrius’ love has turned into jealousy of Hermia’s beauty. Helena obsesses over having Demetrius back to the point that she continuously follows him around. Demetrius is tired of Helena chasing him: “Do I entice you? Do I speak you fair?” (MND 2.1.199). Demetrius does not understand why she tries so hard to be with him when he does not even compliment her. Demetrius threatens Helena to leave him alone: “I’ll run from thee, and hide me in the brakes, / And leave thee to the mercy of wild beasts” (MND 2.1.227-228). At this point, he is beyond exhausted with Helena, and he will do anything to get away from her.

Both female lovers, Helena and Hermia, feel the loss of their male companions love at one point within the comedy. In the beginning Demetrius cannot stand the sight of Helena. To prove his hatred he says, “I love thee not, therefore pursue me not fair Helena”(II.i.173). Accordingly Lysander ,further into the play, loses his love for Hermia. To her he says “Ay, by my life, find never did desire thee more, therefore be out of hope of question of doubt, be certain, nothing truer, ‘Tis no jest that do hate thee and love Helena”(III.i.284-287. Both

In this point in the play we find Helena begging to be loved by Demetrius. She constantly follows Demetrius around but he is madly in love with Hermia a long with Lysander. Hermia is the daughter of Egeus and he demands she marries Demetrius even though she is in love with Lysander. Even though Helena knows Demetrius does not love her she will forever try to win him over. Demetrius tries to tell Helena that he loves Hermia.

The two are immensely in love, yet aren’t allowed to even be together. Instead, they are faced with some strongly unbearable options. In addition, Demetrius and Helena’s love never ran the way they wanted and portrayed the difficulties of love with their painful love encounter. Ever since Helena and Demetrius had ended things between them due to Demetrius falling for Hermia, Helena has continued to be deeply in love with Demetrius.

Helena, whom fancies Demetrius, decides to inform him of the happenings between Hermia and Lysander. Demetrius, infuriated by this news, decides to follow Hermia and Lysander out in to the forest. Helena is following along; against Demetrius’ repent of the action. Ultimately, along the love story between Hermia and Lysander we discover the second variation of love in the play: forbidden love. These two characters, desperate for one another, decide since their love is forbidden in their own home, they will travel to someone else’s and finally become one. This is their silent protest to what the Duke and Egeus have declared of their love.

Helena has always loved Demetrius and at one point in time he loved her as well, but as soon as he met Hermia, he left Helena behind in pursue of Hermia. However, Helena could not get over the lost of her love so she became desperate in her attempt to make him love her again. There trial was one not loving the other, but loving another; making their love rough and hard to look at. When it came to be known that Demetrius wanted to marry Hermia, but Hermia was going to run away, Helena decided to tell Demetrius in hopes that he would want to see her again. Furthermore, Helena hoped to be alone with Demetrius in hopes of convincing him to love her again, “The more you beat me I will fawn on you. Use me but as your spaniel: spurn me, strike me, neglect me, lose me; only give me leave (unworthy as I am) to follow you”(II.i.211-214). Helena is saying that she wants Demetrius to love her and not Hermia, so she is willing to be his dog. This was this couples biggest trial and there were many more, but there is one last couple to

In addition to the couple’s struggles they get mistaken by Puck for Helena and Demetrius. Which then results in Lysander getting love juice put on his eyes and in effect making him fall in love with Helena (Act II, Scene II). Hermia and Lysander are able to overcome this also and at last be able to marry each other (Act V, Scene

A Midsummer Night’s Dream Summative A crucial theme in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is the difficulty of love. Shakespeare explains love is more powerful than the laws of society throughout the book. Lysander once commented “The course of true love never did run smooth” (Act 1 Scene 1). If you truly love somebody, the journey will be rough, but true lover's will find a way to be together. Lysander, Hermia, Helena, and Demetrius find a way to get married because their love was more powerful that the laws of Athens.

Another example of the unrequited love and how Helena would do anything to win over Demetrius is when she tells Demetrius about Hermia and Lysander's plan. Helena says “I will go tell him of fair Hermia’s flight. Then to the wood will he tomorrow night pursue her. And for this intelligence, if I have thanks, it is a dear expense. But herein mean I to enrich my pain, to have his sight thither and back again” (23).

Demetrius is in love with Hermia, which makes Helena very jealous. Helena says to Hermia, "The rest I'd give to be you translated. O, teach me how you look and with what art You sway the motion of Demetrius' heart." (Shakespeare 9). Love is not easy for Helena because the one she wants to be with wants to be with somebody else.