In A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Shakespeare there are many symbols and key words that are emphasized throughout the play. A key word that comes up a thirty-four times is fair. This word is used to describe not only people, but it is also used to describe how someone is treated and it could be either an adjective or a noun. The way Shakespeare uses the word fair is not like the way it is used now. Most people use it to describe whether or not they were treated right, where as Shakespeare uses it more to describe the ladies in the play and how they act.
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, fair is used mostly to describe the women. The first line in the play Theseus says “now, fair Hippolyta,” to describe his wife to be (MND 1.1. 1). Fair is defined …show more content…
One of those twists is when Puck, the mischievous fairy, makes Lysander falls in love with Helena using magic. This causes problems because one minute he is calling Hermia fair in a way that proves his true love, and then in the next minute he is calling Helena fair and saying she is his true love. Both Helena and Hermia are confused by this. Helena thinks that he is playing a cruel joke and she was insulted just like when Hermia called her fair. This is another great way Shakespeare varies how this word is used. For most of the play, when the word is used there is no reaction from the person receiving the compliment as if it is said on a daily basis, but whenever it is said to Helena she reacts in a way that would make you think that she is crazy. Hermia is also insulted by this comment by Lysander and is just as confused as Helena. Lysander’s true love was Hermia, but Puck switched it up and Hermia was devastated by the results. Hermia did not know why it was happening. She asks Lysander “Am not I Hermia? Are not you Lysander? I am as fair now as I was erewhile” and she uses fair in a way we had not seen yet (MND 3.2. 273-274). The way fair was used before was always describing someone or something else, but here Hermia is calling herself fair to see if she could remind Lysander of his love for
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, fair is used mostly to describe the women. The first line in the play Theseus says “now, fair Hippolyta,” to describe his wife to be (MND 1.1. 1). Fair is defined …show more content…
One of those twists is when Puck, the mischievous fairy, makes Lysander falls in love with Helena using magic. This causes problems because one minute he is calling Hermia fair in a way that proves his true love, and then in the next minute he is calling Helena fair and saying she is his true love. Both Helena and Hermia are confused by this. Helena thinks that he is playing a cruel joke and she was insulted just like when Hermia called her fair. This is another great way Shakespeare varies how this word is used. For most of the play, when the word is used there is no reaction from the person receiving the compliment as if it is said on a daily basis, but whenever it is said to Helena she reacts in a way that would make you think that she is crazy. Hermia is also insulted by this comment by Lysander and is just as confused as Helena. Lysander’s true love was Hermia, but Puck switched it up and Hermia was devastated by the results. Hermia did not know why it was happening. She asks Lysander “Am not I Hermia? Are not you Lysander? I am as fair now as I was erewhile” and she uses fair in a way we had not seen yet (MND 3.2. 273-274). The way fair was used before was always describing someone or something else, but here Hermia is calling herself fair to see if she could remind Lysander of his love for