Hermia Quotes And Analysis

Hermia: Your grace, pardon me. I do not know what makes me think I can say this, and I don’t know it may damage your reputation for modesty. Please tell me, the worst that could happen to me if I refuse to marry Demetrius.

Shakespeare introduces one of the difficulties Hermia faces with her father. This is evident when Egeus says, “Stand forth, Demetrius. My noble lord, This man hath my consent to marry her.— Stand forth, Lysander.—And my gracious duke, This man hath bewitch'd the bosom of my child.— Thou, thou,

The first way this can be seen is though her stating “Do not say so, Lysander, say not so. What though he love your Hermia? Lord, what though? Yet Hermia still loves you; then be content.” (Shakespeare 2.2 107-110) to Lysander. Here she starts to believe that she is being lied to, due to Lysander being in love with Hermia. This makes here have to deal with fake love from him being placed on her due to the mix-up by Puck. The second way this can be seen is through “Wherefore was I to this keen mockery born? When at your hands did I deserve this scorn? Is't not enough, is't not enough, young man, That I did never, no, nor never can, Deserve a sweet look from Demetrius' eye, But you must flout my insufficiency?” (Shakespeare 2.2 123-128) Here, she explains how she feels she does not deserve the mockery she believes he is playing on her. And how she feels she is a victim because she cannot get Demetrius to love her, no matter how hard she tries. The final reason she is a victim of love is though her statement “O spite! O hell! I see you all are bent To set against me for your merriment: If you were civil and knew courtesy, You would not do me thus much injury. Can you not hate me, as I know you do, But you must join in souls to mock me too?” (Shakespeare 3.2 145-150) to Demetris. From here she is angry how she feels that everyone is mocking her, due to him having not shown her love before this. And how he is not the only one who is mocking her, but so has Lysander and, in her mind, Hermia though Demetrius loving

Hermia’s statement describes what it feels like to be verbally harassed and forced into marriage. This proves that gender roles were a big issue at the time and women were greatly affected by the laws. Theseus shows no pity for his daughter and does not care about the decisions that she is forced into making. He gives Hermia three options to choose from:

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.

Have you ever thought about I want? I know you think it would be horrid if I decided not to marry Demetrius but “So will I grow, so live, so die... Ere I will yield my virgin patent up Unto his lordship, whose unwished yoke My soul consents not to give sovereignty” (I.i. 79-82). He’s not the one for me, I know what I want and that’s Lysander.

Furthermore, the law was another problem obstacle that influenced affected love negatively. The Athenian law states that every woman must obey obey her father. “To you your father should be as a god.” (Shakespeare, 11). This quote states that to women, their father should be their God, only obeying him. and the only one they should obey. Hermia’s father, Egeus, refuses to allow to her to marry Lysander, as we wants her to marry Demetrius. Egeus uses using the power of the law over Hermia and this is is demonstrated when he says “As she is mine, I may dispose of her.” (Shakespeare, 11). Lysander and Hermia’s relationship is affected because Hermia must obey her father or face the consequences of the law. Additionally, the law impacts affects the love between Hermia and Lysander because Egeus takes the issue to the Duke, Theseus. Theseus states;

I heard today that Hermia is rebelling against her father by trying to marry Lysander instead of Demetrius. It is well known throughout Athens that Egeus is trying to get his daughter to wed Demetrius, and that Hermia believes that Lysander possess better qualities than Demetrius. Hermia should be allowed to do as she pleases, however according to Athen law, all female must listen to their male occupants, and in this case Hernia has to listen to her father. Egeus even told Hermia that “[you] is mine , I may dispose of [you],/ Which shall be either to this gentleman/ Or to [your] death, according to our law” (I.i.42-44). I believe that this “law” is irrational, and this would never exist in the Amazon.

Does Lysander love me anymore? In an attempt to escape Hermia’s duties as a daughter and a woman, Lysander composes the idea of running away into the forest where his aunt lives while being unaware of the effects it may have on his relationship with Hermia as well as their trust for one another. Living so close to the forest allows not only Hermia and Lysander to escape from their problems but as well as the Athenian people looking to commit a crime or freely express themselves. In the Discussion of Egeus marriage arrangement, Lysander gives Hermia immense confidence for a marriage in the forest assuring her “I could marry you there, gentle Hermia, where the strict laws of Athens can’t touch us.”(I.i.ll 160-1) referring to the strict laws of Athens shows the tremendous lack of freedom towards the citizens of Athens especially women forced into marriage. Agreeing with this plan causes a ray of happiness towards Hermia allowing her to share the secret with her lifelong friend Helena soon revealing her plans to Demetrius, her true love, overflowing him with determination to find Hermia before marrying Lysander. As the four lovers scavage through the forest on the hunt for their cravings disaster strikes as a fairy servant is sent to withdraw the love for Hermia from Demetrius into Helena causing a catastrophic change of fate among Lysander and Hermia. As Lysander walks up with the essence of the flower of love on his eyelids to the presence of Helena in front of him, shapes true love into an illusion. The confrontation of disbelief from Hermia assures she feels “Can you hurt me any more than by saying you hate me? Hate me? Why? What’s happened to you, my love? Am I not Hermia? Aren’t you Lysander?...you still loved me when we fell asleep, but when you woke up you left

The public is openly perplexed by the swift change from the expected events. Because of the well-known order of Helena’s father, Egeus, it was nearly certain that Helena was to marry Demetrius. However, it was rumored that Hermia actually loved Lysander. A witness on the scene claims he saw these two lovers planning to run away together into the forest. What transpired in the woods is an utter mystery. Too many puzzling rumors float through the air to decipher what really happened. The most popular story came from the four young lovers themselves. However, “’tis strange... that these lovers speak of,” (143). Their unbelievable story of magic and fairies does not fool most. Everyone knows “the lunatic, the lover, and the poet are of imagination all compact,” (143). We may never know what really happened in there. All we know is the lovers Lysander and Hermia, who was expected to marry Demetrius, entered the forest one night followed by Demetrius and Helena, Hermia’s friend who loved Demetrius (a rumor widely known to the public). And several days later, all four emerged as a pair of married couples. Now, Lysander and Hermia, Demetrius and Helena, and King Theseus and Queen Hippolyta are all happily married. The people are absolutely dazzled and mesmerized by the unexpected turn of events. The question on everyone’s mind: What’s comes next for the mysterious

Thesis statement: From the 1500’s to now, humans have been concerned about one thing and that is themselves. Shakespeare brilliantly weaved characters and comedic devices to demonstrate a theme that has stood the test of time: Humans are conceded, narcissistic beings.

Above all the tensions created by the discussion of marriage, Lysander deliver a quotes to his love Hermia. “The course of true love never did run smooth…” (Act 1, Scene 1, line 134) is a famous quote by Lysander. In the quote he conveys to readers that love is not perfect, it also has its ups and downs and that he and Hermia are going through a tough situation. Hermia and Lysander both love each other and have made a plan to meet in a forest and then escape Athens however the problem arises when Hermia has tells Helena this and she plans to tell Demetrius about this so that he will love her and not Hermia. The King of fairies− Oberon hears all this and decides to settle the dispute between all of them. He instructs his assistant Robin Goodfellow to search for Demetrius and put the love juice on his eyelids so that he is compelled to love Helena, he informs him about the dressing style of Demetrius in "thou shalt know the man by the Athenian garments he hath on" (Act 2, Scene 1, line 263-264). However there is a problem, in the forest there are two Athenian men dressed in Athenian garments and their identities were mistaken; instead of putting the love juice on Demetrius's eyelids Robin Goodfellow put it on Lysander's eyelids. Now Lysander "loves" Helena and wants to get away from Hermia. After discovering Robin Goodfellow's mistake, Oberon tries to correct this mistake by putting the same love juice in Demetrius's so that he loves Helena eyes however

Egeus, an Athenian noble, desires his daughter, Hermia, to “consent to marry with Demetrius”(1.1.40), the suitor of his choice. Hermia “refuses to wed Demetrius”(1.1.64) and wishes to marry another man, Lysander. Egeus exercises complete control over his daughter’s life. He considers her his property, as he says, “she is mine, I may dispose of her”(1.1.42). Hermia’s only choices are to marry Demetrius, “to death, or to a vow of

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

“Lysander, keep thy Hermia. I will none. If e'er I loved her, all that love is gone.My heart to her but as guest-wise sojourned,And now to Helen is it home returned, There to remain. (3.2.72-76)”. This quote is explaining how Demetrius has been enchanted, which should excuse him. But remember that this will be his second transformation in love. First he loved Helena, then he loved Hermia, and now he loves Helena again. Though we know this last transformation was caused by magic, he was fickle even before being enchanted.