Lysander

I’m hither, with abhor, to complain about mine daughter Hermia. My lord, this sir, Demetrius, hath mine permission to marry that lady. Step forward, Lysander. —But this other sir, Lysander, hath cast a magic spell ov'r mine child’s heart. You, thee, Lysander, you’ve given that lady poems, and switch thy love with mine daughter. You’ve connived to steal mine daughter’s heart, making that lady stubborn and harsh instead of obedient, I asketh thee to alloweth me exercise the right that all fathers has't in Athens. Since the lady belongs to me, I can doth what I want with her, as the law says: I can either maketh that lady marry Demetrius—or hath that lady killed.

The biggest obstacle in this play occurs when the power of love is challenged by authority. The play starts with Theseus, duke of Athens, being eager to marry Hippolyta, who he wooed with his sword in combat. Although Theseus promises Hippolyta that he will wed her “with pomp, with triumph, with reveling,” true love between them is questionable. By starting the play with Theseus and Hippolyta, Shakespeare hints the audience of the authority involved in their marriage and leaves the audience wonder if they actually love each other. The focus is then shifted to the four lovers: Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius and Helena - by establishing the story of Hermia being forced by her father, Egeus, to marry Demetrius, when the person she actually wants to marry is Lysander. However, Egeus

Four worlds collide in a magical woods one night in midsummer in William Shakespeare's mystical comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The mythological duke of Athens, on the eve of his wedding to the newly defeated Queen of the Amazons, is called upon by the mortal Egeus to settle a quarrel. Hermia, Egeus's vociferous daughter, refuses to marry the man her father has betrothed to her, the enamored Demetrius. Theseus sides with authoritarian Egeus and forces Hermia to marry Demetrius or face death. Defiantly, Hermia and her love, Lysander, resolve to elope and abscond into the woods, confessing their plan only to Hermia's covetous

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.

Although he tries with all his might to win the love of Hermia, his greatest efforts are not good enough to satisfy her needs nor strokes her interest. The same can be said for, however, when referring to Helena pathetic attempts to win the heart of the one she wants; that one is none other than Demetrius. When Helena in informed of Hermia and Lysander’s plan to escape to the wilderness and to marry each other against Egeus’ will, she goes as far as spoiling their plans to Demetrius in hopes of proving her dedication and love to him. This is a perfect example of untrue love.

Despite all of the chaos and mismatched love triangles which develop throughout the play, both women end up with the men they initially wanted. Hermia gets to marry Lysander while Helena marries Demetrius, even though he never rids himself of Oberon’s spell (4.1). Shakespeare’s plot leaves an open gap for interpretation here, which is highlighted through this production as a way for women to sexually manipulate men and express themselves like they did throughout the

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

A young couple, Lysander and Hermia wish to be married but Hermia’s father wants her to marry Demetrius. Helena, another young woman, is in love with Demetrius but he does not love her. Lysander and Hermia decide to run off through the woods to elope, and they tell Helena of their plans. Wanting an excuse to see Demetrius, Helena tells him about the couple running off to elope and he chases after them. In a similar part of the woods, the fairy King Oberon and Queen Titania argue, which leads him to play a trick on her. He makes her fall in love with the first person she sees, which happens to be a man with the head of a mule. He notices Demetrius and Helena argue and tells Robin, a fairy subject, to use the love potion on Demetrius. Robin mixes

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

Hermia is upset by this so Lysander and her plan to run away through the forest. They tell Helena of their plan to leave the city. The issue is Helena, loves Demetrius and will do anything to get his attention including telling on the best friend. The four of them end up in the forest where fairies lurk. The fairies cause mischief and disorder

The play open with the character Theseus awaiting his marriage to Hippolyta. Then the three of the stories main characters Hermia, Demetrius and Lysander enter the Theseus’s court where Hermia's father expresses that he would like his daughter to marry Demetrius. The reader of the play learns that Demetrius loves Hermia but she loves Lysander. So, Lysander and Hermia plan to run off into the woods together, but before doing so they tell their friend Helena their plans. Hermia, who loves Demetrius,

The lovers that go into the forest are all very young. Lysander and Hermia run away to elope (A Midsummer 1.1. 156-168). They are madly, intensely, passionately in love with each other. Demetrius and Helena follow them into the forest. According to J.M. Pressley, “Helena loves Demetrius; Demetrius used to love Helena but now loves Hermia” (Pressley 1). Demetrius switches his affections quickly. This shows how fickle love can be. There does not seem to be any legitimate reason for this. Helena tells us, “Through Athens I am thought as fair as she” (A Midsummer 1.1. 227). Helena is saying that she is as attractive as Hermia. Demetrius is not making a logical decision by chasing Hermia. Helena is already in love with him. According to Hermia, “I frown upon him, yet he loves me still” (A Midsummer 1.1. 194). Hermia has given Demetrius no signs of affection. The way that romantic love can change its focus, is illustrated by the love potion. Puck, the fairy, gives the love potion to both Lysander and Demetrius (Pressley 1). Than they both fall madly, intensely, passionately in love with Helena. Helena thinks they are playing a joke on her. This wavering of true love is most often seen in teenagers. They are totally in love with someone one week. They meet someone new next week, that is their new soul mate. It can happen with adults as well but it is usually a slower process. People fall in and out of love. This problem was solved by Elizabethan society. Divorce was not an option for most people. It was simply cheaper to keep her. According to Maggi Ros, “Divorce is actually more difficult to obtain in the protestant regime than in the Catholic, even with cause. Since you can't apply to the Pope anymore, you have to get an Act of Parliament! That's a lot more people to buy” (Ros 1). It was more practical to stay in an unhappy marriage. The expense of getting a divorce was simply too high. Adultery was the

Sacrificial love is profound in William Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, a story of two lovers who cannot wed due to an arranged marriage for Juliet by her parents’ choice. After falling in endearment at a ball, Romeo and Juliet take many risky paths to be with each other. Their actions to achieve such passion eventually lead to their deaths and heartbreak in their community. The next intimate relation found in Shakespeare’s plays is joyful and playful love, and A Midnight Summer’s Dream is a great example of this love. This comedy portrays the matrimonial events of Duke Theseus and Amazon queen, Hippolyta. During these two marital preparations, Hermia and Lysander wish to marry, but Hermia’s father wishes differently. Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius, and Helena fall under love potions to lust over the other for a portion of the play, but later overcome this obstacle and marry their soul-mate. In the Twenty-First Century, men and women are free to marry who they wish and when they desire to do so. Many countries have laws passed stating that same-sex marriage is allowed and accepted legally, allowing many to marry for endearment and not acceptance into the world.

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

It is only through the machinations of the play’s metatheatrical stage managers that the issue of Demetrius’ unhappiness can be smoothed over into something that resembles the happy ending we expect as an audience. It is, in the end, the Faeries’ magic that allows the happy ending to emerge from all the chaos within the Green World, even if some of that chaos was caused by the Faeries to begin with. Puck, for instance, mistakenly applies the love-in-idleness to Lysander’s eyelids and causes him to fall in love with Helena. Oberon later realizes the mistake, and utilizes the love-in-idleness once more to enchant Demetrius, so it is now Helena who has too many suitors, and Hermia too few. Magic becomes the only force capable of undoing its own mischief, and resolves the play’s tensions by restoring a balance to the love between the four young Athenians. That surreal, fantastic element in the play’s major action allows for happiness to come to light in the end, even if we view the outside influence as something artificial within the relationships.