Act III, sc. ii
Read Act III, sc. ii in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Conflict in Act III
What conflict has Shakespeare introduced in the plot of the play in scene 2?
Lysander has run away with Hermia, but now he has fallen in love with Helena.
How does Helena respond to Lysander?
She thinks Lysander is upset at first because Demetrius loves Hermia. She tells him not to feel that way because Hermia still loves him.
Lysander responds with,
"Not Hermia, but Helena I love.
Who will not change a raven for a dove?"
Why do you think Shakespeare uses this comparison?
Lysander is saying that he would trade a raven for a dove because Hermia is small and dark like a raven and Helena is tall and blonde like a dove. A raven symbolizes a bad omen or something evil while a dove represents peace and love.
Have you known any melodramatic people, people who exaggerate their feelings or the difficulties of a situation? Remember, you are in high school. Almost everyone is melodramatic in high school.
How is Lysander melodramatic in scene ii?
Lysander says he would "run through fire" for Helena's "sweet sake." He insinuates he would kill Demetrius when he says, "that vile name to perish on my sword!" He calls every minute he ever spent with Hermia "tedious" when moments before he had pledged his love for her. He also says that looking into Helena's eyes is like "Love's stories, written in Love's richest book."
How have Hermia and Helena switched roles at the end of this scene?
At the beginning of the scene, Hermia loved Lysander, and he returned her affection. Helena was sad because her love was unrequited. Now, Lysander loves Helena, and Hermia is the one left out.
Dialogue
Drama is filled with dialogue a conversation between two or more people . When dialogue appears in a play, the character's name is shown in capital letters, and then the words spoken are directly under it. Characters are revealed through this dialogue as well as incidents and events.
In a play, dialogue serves various purposes. The words the actors say can
- move the action forward,
- show different traits of the characters, or
- create conflicts that must be resolved.
Read the Dialogue
HELENA:
O spite! O hell! I see you all are bent/To set against me for your merriment:/If you were civil and knew courtesy,
LYSANDER:
You are unkind, Demetrius; be not so;/For you love Hermia; this you know I know:/And here, with all good will, with all my heart,/In Hermia's love I yield you up my part;/And yours of Helena to me bequeath,/Whom I do love and will do till my death.
HELENA:
Never did mockers waste more idle breath./Would not do me thus much injury.
DEMETRIUS:
Lysander, keep thy Hermia; I will none:/If e'er I loved her, all that love is gone./My heart to her but as guest-wise sojourn'd,/And now to Helena is it home return'd,/There to remain.
Learn from the Dialogue
What have you learned from the conversation among these three?
Demetrius and Lysander both love Helena. She thinks they are just being mean and playing a spiteful trick on her.
The rhythm of iambic pentameter is still used as well.