A midsummer night’s dream-character sketch
Even though a character might be minor and not very developed, it does not mean that he cannot have a deep personality and complicated and intricate connections in his piece of literature. In the romantic, comedic play, “A Midsummer night’s dream”, by William Shakespeare, Egeus is one of the minor characters that has a fascinating personality, many important relationships and a huge impact on the outcome of the play. His almost stereotypical but not quite controlling fatherly character develops Hermia’s personality but most importantly, it develops his relationship with the four lovers and his friendship with Theseus, drives his part of the play into the other two storylines and ultimately changes …show more content…
In the play, Egeus, although he is a minor character and seemingly only has a blood relationship with his daughter Hermia, also has major connections with Theseus, Demetrius and Lysander. Egeus’ most obvious and prominent relationship in the play is with Hermia, his daughter. He is very possessive and controlling towards her saying that “she is [his] and [he] may dispose of her” (42) as he wishes. Although he wants to treat her nicely and does care for her, he still treats her like she is his property and her own decisions appear to have very little weight to him. The rivals fighting over his daughter at the start of the play also have a unique relationship with Egeus. They are like competitors in a competition where Egeus is the judge. Demetrius is Egeus’ champion and to Egeus, Lysander is just an inferior, annoying pest of a competitor that just won’t go away. He even goes as far as saying that “[Demetrius] hath [his] love” (95). Finally, one of the most important people in the play that has a connection with Egeus is Theseus. The relationship between them is that of an intergenerational friendship. From Theseus point of view, Egeus can be seen as a whiny old man. He keeps going to Theseus “full of vexation[and complaint]”(22) and in every scene where Egeus appears is always …show more content…
He is also reason that the dramatic storyline of the four lovers becomes entwined with the other two and an example of one of the themes of the play. If Egeus wasn’t there, Lysander and Hermia would not have fled to the forest to escape to the town where the “Athenian law cannot pursue” (161, 162) them. Ironically, at the end it was because of Egeus that all four main characters are content and marries at the end of the play. Without going to the forest or Egeus’ intervention, only Lysander and Hermia would have been satisfied. The theme that is reflected through the relationship between Hermia and Egeus is also very important because one of the prominent themes of the play deals with the matter of how positions of power can influence relationships. Egeus’ position of power hinders the relationship between Hermia and Lysander and influences Hermia and Helena’s friendship while backing Demetrius in his pursuit of
Even though a character might be minor and not very developed, it does not mean that he cannot have a deep personality and complicated and intricate connections in his piece of literature. In the romantic, comedic play, “A Midsummer night’s dream”, by William Shakespeare, Egeus is one of the minor characters that has a fascinating personality, many important relationships and a huge impact on the outcome of the play. His almost stereotypical but not quite controlling fatherly character develops Hermia’s personality but most importantly, it develops his relationship with the four lovers and his friendship with Theseus, drives his part of the play into the other two storylines and ultimately changes …show more content…
In the play, Egeus, although he is a minor character and seemingly only has a blood relationship with his daughter Hermia, also has major connections with Theseus, Demetrius and Lysander. Egeus’ most obvious and prominent relationship in the play is with Hermia, his daughter. He is very possessive and controlling towards her saying that “she is [his] and [he] may dispose of her” (42) as he wishes. Although he wants to treat her nicely and does care for her, he still treats her like she is his property and her own decisions appear to have very little weight to him. The rivals fighting over his daughter at the start of the play also have a unique relationship with Egeus. They are like competitors in a competition where Egeus is the judge. Demetrius is Egeus’ champion and to Egeus, Lysander is just an inferior, annoying pest of a competitor that just won’t go away. He even goes as far as saying that “[Demetrius] hath [his] love” (95). Finally, one of the most important people in the play that has a connection with Egeus is Theseus. The relationship between them is that of an intergenerational friendship. From Theseus point of view, Egeus can be seen as a whiny old man. He keeps going to Theseus “full of vexation[and complaint]”(22) and in every scene where Egeus appears is always …show more content…
He is also reason that the dramatic storyline of the four lovers becomes entwined with the other two and an example of one of the themes of the play. If Egeus wasn’t there, Lysander and Hermia would not have fled to the forest to escape to the town where the “Athenian law cannot pursue” (161, 162) them. Ironically, at the end it was because of Egeus that all four main characters are content and marries at the end of the play. Without going to the forest or Egeus’ intervention, only Lysander and Hermia would have been satisfied. The theme that is reflected through the relationship between Hermia and Egeus is also very important because one of the prominent themes of the play deals with the matter of how positions of power can influence relationships. Egeus’ position of power hinders the relationship between Hermia and Lysander and influences Hermia and Helena’s friendship while backing Demetrius in his pursuit of