Tragic Characters In A Midsummer Night's Dream By William Shakespeare

Shakespeare’s comedic characters don’t have distinct characteristics, nevertheless they have three-dimensional personalities and are differentiable in their intent as well as in the values they demonstrate. Their words and actions are just as meaningful, if not more so, when compared to his non-comedic characters due to the fact that their behavior is their only defining factor. It can be argued that A Midsummer Night’s Dream can’t be psychologically deep because of that fact that is a comedy, consequently none of the character 's actions and/or words should be taken seriously, but Shakespeare is known for his three-dimensional characters and A Midsummer Night’s dream is no exception. Although Helena’s physical character is only characterized …show more content…
In Act 1 Scene 1, Helena initially tries to rationalize his attitude towards her by reminding herself that,“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,” And despite recognizing that Demetrius’s judgement and perception of her is skewed by his love for Hermia, Helena can’t help but believe that it’s partly true because of the fact that he’s said it countless times to the point that it she feels like there has to be another reason for his attitude towards her. Later on in the play she tells Demetrius, “—spurn me, strike me, neglect me, lose me. Only give me leave, unworthy as I am, to follow you.” (Act 2 Scene 1) because she’s adapted to his harsh treatment towards her, giving into his aggressive behavior and even encouraging it if it means she could so much as get his attention/be within his …show more content…
But considering that Helena was previously engaged with Demetrius and lost his love and affection to Hermia, her lifelong best friend, it becomes more understandable. She expressed her feelings of betrayal in which Demetrius broke the vows he made to her before, “For ere Demetrius looked on Hermia’s eyne, he hailed down oaths that he was only mine.” (Act 1 Scene 1) Although Helena’s love for him remained constant, Demetrius changed the object of affections several time, first from Helena to Hermia simply because he saw Hermia as more beautiful. Even though Helena argues that she is regarded as just as beautiful by others (including Hermia, who she asks to take back her untruthful words), she feels that she’s not beautiful enough for him to love her, which devastated her self-perception and self-esteem significantly because she only cares about his opinion, “...Demetrius thinks not so. He will not know what all but he do know.” (Act 1 Scene