In the play “A midsummers night dream” by William Shakespeare the character Helena who is in love with Demetrius wants to marry him however she cannot due to the fact that he is not in love with her and does not want to marry her. Also, Helena is envious of her best friend Hermia because both of the main male protagonists are in love with Hermia. Throughout the play “A midsummers night dream” the character Helena is the most important as she is deceiving, caring and jealous.
In “A midsummer’s night dream” the character Helena is deceiving as she wanted Demetrius’s love she went to very extreme lengths to get it. In the play, an example of this is when she told Lysander and Hermia’s plan to Demetrius. “I will go tell him of fair Hermia’s
Helena is a tall Athenian women who is quite beautiful, based off the opinions of others. She is shy, timid, and very insecure due to the lack of attention she gets from men, more specifically Demetrius. The reason she is so insecure is because the one thing she acquires most in life, to be loved by Demetrius. However this is something she can’t seem to get no matter how hard she tries. As seen in the story, Helena is treated awful by Demetrius who makes it very clear that he wants nothing to do with her, cursing her out, yelling at her, and constantly insulting her, but not matter how much hatred is shown by him, her love for Demetrius continues to grow. This shows that Helena even though she is fragile at times,
In the play, Helena is heavily portrayed as jealous, neurotic, and persistent. The girl is unconfident and insecure, as she believes her best friend Hermia, is far superior than her. “Happy is Hermia, wheresoe’er she lies,/For she hath blessed and attractive eyes.” (2.2.96-97) She describes Hermia as happy no matter what circumstance occurs, as she is considered a beautiful person. “No, no, I am as ugly as a bear,/For beasts that meet me run away for fear.” (2.2.100-101) Speaking to Demetrius, she continues to put herself down, and describes herself as extremely unattractive that others run away from her. It is worth noting that Helena may have been confident in the past, but when Demetrius made the switch from her to Hermia, she lost that confidence, and felt as if she was not good enough. She
The character, Demetrius, in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night's Dream, is very difficult to identify except by his relation to the one he loves, or, more particularly, to the one who loves him. Helena's ridiculous chasing after him and his irritation with her are the primary marks of his character. While in this state, he even begins to threaten Helena with bodily harm, coming off as not quite the gracious courtly lover he truly means to be. It's simple to discover his unchivalrous character by how easily his eye was distracted from Helena by Hermia in the beginning. He could be a gentle, loving man if he truly desired, but he takes satisfaction being put in his
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 chases Demetrius when he claims he hates her. Helena thought Hermia was against her because jealousy is blinding. Helena also believes that Demetrius and Lysander are making fun of her.
Helena and Titania have similar but different personalities, they both play different roles in the play but they’re both related in certain ways. In the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare, the characters have very confusing personalitlies but they relate to one another. The play is about two worlds that collide on this one specific night during midsummer. When they collide lots of love mishaps, confusing problems, and weird scenarios take place. Magic flower dust, fairies, and ass heads play a significant but weird role in the story other than the characters. Although Helena and Titania are both caring and determined, Helena is self conscious about herself, while Titania is very confident about herself.
Hermia of course is in love with Lysander , and Lysander is in love with Hermia. But there is also, Demetrius who is also in love with Hermia and Helena who is in love with Demetrius. They have been through many obstacles, like in the Act 3 scene 2. After Puck put the love potion on Lysander and he fell in love with Helena, he has followed her around nonstop. As Helena goes to find Hermia, Lysander follows close behind. “Lys: Why should you think that I should woo in scorn? Hel: You do advance your cunning more and more.” This is Lysander and Helena talking to each other, Lysander saying why would I mock you if I love you and Helena saying you just get better and better at your jokes, but in a sarcastic way. This shows the relationship between Hermia and Helena in Shakespeare's a Midsummer’s Night Dream.
Threatened by the one she loves, fighting her best friend, and marrying unexpectedly are all acts done by Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream By William Shakespeare. This timeless play features four young adults going into the woods for a day. During their stay in the woods, Helena shows her true self. Helena is a person who comes off as desperately longing for Demetrius. One can realize this because she is skeptical, deeply in love, and mean at times.
It is important that in our lives we are able to understand the difference between the ugly and the true. William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream captures love in such a literal, yet whimsical sense, which is why it is able to stay relevant even in this day and age. The bad love of Demetrius and Helena showcases the dark side of love, the side of love that isn’t really love at all.
The hilarious play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare, tells the twisted love story of four Athenians who are caught between love and lust. The main characters: Hermia, Helena, Lysander, and Demetrius are in a ‘love square’. Hermia and Lysander are true love enthusiasts, and love each other greatly. Demetrius is in love with Hermia, and Helena, Hermia’s best friend, is deeply and madly in love with Demetrius. Hermia and Lysander try to elope in the woods because Egeus, Hermia’s father, disapproves of Lysander. Helena, hearing about their plans, tells Demetrius, and all four of them end up in the woods where Lysander’s quotation, “The course of true love never did run smooth”(28), becomes extremely evident due to several
In the play a Midsummer Night’s Dream written by William Shakespeare, there is a character named Bottom he is an ordinary man who has a magic spell cast on him where he now has an asses head. Bottom has many complex characteristics and feelings as he is a dynamic character set in the play. Egocentric, having or regarding the self or the individual as the center of all things; an egocentric philosophy that ignores social causes. Bottom is a character in which being selfish or egocentric shawn through.
She realizes that it would break Hermia’s heart and ruin their friendship. During the large fight that erupts after the potions have been placed on the wrong people, Helena tells Hermia that “I evermore did love you, Hermia, did ever keep your counsels, and never wronged you” (3.2.323-324). She even confesses that she did tell Demetrius that Hermia and Lysander were planning to escape Athens. As Helena progresses through the play, we begin to see the paradox that Shakespeare has created through the character of
In the play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Helena says that love is blind. This foreshadows how Demetrius and Bottom act. When he is talking, he says that he can play different roles, “In that case if I can wear a mask, let me play Thisbe too!” (1.2.42). This connects with love is being blind because Bottom thinks he is good enough to play 2 roles in the play. Demetrius says that he loves Helena by saying, “O Helena, goddess, nymph, perfect divine! To what, my love, shall I compare thine Eyne.” (3.2.137). The human condition shown is love. They are blinded by love because of the flower.
A main idea is A midsummer night’s dream is jealousy people have for others. Shakespeare first refers to jealousy when Helena is speaking to Hermia. Helena obviously envies Hermia for she had Demetrius fall in hove with her. The jealousy is seen again during the mud fight between Helena and Hermia. This comical scene occurs after Puck’s mishap, and Demetrius and Lysander have both fallen in love with Hermia. Only this time, Hermia is the jealous one. Dramatic irony is used, since the reader knows the only reason Lysander fell in love with Helena is because Puck mistook him for Demetrius, but Hermia is completely oblivious to that. Hermia is enraged when she says “O me, you juggler, you canker-blossom, you thief of love! What, have you come by night and stol’n my love’s heart from him?” But she doesn’t know that Lysander is under a spell. To convey the concept of jealousy, Shakespeare uses the dramatic irony to make the topic less serious, and more humorous.
Helena is a very desperate and aroused woman who loves Demetrius with her life. Even though she shows a great passion of love for him, Demetrius rejects this and therefore piles another burden of sorrow onto Helena’s shoulders. She is fed up with Demetrius rejecting her, but Helena is not tempted to give up yet.