Titania! By: Lily and Taylor

Titania is loving, stubborn and bossy. These traits are shown throughout the book.  In Act 2, Scene 1, Lines 125-143, her loving nature is shown. She explains to Oberon how she promised the little boy’s mother that she would love and protect him. Furthermore, in Act 2, Scene 1, Line 64, Titania says’ “I have forsworn his bed and company.” Her stubborn ways are shown in this moment, because she refuses to spend time with her husband, just because they are having an argument. Finally, in Act 2, Scene 2, Lines 1-8, Titania’s bossy nature comes out. She tells her fairies what to do and she is quite clear on what she wants them to do and how she wants it done.

Lysander the Lion Hearted

Lysander, who is he? Persistent, passionate, desperate, and lustful? These are the four character traits that we think best represent our character. We constantly see these traits expressed through Lysander throughout the play. An example of his persistence can be found on 1.1.101-112, where Lysander is arguing with Egeus about why he is good enough to marry Hermia, his one and true love. In Lysander's eyes, marrying Hermia before she is wed to Demetrius, is his first and utmost objective. In addition to his persistence for Hermia, Lysander is also fiercely passionate towards her. In 1.1.130-131 & 134-137, Lysander expresses his passion for Hermia by comforting her in her predicament with her father. Sneaking away from Athens, to be eloped in anther city, Lysander expresses his lust for Hermia in 2.2.47-48 & 51-58, as they prepare to lie down for the night. This could also be an example of his persistence, for he is trying desperately to "get in bed with Hermia"  That is until Puck/Robin comes along and messes it all up. Placing the nector love potion Lysanders eye's, after mistaking him for Demitrius, Lysander falls madly in love with Helena and leaves Hermia. Concluding the wild fight that insuses between the four lovers, Oberon sets all right be placing the nector love potion on Lysander, restablishing  his love of Hermia. Despite his flaws, Lysander is a good hearted man, who loves with all his heart Hermia.

Helena (Evan W. and Hannah H.)

Helena is a character in A MidSummer Night's Dream.  Shakespeare presented her as a desperate, jealous, and negative character.  In act two scene two (lines 100-105), Helena is negative about herself, claiming that she is as ugly as a bear.  Act one scene one (lines 232-257), Helena shows how she envies Hermia, wishing to be as pretty and loved as her.  In act two scene one (lines 210-217), Helena desperately begs Demetrius to use her and love her.  Throughout the play, Helena wants Demetrius so badly.  She speaks in iambic pentameter and repeats "not" and "you" a lot.  When she uses the word "not," it shows how negative her character is.  Also, when she continuously repeats the word "you," she shows she is not vain of herself, but she thinks very little of herself.

The Nobles' Characteristics

By: Rhett and Alondra



                          The Nobles are have different traits that set them apart from most of the characters in the play. For instance, the Nobles display their wise thinking, eagerness towards getting things done, and how they are critical thinkers. Thesus shows his wise characteristic when he replies to Demetrius. Thesus says to him that they (Hermia and Demetrius) should not wed if they do not like each other which is not a good sign to Hermia's father Egeus. "Fair lovers, you are fortunately met. Of this discourse we more will hear annon. Egeus, I will overbear your will, For in the temple by and by, with us, These couples shall eternally knit." Then Thesus also shows that he is quite eager to marry Hippolyta, "O, methinks how slow This old moon wanes! She lingers my desires Like to a stepdame or a dowager." The Nobles are also very critical thinkers. This is showed when Thesus also states that, " The kinder we, to given them thanks for nothing. Our sport shall be to take what they mistake; And what poor duty cannot do." They all speak in Iambicpentameter and have the following motivations: Egeus wants Hermia to marry Demetrius. Thesus wants to get married to Hippolyta right now, so he may fornicate with her. Hippolyta wants to have a glorious wedding and doesn't want to have sexual intercourse before they are married.

Demetrius, What a Character!

       Overall Demetrius is a relatively simple character to understand. Demetrius almost always talks in trochaic pentameter, as one can see in line 4.1.170, and he has rhyming skills. He refined speech shows that he is a high class character in the play. Demetrius is not necessarily mean, but is a blunt man. He tells Helena that he has no love for her and will never have love for her straight to her face (2.1.218-9). Although this makes Hermia sad, it is only the truth. Shakespeare also portrays him as an ignorant character. He looks straight through Helena towards Hermia although Helena is thought of as one of the prettiest girls in Athens (1.1.233-4). Through Demetrius' dialogue it is evident that he is very headstrong. A great example of this is in Act 3, Scene 2, Lines 45-46, he never gives up on Hermia until he is changed by Oberon's potion. Through all of this Demetrius acts upright or aboveboard. He never rapes Hermia or tries to kill Lysander, although it was well within his power (3.2.77). Through out the whole play Demetrius only wants his love, Hermia, at first, and then later Helena. Although Demetrius is relatively easy to understand that doesn't mean he isn't an important or influential character.

Robin "Watch out for this" Goodfellow

Vidya Sivaramakrishnan and Colin Sunderland

Puck, Oberon’s fairy henchman, has many comical attributes that cause pandemonium throughout the play. Some of those include cleverness, mischievousness, impertinence and strangely enough, obedience. The whole affair starts with Puck trying to follow Oberon’s instructions to put the love-in-idleness juice on Demetrius’ eyes. Unfortunately, Puck makes a mistake and puts the juice on Lysander’s eyes. This action causes much emotional agony among the four lovers, Demetrius, Helena, Lysander and Hermia. Puck is a troublemaker -- once Oberon points out his error, Puck puts the juice on Demetrius’s eyes too and then sits back to enjoy the comedic saga that unfolds. In 3.2.424-459, Puck demonstrates that he is clever by driving Lysander and Demetrius crazy by pretending to be both of them and getting both of them lost in the forest. For Puck knows that by getting Demetrius and Lysander in different parts of the forest Helena and Hermia, their respective lovers will follow them. The scene goes,

“Lysander: Where art thou, proud Demetrius? speak thou now.

Puck (who is speaking in Demetrius’ voice): Here, villain; drawn and ready. Where art thou?

Lysander: I will be with thee straight.

Puck (who is speaking in Demetrius’ voice): Follow me, then, to plainer ground.” (3.2.423-427)

Puck can also be a little bit sassy. He likes to talk back to Oberon, even though in the end, he will do what he says. For example when Oberon, who feels empathy towards Helena, because he knows what it is like to be in love and get no attention, instructs Puck to put the love-in-idleness juice on Demetrius’ eyes. The tone in this next quote is rather sassy.

“I’ll put a girdle round the earth in 40 minutes.” (2.1.181-182)

This means, “Be back in a flash,” but Puck is basically saying that he could run so fast that he could circle the globe in 40 minutes. Sarcastic? Think again.

Many of Puck’s attributes go hand in hand. Another attribute that fits smoothly into Puck’s character is mischievousness. When Puck accidently puts the love in idleness juice on the wrong person’s eyes, instead of desperately trying to fix the situation, he anticipates in amusement at the comedy that is going to unfold. If one were to dramatize this, the director would instruct the actor playing Puck to have a mischievous twinkle in eyes. This is like the glint knowing that you have put a cream pie in your arch-enemy’s locker. For example, after Oberon found out that he had accidently coated Lysander’s eyes instead of Demetrius,’ Puck says:

“Then will two at once woo one; that must needs be sport alone; and those things do best please me, that befall preposterously.”

Even though Puck might have many amusing qualities, he is, in the end, obedient. When Oberon told him to go put the juice on Lysander’s eyes, he went without complaining or asking why, like most of us curious people tend to do. For instance he says (in true Puck manner),

“I go, I go, look how I go, swifter than the arrow from the Tartar’s bow” 3.2.102-103

         Throughout the whole play, Puck speaks in verse, for the majority of the time it is trochaic tetrameter, but he occasionally switches to iambic pentameter, like in 3.2.102-103.

This shows Puck’s high intellect as a fairy, because only Oberon, Titania, and Puck speak in verse. In a Midsummer’s Night Dream, the characters who speak in verse are highly educated or have a astounding intelligence quotient, as in the case of Puck.

The many faces of Oberon

Samantha Babine and Culver Stedman

Oberon shows many different character traits when he is present in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The main traits that Shakespeare indirectly shows in the play are jealousy, being sneaky, and bossy. All of the three main traits are shown in the dialogue are in mostly Act 2 Scene 1. For example, Oberon shows how he is jealous of Titania and her obsession with the little indian boy and also Titania’s “love [for] Theseus.” (2.1.78). Oberon’s ability to be sneaky is shown when “[Titania] is asleep and [Puck] drops [love in idleness] in her eyes.” (2.1.184-185). He is bossy when he constantly commands Puck to pour the liquid into the lovers eyes. His main objectives are for Titania to love him back instead of Theseus, to have the indian boy as his servant and to make Demetrius love Helena back. As we were reading in the book we noticed that Oberon speaks in Iambic Pentameter and Trochaic Tetrameter which shows that he was raised in a higher class.

Oberon is man that looks for attention. He wants everything to go his way and that is one of the main reasons that makes him extremely bossy. Every character portrays different characteristics that make them unique and we feel like Oberon is a man who has very similar character traits to some of the other characters in the book.

Analyzing Oberon

Ben and Shreya

Oberon is portrayed as funny, smart, jealous and silly. For example, in Act 2 Scene 1 Lines 183-194, in this paragraph Oberon puts the love potion on Titania's eyes, which shows his funny side because he wants his own wife to fall in love with someone else or something else. Another character trait of his, is his smartness and the fact that he is aware of his surroundings. In Act 3 Scene 2 Lines 118-199, Oberon says to Puck "Stand aside. The noise they make will cause Demeterius to awake." A third character trait Oberon has is that he is silly in Act 2 Scene 2 Lines 34-40, he says that he hopes that Titania awakes when some "vile thing" is around. Oberon speaks in a unique form compared to most of the other characters, he speaks in iambic pentameter for the most part (for example Act 2 Scene 1 Line 121).  Throughout the play his main objectives were to cause some mischief and earn custody of the Indian biy but most of all win back Titania love and attention.

Titania's Tremendous Traits

Q Tabarestani and Blake Lattimer

After thoroughly analyzing Midsummer Night’s Dream, we have come to the conclusion that Titania, Queen of the Fairies and wife of the powerful Oberon, has many varying traits, however, her main goals were to take care of the young Indian boy and to pleasure the foolish Bottom while she was under the love potion. From her first appearance in the story, the reader or viewer is able to witness Titania’s characteristic of responsibility and compassion towards the orphan child. As seen through her short speech, she stated that “for [the mother’s] sake I will not part with him”, which ultimately expresses her loyalty to her assistants and their livelihood (Act. 2, Sc.1: 142). She does not truly love the boy in an erotic sense, but rather in a mother to child manner in which she cares for him as if his mother never passed away. Another emotional characteristic of the Queen is her demanding and forceful attitude while she was being controlled by false love. During Act. 3, Sc. 1, she commands that Bottom should not and will not leave the dream forest by saying, “out of this wood do not desire to go, thou shalt remain here wether thou wilt or no” (Act. 3, Sc. 1: 154-155). This moment almost frightens Bottom, as seen in the film version of the play, and makes him quickly rethink his choice of words. Although this event may have been caused by her extreme love for Bottom at that particular moment, Titania’s overall demeanor throughout the scene was leaning slightly more towards controlling her love than complete infatuation. On the other hand, Titania rapidly changes in emotional state and soon becomes extremely caring and loving toward her ass-head. First, she brings out her four helping fairies and says, “be kind and courteous to his gentleman”, and then follows this statement by telling Bottom all of the possible services the fairies and the Queen can do for him while he is with them (Act. 3, Sc, 1: 170). It almost feels as if she is tempting his love with material objects, but later the reader is able to see a more sensual and sexual side of Titania. She whispers to Bottom, “the female ivy so enrings the barky fingers of the elm”, which is a sexual innuendo that refers to how the Queen will wrap her arms around her donkey-headed lover (Act. 4, Sc. 1: 44-45). Along with this statement, the book also references many other smaller sections where Titania and Bottom may have had relations after the writing stopped. Finally, the last trait has to be Titania’s unmatchable beauty and figure. As clever and quick-thinking as Bottom was, he awoke Titania from her deep sleep, made a contradictory statement that told Titania why should she love such a fool, but suddenly took back his previous statement by saying, “reason and love keep little company together nowadays” (Act. 3, Sc. 1: 145-146). One of the only reasons why Bottom would have revoked his line was that it took him a few seconds to comprehend the beauty and elegance of the Queen. If she was not appealing to the eye, Bottom would have strolled out of the woods as quickly as he strolled in. In addition to her physical and emotional traits, Shakespeare decided to put Titania’s line into iambic pentameter and rhyme almost every pair of adjacent lines. For example, in Act. 3, Sc, 1 lines154-163, every last word of each line rhymes with its own separate pair such as “go”, “no”, “deep”, and “sleep”. Her overall tone is very elegant and structured along with her sensual mood and behavior. All in all, Titania demonstrated many different characteristic through her flowing and complex lines while also showing the audience two main sides of her real personality.

Hermia: The Lost lover

Hermia is a formal, disobedient, and venerable Athenian women; who elopes with Lysander from Athens. Hermia shows her proper qualities (in act 2 scene 2 lines 49-50) Stating "Nay, good Lysander. For my sake, my dear, lie further off yet. Do not lie so near." At this point in the play, Hermia and Lysander are alone in the woods and have decided to rest. Another indication of her formal position in the play is she speaks in Iambic pentameter, which indicates a high ranking in social class. She demonstrates disobedience, to her father (in Act 1 scene 1 lines 207-211). "Take comfort: he no more shall see my face. Lysander and myself will fly this place. Before the time I did Lysander see seemed Athens as a paradise to me. O, then, what graces in my love do dwell. That he hath turned a heaven into hell." At this point in the play Hermia’s father goes to the Duke and informs him of his daughters unwillingness to marry the man of his choosing. Hermia displays disobedience to her father by wanting to marry the man of her liking. Hermia exhibits venerability (in Act 2 scene 2 lines 152- 163) those lines are when Hermia wakes up from a nightmare scared out of her mind. She calls for Lysander and he is not there to comfort her. She is venerable and shows her weakness without Lysander. Without Lysander, Hermia would not have a main objective in the play. Her main objective was to marry Lysander and get to his aunts house.

Demetrius- Jack and Jake

Demetrius is a very fascinating character in William Shakespeare's play, A Midsummers Night Dream. There are many ways to describe the character Demetrius, he is rude, determined, and very straightforward. An example of his being rude is when he says, "Tempt me not too much the hatred of me spirit, for I am sick when I do look on thee" (2.1.218-219). This occurs when Helena follows Demetrius into the woods and continues to annoy him. Her, expressing her love for him further angers him to the point of insults. In the play, Demetrius is determined to win over the love of Hermia, until the fairies charm him into loving Helena. Then, Demetrius becomes determined to win the love of Helena. An example of him doing this towards Hermia, "I had rather give his carcass to my hounds" (3.2.66). This makes him seem as if he is willing to resort to violence to win her love. Even after being charmed into loving Helena, he still uses very determined language when he says, "I say I love thee more than he can do" (3.2.261). When Demetrius says this, he is trying to convince Helena that he loves her more that Lysander could ever love her. Demetrius' final trait is his straightforwardness. He is very blunt in the way that he talks, and he shows this when he tells Helena, "I love thee not; therefore pursue me not" (2.1.195). Demetrius' main goal throughout the play is to win over the love of Hermia, and then to win over the love of Helena, before being switched back to loving Hermia. Demetrius mainly speaks in Trochaic Pentameter because that is the way that Shakespeare made his character

Lysander: A Tale of Sex, Marraige, and Wild Emotions

Lysander reads like an open book. His character's transparency and brutal honesty bring to light his objectives, goals, and several of his personality traits and attributes. His goals revolve around his desire for sex and for love. In Act I Scene I, his wants to marry Hermia, and they make plans to run away and be together. In the forest that evening, he tries to seduce Hermia, to know her in the biblical sense, but she staves him off. Reluctantly, he makes a bed for himself and goes to sleep. When he wakes up, he falls in love with Helena, but not because he is unsure of his love for Hermia. In actuality, Puck anointed his eyelids with love-in-idleness instead of Demetrius. His goals shift, and he wishes to marry and to know Helena, at one point even exclaiming, "And, all my powers, address your love and might to honor Helen and to be her knight." (Act 2, Scene 2, Lines 150-51) Eventually, Puck fixes his mistake, and he again wishes to be betrothed to Hermia.

Lysander's personality is a domineering one. He's a passionate, lustful, overbearing, blunt man, one whose harshness and clarity often causes the distress of those around him. In Act 2 Scene 2, his lust surfaces. While trying to seduce Hermia, he riddles, "One turf shall serve as pillow for us both; One heart, one bed, two bosoms, one troth." (2:2:47-8) Often times, passion accompanies lust; the same rings true for Lysander. "And run through fire I will for thy sweet sake... Where is Demetrius? O, how fit a word is that vile name to perish on my sword!" (2:2:109-13) This exclamation clearly conveys his passion for Helena, as an even-killed monotonous person would not offer to kill in the name of love. Although taking his offer seriously may be reading too literally, it still conveys a message. In addition to being lustful and passionate, Lysander also has a darker side: he can be overbearing and he can be blunt. "If thou lovest me, then steal forth thy father's house tomorrow night..." (1:1:165-66) This shows his overbearing side, as he is asking his love to forsake her family for him, a difficult choice to say the least. Finally, Lysander's bluntness often comes across as rude and deprecating, as evidenced here: "Get gone, you dwarf, you minimus of hind'ring knotgrass made, you bed, you acorn --" (3:2:346-48) He chooses to ignore the societal norm to keep his negative opinons about other people inside his head. Additionally, his way of speaking sheds some light as to his position in society.

Shakespeare barely lets his readers know anything about his characters. He uses indirect characterization, and shows you things about his characters without explicitly telling you. With the exception of the inclusion of Hermia's stature, we don't know how tall they are, the color of their hair, or their attractiveness (or lack thereof). Shakespeare also does not tell us about his characters' pasts. We have to rely on things like language and speech pattern to determine the characters' places in society. Lysander speaks in iambic pentameter, suggesting he has a relatively high place in society and has completed some form of higher education.

Lysander is not a particularly difficult character to understand. His emotions govern his life; his passion, lustfulness, overbearingness, and bluntness make up his personality. His goals revolve around fornication and marriage. In this way, he reinforces the male stereotype that men think about sex more than anything else. Lysander also speaks in iambic pentameter, which suggests he is educated and did not grow up in poverty.

A Desperate Wanna-Be Wife

In A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare, four lovers find their way into quite the story. One of those lovers, named Helena, is characterized as desperate, jealous, disloyal, and self-depricating. She begs Demetrius, her love, to allow her to follow him even when he blatantly refuses and insults her . This shows how desperate she is for his affection. For example, she states, "The more you beat me I will fawn on you" displaying her longing for him (1.2.209-217). Also, she is constantly wishing she was as beautiful and loved as Hermia. For example, she says, "Happy is Hermia, wheresoe'er she lies for she hath blessèd and attractive eyes"(2.2.96-97). Additionally, Helena doesn't keep her promises even to Hermia, her best friend. For example, she tells Demetrius about Lysander and Hermia's plan to elope since she thinks in this way, she will gain Demetrius's love. Lastly, since Demetrius never accepts her, she constantly puts herself down. For example, she says, "I'm ugly as a bear for beasts that meet me run away for fear"(2.2.100-101). Helena's main objective is to receive Demetrius's love. She is so desperate for this that she follows him and does crazy things at all costs. Helena speaks in iambic pentameter, which means she is a part of the higher class. She often repeats the words, "Demetrius"and "love". For example, the sentence, "Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind" she uses the word love and speaks in iambic pentameter. Overall, although Helena seems like a shallow girl, she is just a poor, lovestruck maiden who doesn't know how to deal with her situation.

Hermia- A Multifaceted Character

     Throughout A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hermia expresses her character and strong personality. In the beginning of the play, Hermia demonstrates her independence towards her father when she disobeys him. Hermia consistently refuses Egeus in an effort to wed Lysander, her chosen love. In addition to Hermia's independence, she also shows a stubborn, dogged side. When Lysander is under the spell of the flower and is madly in love with Helena, Hermia denies his change of heart. As stated, "You speak not as you think. It cannot be" (Hermia, 3.2. 196). After Hermia argues with Lysander, her anger soon directed to Helena and thus reveals her feisty side. Hermia uses an attitude with Helena, and points a number of insults towards her as well as physical threats. While arguing with Helena, the reader sees Hermia's confidence. When Helena serves some insults, Hermia confidently responds saying, "Lower? Hark again?" (3.2. 321). Throughout the play, Hermia demonstrates her unique personality Shakespeare gave her through an array of sassy lines, independence to her father, her dogged nature, and a confident stature.
     In addition to an apparent personality, the way Hermia speaks shines a light on Hermia's upbringings. Hermia speaks in Iambic Pentameter, which entails that Hermia is of a well educated class. Hermia also changes the way she talks to cater toward the person to whom she is speaking. Hermia sweet talks Lysander but shows great sass and confidence when talking to Helena. This allows the audience to see the complex character of Hermia.