A Midsummer Night's Dream

            Shakespearean Theatre is the name given to the first public theatres built in London during William Shakespeare's life. The stages" range from being square, circular and hexagonal tiered with breathtaking galleries. The stages seem to be the most important attire of a typical Shakespearean play as a lot of detail would be put into them. Take for instance, if a tragedy like Hamlet was being played then it was usually expected to have the stage draped in black to fit the mood. The stages would occupy roughly about half of the floor space, leaving the other half for the spectators viewing the stage from three different angles.
             A Midsummer Night's Dream is a gentle comedy, which tells several stories each one occurring during a single summer night in a magical forest. Here the stage could be imagined to be well decorated with lots of glitter and pretty colours. It is a tale that does not seem to concentrate on themes as well as it does with its ideas. This essay will try to focus on the two important characters Hermia and Helena and try to analyse through their language and behaviour to come up with their similarities and differences of one another.
             Helena is a young woman of Athens who is in love with Demetrius in an almost pathetic and desperate way by proclaiming "use me but as your spaniel, spurn me, strike me, Neglect me,"(Act 2 Sc. 1), to him. Throughout the play she is shown as a lovesick young woman. Although she has this unrequited love, she is passionate and witty. She does not seem to be strong headed as her loyalties seem to wander in the play. Through her weakness of her love to Demetrius, she betrays her good friend Helena by telling him of the elopement that Hermia and Lysander have planned together. This was acted upon in order to win back Demetrius" love, (Act 1 Sc.1.).
             Although she is tall and blonde, the verbal abuse that she receives from Demetrius gives her very low self-esteem as she loses confidence in her looks.