Relationship Web Between Characters In A Midsummer Night's Dream

6. What alternatives does Theseus offer Hermia? In what tone do you imagine him presenting these alternatives? Quote

In the play, A Midsummer’s Night Dream begins with Theseus, Duke of Athens, preparing for his marriage to Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, with a four-day festival. Egeus, a citizen of Athens, goes to see Theseus with a complaint against his daughter: although Egeus has promised Hermia in marriage to Demetrius, who loves her, Lysander has won Hermia’s heart and refuses to obey her father and marry Demetrius. “Theseus speaks to Hermia, warning her to

( Act 1, Scene 1, 118-119) Here Theseus advises Hermia to listen to her father and to stop arguing with him. As we notice, love is unfair, but if true love exists, it will find a

what, have you come by night And stolen my love's heart from him?” (Shakespeare III.i 283-285) In this quote, Hermia shows her feelings of love for Lysander by being angry at Helena for stealing him. She was confused why Lysander no longer loved her, then she realized that Helena stole him. Her first reaction to this was to fight Helena over Lysander.

Lysander and Demetrius both love Hermia. Both of them are willing fight for her. “ I am, my lord, as well derived as he, As well possessed. My love is more than his. My fortunes every way as fairly ranked, (If not with vantage) as Demetrius'. And—which is more than all these boasts can be—

In Athens, women had very little rights. Womens fathers were the ones who got to choose whom they married, and that caused trouble for the lovers. Hermia’s father, Egeus, strongly believed in this rule. At the beginning, Egeus decides that he wants Hermia to marry Demetrius, which is good for Demetrius but bad for Hermia. Hermia, daringly refuses her father’s wishes, so they seek the help of Theseus, the Duke of Athens. Theseus listens to their situation, and being the authority in the situation, tells Hermia: “Either to die the death, or to abjure for the society of men. Therefore, fair Hermia,... if you yield not to your father’s choice, you can endure the livery of a nun...”(24). This shows how authority, in this case the law, gets in the way of “the course of true love…”(28). Egeus’s decision to have Hermia marry Demetrius does not only affect Hermia but also affects Helena. When Hermia’s father chooses Demetris to be her

In the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare, emotions and beliefs can shape people’s view of the world. This play is about two lovers, Lysander and Hermia, running away into a forest because they can’t marry each other in their hometown, Athens. Two other characters, Demetrius and Helena, find out about their plan eventually and go to look for them. They did so because Demetrius admires Hermia, while Helena admires Demetrius. When they eventually find each other, things go downhill.

Throughout the saga of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Shakespeare uses many sources and examples of irony. This play tells the convoluted story of many lovers and how their love changes. The beginning of the play starts with the story of two sworn lovers Lysander and Hermia, who are banned from marrying each other. Hermia’s father, Egeus arranges Hermia to marry Demetrius, even while Hermia’s love is claimed to Lysander. However, Hermia’s friend Helena is madly in love with Demetrius, but he disregards her completely.

The relationships in this dramatic comedy are essentially dysfunctional’. How far would you agree with this view?

In the beginning of the story Hermia’s father is talking to Theseus about what is to happen to his daughter due to the fact that she doesn’t want to marry the man who’s proposed to her. At a point Egeus says, “Stand forth, Lysander. And, my gracious Duke, This man hath bewitch’d the bosom of my child…. as she is mine, I may dispose of her, Which shall be either to this gentleman (Demetrius) or to her death, according to our law Immediately provided in that case”(1.1 26-27….43-46). Egeus seems convinced that Lysander has cast a spell on his daughter’s heart and he doesn’t approve of it. I feel that he forbids their love from happening when he claims that she is his and because of that and the law, he can either force her to marry Demetrius or have her killed. Along with the forbidden love of Hermia and Lysander, Shakespeare also uses the unrequited love between Helena and Demetrius to build up to his point of love.

And (which is more than all these boasts can be) I am beloved of beauteous Hermia. Why should not I then prosecute my right?” (13). Lysander says to Theseus that he is just as rich as Demetrius is and that he loves Hermia more than Demetrius does.

In “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare, Hermia, the daughter of Egeus, is in love with a man named Lysander. Hermia’s father Egeus wants Hermia to be married to a man named Demetrius, not Lysander. When Egeus finds out his daughter Hermia is dating Lysander, he becomes very upset and goes to Theseus, the king of Athens, and asks him to enforce his consent of whom his daughter is to marry. After hearing Egeus’ complaints, Theseus tells Hermia she must obey her father. After Hermia refuses to comply with her father’s wish, Theseus presents Hermia with a choice of obeying her father and marrying Demetrius, enduring the livery of a nun and never be married, or to be sentenced to death. Theseus tells Hermia she must have an

As the play opens, Theseus, Duke of Athens, and Hippolyta, his fiancée discuss their upcoming wedding. With the introduction of Theseus and

Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream is simply a lighthearted comedy of the follies and tribulations of love. It does however have quite a few more complexities that just that. The relationships between all of the main characters serve to provide us with a glimpse of a deep dark truth hidden within the lighter side of the play. One way to find these deep dark truths of the characters is by analyzing the characters and their relationships. The characters that I will be analyzing are Titania and Oberon, and Theseus and Hippolyta.

Theseus – helps Egeus by commanding Hermia to obey her father or die. Later, it is Theseus who finds the four lovers in the forest and changes his mind. He declares that the couples will be married in the palace along with him and Hyppolyta. Theseus is an arbitrary ruler whose purpose is to drive the plot (much like the Duke in Measure for Measure but more effective). He rules by commands and the sword – it is through war that he has won his bride.