Compare and contrast Helena and Hermia in A Midsummer...

` Ms. Shanthasoruban ENG2D1-04 28 November 2013 How do Hermia and Helena alter and connect in their approach to love and courtship? â€Å"Two lovely berries moulded on to one stem/ so with two seeming bodies but one heart†¦..† In William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream Helena confronts Hermia to remind her once again of their relationship. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a play about the two Athenian couples who constantly run through the course of true love. In this play Helena and Hermia are the two characters that have found their true lovers but are running through obstacles that prevent them to be with their loves. Hermia who is in love with Lysander has to go against the will of her Father Eugeus, while Helena has yet†¦show more content†¦Separation before marriage is a right thing for Hermia to do and she has the confidence to express herself to Lysander. When Hermia tells Lysander to lie further off in human modesty she says it without hesitation. In this case Helena lacks the confidence that Hermia has in her approach to love. Helena is insecure about her identity and often compares her body image to Hermia’s as she does in the following passage. Call you me â€Å"fair†? That â€Å"fair† again unsay. Demetrius loves your fair. O happy fair! Your eyes are lodestars, and your tongue’s sweet air More tunable than lark to shepherd’s ear When wheat is green, when hawthorn buds appear. Sickness is catching. Oh, were favor so, Yours would I catch, fair Hermia, ere I go. My ear should catch your voice. My eye, your eye. My tongue should catch your tongue’s sweet melody†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ (1.1. 181-189) This passage describes that Helena is insecure about her body image as well as her personality. Helena thinks that Demetrius loves Hermia because of her beauty which makes Helena think that she is inferior to Hermia. Even though both Helena and Hermia are both known to have the same beauty; Helena finds herself uglier because she doesn’t have the love of Demetrius. Helena’s approach to her love is weaker than that of Hermia’s because of her insecurity and a low self-esteem. Helena wants Hermia’s beauty to be a sickness that she can contract. Hermia’s sweet strain, her lodestar eyes, andShow MoreRelatedCompare and Contrast of Hermia and Helena in a Midsummer Nights Dream1039 Words   |  5 Pagesreal life. The aspect of this competition provides parallels between two characters, entailing drama, humor, and interesting themes to the story. A perfect example of this element is within William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Th e two main women of the story, Hermia and Helena, compete over boys in the story, and that, as well as their different personalities makes the story quite interesting. 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