How does Shakespeare present Helena, Lysander, and Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream (act 2, scene 2, lines 88–156)?
Not Hermia but Helena I love.Who will not change a raven for a dove?The will of man is by his reason swayed,And reason says you are the worthier maid.
Things growing are...
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not ripe until their season.
So I, being young, till now ripe not to reason.
And touching now the point of human skill,
Reason becomes the marshal to my will.
We see, too, the irony of a situation in which Helena misinterprets Lysander's sincerely besotted speech as sarcasm, a form of irony, and accuses Lysander of making fun of her. She also shows her noble status and depth of emotion as she responds in rhyming couplets. Adding to the layers of irony, her speech is actually far more rational than Lysander's: it makes more sense that he would be making fun of her than that he is in love with her.
Finally, a deep, almost tragic pathos emerges in Hermia awakening from a dream in fear of losing Lysander. Underlying the comedy is a sense of how fragile and fleeting love really can be. Notable in her speech is the image of the serpent she has dreamed of. The loss of Lysander's love is compared in a metaphor to a snake eating her heart out, while the word "serpent" is an allusion to the serpent in the Bible who destroyed Adam and Eve's paradise: "Methought a serpent eat my heart away."
How does Shakespeare portray Helena's feelings in A Midsummer Night's Dream?
Helena reveals her feelings through monologue and dialogue, showing herself to be a perceptive and intelligent woman as well as one besotted with love for Demetrius. For example, she acknowledges early in the play that her love is irrational:
Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind;
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.
Nor hath Love's mind of any judgment taste.
Wings and no eyes figure unheedy haste.
She is saying in the quote above that Demetrius, rationally speaking, may not be that great a catch, but nevertheless she is love with him because love has no judgement.
Later, in dialogue with Demetrius while chasing him through the forest, she expresses an abject form of love: she says she will put up with abuse just to be near him. This is another example of love as irrational. In the quote below, she expresses the pathetic intensity of her desire. She says:
I am your spaniel. And, Demetrius,The more you beat me, I will fawn on you.Use me but as your spaniel—spurn me, strike me,Neglect me, lose me. Only give me leave,Unworthy as I am, to follow you.
Wherefore was I to this keen mockery born?When at your hands did I deserve this scorn?Is ’t not enough, is ’t not enough, young man,That I did never, no, nor never can,Deserve a sweet look from Demetrius' eye,But you must flout my insufficiency?
How does Shakespeare's word choice present Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream?
In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Helena is desperately in love with Demetrius to the point that, as Lysander points out to Egeus, Hermia's father, he "won her soul" (I.i.108). Egeus is adamant that Hermia must marry Demetrius as he is "worthier" (55) than Lysander who Hermia loves. Helena is, therefore, desperate to learn Hermia's secret as she has both Lysander and Demetrius vying for her love. Helena wishes to learn how to "sway the motion of Demetrius' heart" (193) so that he will love her instead. Hermia tells Helena that she does not welcome Demetrius's attention and that Helena can have Demetrius to herself as she and Lysander intend to run away.
Shakespeare then ensures that the audience senses Helena's sincere love but her selfish and spiteful nature as she intends to use this information, told to her in confidence by her friend, in spite. She is jealous of Hermia and the hold that she seems to have over Demetrius, more inclined to blame Hermia for it than Demetrius. Helena believes that telling Demetrius will make him realize that he should stop chasing Hermia.
However, he does not give up his quest to win over Hermia, and Helena, following him into the woods, allows him to insult her. The audience can see Helena's desperation as she begs Demetrius to allow her to follow him, even thou she she is "unworthy" (II.i.207). Even when Demetrius threatens to leave her to the mercy of "wild beasts" (228), she sees this as more of a challenge and is prepared to die for her love. This reinforces the hold men have over women and their dominance. It also reveals her loyalty to him and it is apparent that she has taken quite a chance and even been courageous in her pursuit as women would normally be expected to "be wooed, and were not made to woo" (242). She is even prepared to face a "scandal" (240). Shakespeare's word use in this scene does highlight the gender differences and, later, makes what Helena perceives as Hermia's betrayal even more poignant.
Helena, thinking that Lysander, on waking from Puck's love potion, is mocking her when he declares his love makes Helena a pitiful character. When Demetrius does the same, she is heartbroken at what she thinks is a trick to use her for sport and "to conjure tears in a poor maid's eyes" (III.ii.157). When Hermia apparently extends this cruel trick, Helena reminds her of their childhood bond. The audience is reminded that Helena felt no such loyalty to Hermia when she decided to tell Demetrius and yet she is hurt at what she thinks is Hermia's betrayal. Helena is a conflicted character but one who will be rewarded for stepping out of her comfort zone in pursuing Demetrius when, ultimately, she will be rewarded with his love.
Shakespeare has cleverly used Helena to display the plight of women as they must remain passive and, without insulting his male audience, he has revealed how this otherwise pathetic character stands up for women's rights.
What point does Shakespeare make through Helena's character in A Midsummer Night's Dream?
Helena is a girl smitten by love for a man who has rejected her. Helena is the vehicle through which all of the feminine feelings of rejection move. She epitomizes many different levels of one who is naïve to the games of love, and then suffers the consequences of being rejected. She becomes confused, and rather than let Demetrius go, she decides to continue to chase after him. Lysander even witnesses to Theseus how much Helena loves Demetrius after he showed loving affection and encouraged her:
"Demetrius, I'll avouch it to his head,
Made love to Nedar's daughter, Helena,
And won her soul; and she, sweet lady, dotes,
Devoutly dotes, dotes in idolatry,
Upon this spotted and inconstant man" (I.i.108-112).
The repetition of the word "dotes" drives home the intensity of Helena's love for Demetrius. Thus, Helena embarrassingly tries many tactics to get Demetrius to come back to her. She follows him even when he explicitly tells her that he's not interested or in love with her anymore. Helena's response is as follows:
"I am your spaniel, and, Demetrius,
The more you beat me, I will fawn on you.
Use me but as your spaniel: spurn me, strike me,
Neglect me, lose me: only give me leave,
Unworthy as I am, to follow you" (II.i.207-211).
Helena characterizes so much of a woman's destroyed heart. Her self-esteem wanes so much that she only sees her self-worth equal to a dog's. She deserves better, but she can't see that because she interprets the pain of rejection as her unworthiness to be treated well. This represents so much of what women go through when rejected, and Shakespeare must have known that; however, he does exaggerate the situation for comedy's sake, too. Just when Helena gets used to being treated horribly, the tables are turned and both Lysander and Demetrius suddenly love her. As a result, Helena logically does not believe their declarations of love and says the following:
"Can you not hate me, as I know you do,
But you must join in souls to mock me too?" (III.ii.149-150).
Shakespeare must use Helena as a way to mock women's frail hearts in love, but also to show them that they do not need to travel so low, either. By laughing at Helena's weaknesses, women can also identify within themselves if they ever start to act like her. Then they can quickly realize their weakness and become stronger.