- This topic has 13 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated Feb 15, 2019, 12:54 am by
.
-
Posts
-
-
<p class=”p1″>My interpretation of Hermia from reading the play was that she’s a typical Shakespearean “damsel in distress” type of character. She’s encountering a big power struggle, where her own wants and desires don’t align with her father’s, who ultimately holds the power, as is typical for Shakespeare. I read her lines are rather melodramatic and emotional, specifically the part where she keeps cutting Lysander off when he talks about the obstacles of love that people encounter (1.1.132-140). To me, not surprisingly, the Globe Theatre interpretation of Hermia’s character matched up more with my own interpretation. The actress was very expressive and high-energy, during this part of the scene, as well as when she was explaining Lysander’s plan to Helena. On the other hand, the 2018 movie version took a very different approach. Hermia seemed really solemn and upset with the whole marriage situation. She was much more subdued, especially with her tone and facial expressions.</p>
-
It’s true that many women get the short shrift in Shakespeare’s plays (Hamlet’s sister kills herself because her brother can’t be bothered by her) and some are down right tortured (I’m looking at you Katherina in Taming of the Shrew), but I think more generally Shakespeare is often celebrated for depicting women characters unafraid to take their lives in their hands and kill to get what they want; women who are smart, witty, funny and well-read enough to have a ready supply of literary references (compare Hermia’s speech to the speech of Nick Bottom, for instance).
So it’s interesting that you characterize Hermia as a damsel in distress. She is of course literally distressed by her father in the scene, but when I read it, I see this as a byproduct of Egeus.
Fathers can surely torment their daughters, but Egeus doesn’t have much control over Hermia, it seems to me. If he did, she wouldn’t have fallen in love with Lysander, for one. It’s clear she’s been sneaking out and seeing Lysander on the sly (1.1.30). Then there’s the most obvious point that Egeus has so lost control of Hermia that has to come to Theseus, Duke of Athens to threaten his daughter with death!
And then Hermia chooses death. To me that doesn’t read as distress. I think of the damsel in distress as the princess waiting to be rescued but Hermia doesn’t seem to look for anyone to save her. Notably for me, she doesn’t ask Lysander to save her or come up with a plan. He does of course, but for me it shows that Hermia was dependent on Lysander that it doesn’t occur to her to ask.
How do you see Hermia playing out this role of distressed damsel? Is there something she says that first suggested it to you? Maybe something someone says about her?
-
After reading and watching two different clips of Act I on “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, I have noticed many different characteristics of Hermia. While reading the play, Hermia seems calm and at ease. Even though Hermia is going against her father’s wishes, which cannot be easy, she seems not to be bothered by it and is willing to go along with Lysander’s plan about getting married in the woods. “There my Lysander and myself shall meet; And thence from Athens turn away our eyes” (1.2.17.18). This quote makes me think that Hermia’s personality does not include her being nervous or anxious and does not care that she is going against the orders of her father. Hermia seems very interested and excited about this plan. The 2018’s interpretation of the play was very similar to how I pictured Hermia. She seemed serene and happy with what she was planning on doing. I thought she portrayed herself in a very moderate manner. The Globe theater interpretation confused me because I was shocked to see how Hermia acted, specifically in regard to the way she spoke. I thought that she came off being very aggressive and upset about everything. It was also shocking to me to see how much she raised her voice, considering I had originally thought she was portrayed as being calm.
-
I feel your confusion. Hermia seems to change her tone at times–it’s one of the reasons I like her as a character.
I’m often struck by the by how blunt Hermia is at first. The only real argument mounted in support of Demetrius is that he’s a “worthy gentleman,” a characteristic that surely many people have. Hermia’s quick to point that out, too (1.1.52). Egeus even acknowledges this, but draws attention to the real problem: the issue isn’t who Hermia marries as much as it is that she’s not following orders. Sure Lysander and Demetrius are essentially interchangeable (more on that later in the play), but what matters in this moment is Hermia has chosen Lysander and her father, who is supposed to make the choice, chooses Demetrius. Obviously, her father cares not at all for her happiness. It’s about control.
She tells her father to look with her “eyes”(1.1.56). Lysander says he’s as “well-derived” as Demetrius but different because he has Hermia’s love (1.1.99-110). So Hermia’s decision is important.
Alone with her lover, Hermia break apart. That makes sense to me, though. Don’t teenagers play strong to their parents but melt in front of their partners?
-
I agree with Esty’s interpretation of Hermia. Throughout the different versions she demonstrated different characteristics such as; aggressiveness, passive and portraying a nonchalant attitude about her father’s wishes to marry Demetrius. I definitely agree that when reading the script, Hermia was more passive and calmer. However, in the Globe Theatre play Hermia was more outspoken and aggressive which is atypical for female characters in Shakespeare. The 2018 version Hermia was more laid back, but she still did not want to marry Demetrius instead she wants to marry Lysander. Lysander and Hermia are alone, and Lysander tells Hermia that it is normal for true lovers to have obstacles. He says, “The course of true love never did run smooth.” (1.1.5) Hermia agrees by saying “If then true lovers have ever cross’d It stands as an edict in destiny. Then let us teach our trial patience Because it is a customary cross, As due to love as thoughts and dreams and sighs, Wishes and tears, poor fancy’s followers.” (1.1.6) She is stating that lovers always have problems that’s how it is in life. It is normal to have troubles when you are in love – just like dreaming, sighing, wishing, and being tearful are all things that happen to people who are in love.
-
It’s interesting to me that you describe Hermia as “more outspoken” in the Dromgoole production when she says the same thing as all the others. How can she be more outspoken if she literally speaks out the same?
Maybe what you’re picking up on is the tone that is given to the words. In Dromgoole’s version Hermia is defiant and angry. It reminds me of a teenager angry at her parents (as indeed she is). In Bennett’s version, Hermia is quirkier and seems more like she wants to recede into the background (another teenager personality). One possible reason for this difference might be that movies can often be more subtle because it’s on a big screen in the dark. Actors in plays must be big to be seen (it’s not called “dramatic” nothing).
For me, Dromgoole’s version seems closer t Hermia, though. When she first starts defending herself, she begs pardon and describes herself as especially “bold” (1.1.60-6). Why would she excuse herself if she wasn’t acting “outspoken.”
-
-
-
When reading this play, I was very confused by Hermia’s character. She seems a bit spacey and in her own world. When Theseus was telling Hermia to marry Demetrius, he expressed a lot of positive feelings towards Demetrius and how he thought he was a good fit for Hermia. I thought Hermia would defend herself and Lysander much more. But instead, all she said was, “So is Lysander” (1.1.53). I found this very interesting but I feel like it really shows what kind of character Hermia is. It seems like she loves Lysander and that’s all that matters to her. The rest of the world is almost “unimportant”. She was going against her father’s will which was not a good situation but she didn’t really care. She went with the flow and was just happy to be with Lysander, because to her, that’s all that matters. Different than some of the other characters, I feel like Hermia’s character was very similar in all three versions of the play. When I watched the Globe Theater version of the movie, I felt that it represented the way I thought of Hermia perfectly. All Hermia cared about was Lysander and she seemed a bit spaced out of the real world. When I watched the 2018 version, I felt Hermia was presented in the same way. She wanted to be with Lysander and nothing else was important to her.
-
I’ve never thought of Hermia as spacey–but I think you make a convincing argument. Hermia’s not interested in debating anyone about who is better. She knows what she wants and she’s not interested in anything else (literally, as it turns out, given what Theseus says).
The question that follows this is what Eagleton might call the moral one: is Shakespeare making Hermia sympathetic or do we think she is foolish for being so single minded? We know Theseus thinks she’s foolish, do you?
-
-
The character, Hermia, seems to change depending on who is imagining her. For example, in the paper copy of the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, Hermia is left for my imagination to interpret her every mood or action. Therefore, I imagine her as a well-dressed and straight faced looking young lady who is sure of what she wants in her life. Which can be seen through the lines 58-60, Act 1, scene 1, she says, “I do entreat your Grace to pardon me./ I know not by what power I am made bold,/ Nor how it may concern my modesty […]” (1.1.58-60). However in Sacha Bennet’s film, Hermia is depicted as a young lady who is confused as to what she wants and let’s herself get discouraged easily. In the same lines (58-60) she says it quite timidly as if afraid to say something wrong. In this film, Hermia is seen deleting a long paragraph that swears her profound love for Lysander and instead uses an emoji. This shows that Hermia is unsure of her own feeling which adds on to her being timid character of not being able to stand up for her love for Lysander. While in the other film by Dominic Dromgoole, she is shown defending herself as if a little girl took over her body and she is throwing a tantrum. The audience of the play could also observe how playful she acts when Lysander tells her his plan for running away and getting married, and they both act as if they were playing a kids game. These various personification of Hermia demonstrate that the characters in Shakespeare play can be illustrated to impersonate multiple personalities.
-
I think you describe the different interpretations very well and locate their sources in the text well, too. That will serve you well in the first essay!
This is perhaps why Eagleton says “morality” has something to do with poetry, because the next obvious question is which interpretation seems better to you and why? Sure both performances emphasize different aspects of the text, but that choice of what is important is (Eagleton says) a moral one. I bet there are some people in class who will think that the more confused Hermia better expresses real life, and some who think the opposite. That decision also reflects each’s world view (the world is all confused, or you need to be sure about things).
So which one resonates with you?
-
-
In the “ A Midsummer- Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare, the feeling I got from the reading that Hermia was a strong views person and dare to act what her believe is right, but naive at the same time. She is easy to trust people and take actions without consideration. “Either to die the death or to abjure Forever the society men.” (1.1.65.66) This piece of textual evidence demonstrates that if she does not marry Demetrius, she either receive the death penalty or become a nun. It is not easy to admit who she loves because the consequences of disobeying her father are critical. “Tomorrow truly will I meet with thee.” (1.1.178) This piece of textual evidence shows the reason why she disobeys her father because she has hope on Lysander that love is above everything. Her hope is above her fear of what she planning to do and she didn’t acknowledge the dangerous result if both of them get caught. The 2018’s play by Bennett shows very similar to Hermia in the script. She was excited about the future with Lysander and share the news to her best friend Helena. This two version are similar by showing Hermia trust people easily and act things without judgment but follow her six sense of what is going to make her happy. In the version of Dromgoole, it shows kind of similar that Hermia is naive by telling her friend everything that will destroy her future with Lysander. At the same time, her face expression didn’t seem excited but worry about the plan to meet out in the wood. The rise of her volume shows she is not happy about the plan, but give me a feeling that she wants to get away from her father.
-
-
In Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, Hermia is introduced as a blunt and strong female character. She knows what she wants (to get out of marrying Demetrius because she is in love with Lysander) and she will go as far as becoming a nun. Even Theseus says “Take time to pause” (1.1.83) because he wants Hermia to think about all of her options. He gives her until the next new moon (also his wedding day with Hippolyta) to make a final decision. Hermia doesn’t need that time to think because she is willing to become a nun, rather than giving up her virginity to someone she doesn’t love. This makes her a brave and straight-forward person, which is very refreshing – unlike Hippolyta’s character, who seems reluctant to marry Theseus.
Bennett’s interpretation of Hermia does not seem like the same Hermia Shakespeare wrote about. She speaks softly and timidly, not confidently like in Shakespeare’s play. In the play, she asks what would be the worst that could happen to her if she refuses to wed Demetrius (1.1.63-4) before revealing that she would rather become a nun than marry someone she does not love. However, she never gets to say that in the film because her father ushers her out of the room and she complacently follows him.
Dromgoole’s interpretation, however, portrays Hermia as a tempered character. The actress yells a lot, which isn’t how Shakespeare makes her seem. Hermia apologizes before speaking her mind: “I do entreat your Grace to pardon me. I know not by what power I am made bold, nor how it may concern my modesty, in such a presence here to plead my thoughts…” (1.1.58-61) Therefore, it sounds like she is calm about the situation and that she is respectful of Theseus, who is the Duke of Athens.
-
That’s one of the best summaries of the action I’ve seen (with line notations)!
There’s a critical portion cut from the Bennett version: the threat of death and being a nun. It’s a significant edit, but it makes sense because what modern-age story would allow a father to kill his daughter? Still, without that sort of ridiculous threat, we don’t understand how much Hermia loves Lysander.
Although returning to the play… I think the the fact that Lysander and Hermia decide their love is real because it matches fairy tale-level craziness for difficulty is also missing from the Bennett version.
-
-
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
