Rejection In A Midsummer Night's Dream

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.

When Lysander falls under the love potion's influence, he abandons Hermia, leaving her alone in the forest. When she wakes, she cries, "Lysander, look how I do quake with fear. Methought a serpent eat my heart away, and you sat smiling at his cruel pray." She is unaware of Lysander's departure, and her former lover is now pursuing another girl. Through the metaphor of a serpent eating her heart, Shakespeare shows the audience that young love can lead to heartbreak. Another example of this idea comes earlier in the story, when the four lovers are still in Athens. Hermia finds herself in a conversation with a distraught Helena, who complains, "O, teach me how you look and with what art you sway the motion of Demetrius' heart." It's clear through this statement and the rest of the scene that Helena is experiencing a lot of emotional pain from Demetrius' rejection. All throughout the play, Shakespeare constantly reminds us of the pain of young

How does William Shakespeare use the play to make the audience think about aspects of love through the play ‘Midsummer Nights Dream?

With these features she Helena says that she would attract Demetrius and except him, unlike Hermia who wishes him away. She asks Hermia to teach her the art of her beauty and win the affection of Demetrius heart. The last character that shows jealousy is Hermia. She shows Jealousy when Lysander is spelled, and falls for Helena. While under a spell, Lysander tells Hermia:

Therefore, no marvel though Demetrius. Do, as a monster, fly my presence thus.” (2.2.110-13). Helena reveals that a beast more fearsome than a bear would run from her tormented self. Her comparison to Demetrius acting as a monster flying from her may represent an underlying and unrecognized disdain felt for him not loving her in return. These are majorly complex emotions running through my favorite afflicted female in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Helena’s comparison to Hermia is particularly relevant. Humans have a tendency of comparing and questioning why they should bother to contend with someone. Helena complains of a “wicked and dissembling glass” which made her compete with Hermia’s beauty (2.2.104-5). In A Midsummer Night's Dream, there is the presence of unrequited love, which is shown by Helena and Demetrius' relationship: "The more I love, the more he hateth me" (1.1.199). This evidently shows Helena's love for Demetrius, and yet her love for him is not returned for he is blinded by his love for Hermia. This unrequited love shows the cruel nature of love which is represented when Demetrius say, “Tell you I do not nor I cannot love you” (2.1.201). “Tempt not too much the hatred of my spirit, for I am sick when I do look on thee” (2.1.211). Demetrius ignores Helena in an attempt to push her away, when she is madly in love with him. However, his plan backfires and only causes her love and desperate desire for him to grow,

Helena is first introduced storming past Hermia and Lysander, being quick to accuse Hermia of stealing Demetrius’ love from her. Helena’s lengthy response, use of exclamations, sarcastic and whiney tone, and admitted jealousy, portray her perfectly. In fact, the audience better comes to understand the character in her following monologue containing phrases such as: “…how happy some o’er other some can be! Through Athens I am thought to be as fair as she”; “…he hailed down oaths that he was only mine… heat from Hermia…dissolved, and showers of oaths did melt”; “I will go tell him of fair Hermia’s flight…if I have thanks, it is a dear expense.” This shows that Helena isn’t just a jealous friend, but a hurt girl with low self-esteem; she is desperate to have love and happiness again to extent of giving Demetrius what he wants at the expense of her friends’ wellbeing. Despite the late hours, dangers of the night, and Demetrius’ annoyance with her, Hermia expresses her desperation and relentless love for him by proclaiming “…you [Demetrius] draw me, you hard-hearted adamant”, “I love you the more”, and “… spurn me, strike me…only give me leave… to follow you”. Humorously enough, even when Demetrius does not grant Helena permission, she still devotedly follows him. Due to the constant flow of insults and abuses from Demetrius, Helena’s character is pushed to the point where she wallows in self-pity and despair as well as further compare her darker, less attractive complexion to Hermia’s. When Lysander awakens under a love spell and professes his undying love for her, she runs away in distress believing he is implementing a cruel joke on her. When Demetrius follows in the same love-struck manner, she becomes exasperated and falls further into her self-pity. Helena’s tone even become satirical towards the two men and Hermia which not only offends

In “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” characters who exhibit selfish behaviours build unhealthy relationships. To begin, Helena creates several difficulties as a result of her selfishness and envy of Hermia’s prosperity. Correspondingly, Oberon and Titania face conflicts concerning control. Finally, Egeus and Hermia’s strong sense of pride make them struggle to cooperate. For these reasons, relationships are made fragile due to desire of self-gain.

Four lovers each with his or her own challenge in love, Lysander and Hermia who love each other but may never be together, and Demetrius who loves Hermia and rejects Helena’s truthful devotion. Shakespeare’s writing style is the essence that brings forth the emotions within his works. Throughout a Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, commonplace literary devices are used to emphasize his style of writing. , Shakespeare depicts the theme of love’s difficulty, especially with the use of figurative language, such as metaphor and personification, to show that though complications arise in complex situations, the ability to overcome becomes the true meaning of love. wise

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.

Helena and Hermia quarrel as Helena calls Hermia “something lower than [her]self” (III.ii.303), and Hermia threatening her as her “nails can reach unto thine eyes”. (III.ii.298). Afterwards, the men also pick fights with each other, “try[ing] whose right […] is most in Helena” (III.ii.336-7). In these two situations, the women, who are not under an enchantment, are perceived as foolish as the guys, who are under enchantment. This suggests that women who are in love are just naturally foolish and are willing to pick fights with other women for stealing their lovers in comparison to men who are much more calm and reasonable until they have been cast under a literal spell where they cannot help but act foolish and aggressive. Women are also seen as naturally emotional and hysterical when it comes to love. Helena begs Demetrius to “spurn me, strike me, neglect me” (II.i.205) and that she will still “fawn on you” (II.i.204). Helena is over the top with her love for Demetrius that she does not realize what she is saying which indicates how emotional women naturally are for the ones they love and that men are much more level-headed as Demetrius shuts her down, saying that she “impeach [her] modesty too much” (II.i.214). Lastly, the women in this play, specifically Hermia, are irrational and do not think consciously. For example, when Hermia exclaims to “kill me too” (III.i.49) to Demetrius when she thought he

Another characteristic that is not generally applied to love, but which is inseparably connected to it in this play, is cruelty. Love is an agent of degradation. Helena abases herself in a pathetic attempt to renew Demetrius’s love for her, saying, “I am your spaniel; and, Demetrius, / The more you beat me, I will fawn on you. / Neglect me, lose me; only give me leave, / Unworthy as I am, to follow you” (2.1.204-207). It is love that brings her so low; it does the same to Hermia when she has lost Lysander’s love. Hermia is understandably bewildered by the sudden loss of her lover, and she says,

In William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, William Shakespeare uses the character Demetrius to portray that often when one becomes consumed with hatred rooted in their own insecurities it causes one's life to be greatly tampered with, creating social illusions, that affect one's perspective on their life, leading one to be controlled through their insecurities by the actions of others. As it is, this is the case for the character of Demetrius as his hatred for others allows the supernatural to take effect on his life ultimately resulting in his loss of freedom of choice. The hatred Demetrius feels towards others is due to his lowered self worth and the rejection he faces against it. When accepting the betrothal to Hermia, Demetrius

In Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare creates the characters, Hermia and Helena, to portray the struggle of jealousy in universal friendships. Throughout the play, these two characters show their true feelings of vexations on multiple occasions where they completely give in to their emotions. An example of this is when Helena makes her first appearance in the play. She meets Hermia and Lysander in Act 1 and the first thing we hear from her is that she is jealous of Hermia. She goes on about wishes she could be as beautiful as Hermia, for her “eyes are lodestars, and [her] tongue’s sweet air” (I.i.184). Helena asks Hermia to teach her “with what art [she] sway[s] the motion of Demetrius’ heart!” (I.i.192-3) From the very beginning of the play, Helena demonstrates she feels extreme jealousy towards her friend, because of her desires to woo Demetrius. She longs

Love is shown in numerous ways; it can also be classified as true or fake. There is love at first sight and developing love, nonetheless, love is complicated and it is something that can transform through time. William Shakespeare, the writer of the playA Midsummer Night’s Dream, suggests that “love really is an obstacle course that turns us all into madmen” The significance to this is to demonstrate that love is really a difficult course that turns us all into wild people. Shakespeare "explores how people tend to fall in love with those who appear beautiful to them”. In the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare portrays love as being strange and this is demonstrated bycomplicated love, forced, and develops from first sight.

In Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare illustrates that the power of true love cannot be suppressed by the force of family and law. In Act I, Hermia, the daughter of Egeus, is given a choice to into either marrying a man who she does not love, or be put to death by her own father. Limited in choice and time, Hermia expresses her frustration to her real love Lysander, by saying, “‘O hell, to choose love by another’s eyes!’” (I.i.142), implying that no one else can choose who someone should love, but only of the one who’s heart is under the influence of love. As a result, Lysander eagerly suggests they run off and elope where, “‘The sharp Athenian law cannot pursue (them)’” (I.i.164-165). Based on this statement, it clearly shows