Anastacia Quiones

Period 6

A Midsummer Nights Dream Literary Analysis

Prompt # 4: The love portrayed among the four lovers is similar to love
among teens today (the times have remained unchanged). Ex: same
problems (give 3 examples)
Hermia wants to be with Lysander, but her father wont let her. Helena is head
over heels for Demetrius but he only has eyes for Hermia. Demetrius and
Lysander both are madly in love with Hermia. All these different problems
presented in A Midsummer Nights Dream are very similar to the drama
teenagers deal with in present time. The way the four lovers speak and act
towards each other and other characters is a lot like modern teenagers .
Especially considering the way Hermia talks with her father, how Helena keeps
trying to make Demetrius fall in love with her again, and the way Lysander and
Demetrius fight for Hermias love.
Hermia demonstrates how the four lovers are very much alike present day
teenagers when she argues with her father, Egeus, over who she is going to
marry. Hermias likeness to present-day teenagers is shown on page 11,
Theseus: Demetrius is a worthy gentleman. Hermia: So is Lysander. and
Hermia: I would my father looked but with my eyes. Hermia clearly shows the
personality that teenagers have these days when they are fighting with their
parents, especially about the whole boyfriend/girlfriend problem. Its easy to
remember the whining voice and the sense of responsibility that teenagers seem
to imagine these days when Hermia says these lines. Honestly, Hermia and Egeus
act a lot like my sister in her teenage years and my father. When I first noticed
this is I found out how much the lovers act like present-day teenagers and I
thought it was really funny. Hermias frenemy, Helena also showed how
teeangers and the four lovers are similar.
Helena also shares some traits with teenagers these days. The way she gets
depressed over a guy that doesnt seem to care much for her Demetrius. He does
not love her at all and even worse loves her best friend (frenemy), Hermia,
instead. This is shown on page 19, Helena: Call you me fair? That fair again
unsay. Demetrius loves your fair. O happy fair!. When Helena says this to
Helena and Lysander while theyre planning their runaway you can just hear
how sad she is and how she hoped that she could be as happy as Hermia and
Lysander were. Its really terrible that some teenagers act this way but its true.
When their boyfriend/girlfriend breaks up with them most teenagers act like

Anastacia Quiones
Period 6

Helena does in the beginning of the play. There are even some people actually act
like heart broken Helena ALL the time. I think Helena shows how some teenagers
act after a break-up perfectly. Her crush, Demetrius, and Lysander also portray
certain characteristics that teenagers today have.
Demetrius and Lysander , the main young men of A Midsummer Nights Dream
show a trait that is very common when it comes to everyday high school drama,
its even shown in most high school movies. They are both rivals for Hermias
love and they both of them will not give up, though its really obvious who
Hermia loves (Lysander). Lysander and Demetrius make rude comments at each
other too, as seen on page 13. Demetrius: Relent, sweet Hermia, and, Lysander,
yield thy crazd title to my certain right. Lysander: You have her fathers love,
Demetrius. Let me have Hermias. Do you marry him. Its easy to see how much
these two want Hermias love and that they despise each other for the other not
giving up. They were even rivals for Helenas love at one point in time, when
Puck put the nectar of the love flower in their eyes. For example, on page 94,
Lysander: You are unkind, Demetrius. Be not so, for you love Hermia; this you
know I know. and on page 95, Demetrius: Lysander, keep thy Hermia. I will
none. If eer I loved her, all that love is gone. They both still fight for the love of
the same maiden and this is the cause of some physical fights in high schools
today. I think Demetrius and Lysander portray this side of modern teeangers
perfectly.
The four lovers showed how similar their love is to teenage love with the
evidence I mentioned above. Hermia shows her teenage traits with her conflicts
that she has with her father, Egeus. Helena shows the similarity between
teenagers and the four lovers when she becomes very very depressed when
Demetrius loves Hermia instead of her. Demetrius and Lysander show how some
teenage boys act when they love the same girl. I believe that the four lovers share
the same drama filled problems that many teenagers commonly have in high
school.