ANALYSIS OF HERMIA

        

         There are four young lovers in the play, and Hermia, a young woman of Athens, is one of them. First of all we are going to deal with a physical description of this character. She is young, short but good-looking, and dark and she is shown more excitable than Helena, who has the opposite physical characteristics: tall and fair. This physical description can be seen in the story when Hermia tells the following to Helena:

 

                                               “Now I perceive that she hath made compare

                                               Between our statures; she hath urged her height,

                                               And with her personage, her tall personage,

                                               Her height, forsooth, she hath prevailed with him.

                                               And are you grown so high in his esteem

                                               Because I am so dwarfish and so low?”

                                                                                    (MND, Act III scene ii, lines 290-295)

        

         Early in the play (first scene) we observe Hermia’s conflict with her father Egeus. Egeus wants her to marry with Demetrius, but she refuses to marry the man her father has chosen for her, since she loves Lysander. We could say that this is a reflection of the society of that time, i.e, an authoritarian and patriarchal society in which husbands, fathers, and aristocrats are the dominant voices. But, as we have seen, Hermia opposes her father’s choice even knowing that if she does not obey she will be punished with death or she will be enclosed in a nunnery. 

 

         Marriage is an element that appears in most of Shakespearean comedies, but as we observe in this first scene it is not easy to reach it because of parental disapproval. In relation to this we could say that Hermia is a brave character because she opposes her father, she also argues with the Duke saying that Lysander is as worthy as Demetrius, and even she remarks that she prefers to live in perpetual virginity rather than to marry a man that she does not love. So we can see that love here is challenging authority.

 

         Hermia is also a well-educated, well-spoken and a lady trained in politeness. So, although we have seen that at the beginning she confronts her father; on the other hand she is respectful with him in the rest of matters. This attitude (well-spoken, etc) can also be seen when she addresses her friend Helena in the first scenes, since Hermia is kind with her and she shows affection to her.

 

         Through the story we can infer that Hermia is the liveliest of the four lovers, she is bold, intelligent and she has clear ideas on life, love and marriage. For example, as we have seen, she only wants to marry the man she loves; or when Lysander proposes her to run away to a wood and she accepts it. So, here we observe another common feature which is meeting in secret. At the same time, we could consider this as a feature of a romantic character (in this case is Hermia).

 

         When both lovers, Hermia and Lysander, are in the wood they decide to have a rest; Lysander wants to sleep with Hermia, but she tells him that he should not rest so close to her:

 

                                               “Nay, good Lysander, for my sake, my dear,

                                               Lie further off yet; do not lie so near.”

 

                                               “But, gentle friend, for love and courtesy

                                               Lie further off, in human modesty;

                                               Such separation as may well be said

                                               Becomes a virtuous bachelor and a maid,”

                                                                  (MND, Act II scene ii, lines 49-50 and 62-65, Hermia)

 

         We point out this scene since here we can see that Hermia respects the decorum that society dictated at that time, i.e, lovers could not sleep together if they were not married. So, here we can see Hermia as a virginal young woman. We can compare this reaction to the one which occurs in one of the first scenes, since she does not accept her father’s election, which was something done in that society (i.e accept what father decided); and on the other hand, in this scene she is accepting the decorum.

 

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