Compare And Contrast Hermia And Helena In A Midsummer Night's Dream

Improved Essays
“The course of love never did run smooth.” (1.1.134) In the play A Midsummer Night's Dream by William shakespeare, The characters Helena and Hermia are similar in there taste of men but they have different personalities. Helena is a female character who loves Demetrius, She is one of the four lovers, Lysander, Demetrius, and Hermia. Hermia is a female character who loves Lysander. Throughout the play, Helena are Hermia are good friends but jealousy tears they apart. In the beginning of the play, Hermia hits a rough patch when her father is saying that she has three choices, Marry Demetrius, Become a nun or die. Although Helena and Hermia are both determined, Helena is Jealous and sneaky, while Hermia is trustworthy and Brave. In the play …show more content…
Helena is sneaky and hermia is jealous. Helena is very sneaky. When Hermia and lysander plan to run away together, Helena was in the woods listening to what they said. Helena ran to tell demetrius to try to be helpful but she ruined their plan. Demetrius told Hermia's father about their plan.When Helena told Demetrius about Hermia and lysander's plan, she thought that telling him would make him appreciate her more. Helena said, “ And i am sick when I look not at you.” ( 2.1.217) Helena wants demitrius so bad that she is willing to ruin a friendship for him. Hermia on the other hand is trustworthy. Hermia has always been there for helena and she also always gets the boys. Hermia has always been the one with a perfect relationship and the guys that like her. Hermia is trustworthy to Lysander. Lysander and Hermia's relationship is forbidden by her father but hermia has always been there for him. Hermia said, “Nay, good Lysander; for my sake, my dear, Lie further off yet, do not lie so near” (2.2.43) She is by lysander's side and she loves him. Helena and hermia are very different,one is sneaky and one is trustworthy. Hermia and Helena are jealous and brave. Helena is jealous of what Hermia has. Hermia has a man that loves her and that loves her back. Helena is in love with someone who doesn't love her back. Helena is jealous of Hermias looks and how both of the boys like her. Helena said, “O spite! O hell! I see you all are

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    In the play, A Midsummer night’s dream by William Shakespeare himself presents Helena as a confused woman. Helena visualises herself being ridiculed by two men. Those two men are Lysander and Demetrius. She also recognises the source of the ridiculeness to be teasing of her beauty and emotions. She realise that Hermia has persuaded both Lysander and Demetrius to tease her by using her beauty to convince them.…

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hermia Dialectical Journal

    • 1973 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Helena, still in love with Demetrius, tells him that Hermia and Lysander are running away in hopes that he will love her back. Demetrius decided to follow Hermia, and Helena follows. This infuriates Demetrius, who does not like Helena. Instead of leaving him alone, Helena continues to follow him and beg for his love. The couples run away into a nearby forest, where there are many fairies.…

    • 1973 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In A Midsummer Night’s Dream Helena is baffled at the fact Hermia has just called her fair. She continues to go on about how her beauty could never measure up to the perfect nature of Hermia. Helena also wishes that Hermia would her how to win Demetrius’ heart (1.1.185-97). Any young girl, or boy, could sympathize with Helena. The young reader may be able to understand what the young, distraught, lover is…

    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    As a matter of fact, Helena did this knowing that Demetrius would go after them in the light of the fact that he is in love with Hermia. All the same, Helena also told Demetrius of the two lovers’ plan to make her pain worthwhile. Nevertheless, it’s very likely that if Helena hadn’t…

    • 193 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Amber Johnson English 162 Britland, Gurd 31 January 2016 Helena vs. Hermia In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare uses a variety of ways to get the audiences’ attention and convey the feelings of the characters. These include, but are not limit391128616to, repetition, alliteration, and tempo. In Act 3, scene ii, lines 285-305 Helena and Hermia are arguing back and forth.…

    • 882 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Hermia shows a defiant nature against her father and Theseus. She is unyielding about her dissatisfaction of Demetrius, and voices it out to Theseus. In response to his claim that“Demetrius is a worthy gentleman”, she boldly retorts “So is Lysander.” (1.1.52-53). Theseus also persuades Hermia to follow the will of her father.…

    • 1479 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    ”(Shakespeare Act 2, Scene 2. 76-89) Lysander is now in love with Helena instead of Hermia, due to the love juice “I’d even run through fire if you told me to. Radiant, beautiful Helena!... ”(Shakespeare Act 2, Scene 2.…

    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Demetrius lied to Helena and made promises and swore he would always be hers. “But when he got all hot and bothered over Hermia, his promises melted away (Shakespeare 1.1. 244-245). Even though Demetrius hurt and lied to Helena and continues to treat her like a dog she still loves him. Helena loves him so much she would betray Hermia and Lysander. She would go as far as telling Demetrius the secret of Hermia and Lysander’s plan to escape from Athens and get…

    • 778 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Shakespeare’s a Midsummer Night’s Dream the characters are very similar to how people are in real life; the audience has to observe and infer on who they are, it is not simply stated. This play will take the reader through many loops and jumps around love stories through a series of comedic events. “”The title suggests an atmosphere of fantasy, whimsy, and imagination, which is a pretty accurate description of the magical wood where characters experience events that seem more like a dream than reality.””” Shakespeare has a unique way of leaving the audience with the feeling of uncertainty; it becomes difficult to tell whether one is experiencing reality or an illusion. This play is mostly composed of regular prose verse, but it is notorious…

    • 1242 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Helena is one of the most courageous characters in this entire story. Demetrius, the man that Helena loves is going into the woods searching for Hermia, the women he was supposed to marry. However, unluckily for him, she ran off with the man whom she loved, Lysander. When Demetrius ran away to find Hermia, Helena ran after him. What made this so dangerous is that Demetrius didn’t like Helena at all; in fact he rather loathed her.…

    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Did you know Hermia being tortured by a law? Well, The Duke of Athens, Theseus, declared this law when him and Hermia’s father were discussing issues to each other. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, Hermia was affected harshly by the her father and the Athenian Law. Hermia was treated unfairly by her father and the Athenian law because she either had to marry Demetrius, be killed, or become a nun. The first reason Hermia’s choices were unfair is because she had to marry Demetrius.…

    • 487 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The jealousy makes her insecure about herself because she does not think that she’s enough for Demetrius, and, will rather be Hermia since she has managed to capture his heart; Helena knows that Demetrius does not want her and she is willing to change herself. Furthermore, Helena constantly compares herself to Hermia which is portrayed when she mentions that “[t]hrough Athens I am thought as fair as she. / But what of that? Demetrius thinks not so” (1.1.232-233).…

    • 1483 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Power of women is also displayed when Shakespeare upends the responsibilities of gender when Helena, a close friend of Hermia’s, chase after Demetrius’s heart. Shakespeare conveys that women are not the property of men by portraying Helena and Hermia possessing power and revolting against the gender stereotypes of their society. Helena defies the accustomed gender clichés by audaciously pursuing love. She flouts the rules of her sex by chasing after Demetrius…

    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It also destroys everything in its path, including the friendship of Hermia and Helena. Hermia and Helena represent a love bound by friendship . Although they have been childhood friends, friendship is torn apart by jealousy and insecurities in this scene. At the beginning of the novel, the relationship between Hermia and Helena is strong as Hermia confines in Helena telling her of the idea to run away together with Lysander. Helena insecurity and jealousy are noticed as she points out how perfect her best friend no wonder her love for Demetrius is not requited.…

    • 1577 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Helena, the best friend of Hermia, is frustrated and depressed because the man that she loves, and who once loved her, left her for the beauty of Hermia. Helena's self esteem lowers, and she begins to stalk her lover…

    • 2295 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Superior Essays