Cycle 25: Character Analysis of Helena (continued)

After finishing Act II of A Midsummer Night's Dream Helena feelings towards Demetrius stay the same. The more Helena continues to pursue Demetrius, the more Demetrius pushes her away. In this scene Demetrius tells Helena "Stay, on thy peril. I alone will go" (61). And still after this was said by Demetrius, Helena is still madly in love with him. For Helena to continue to chase after Demetrius after she constantly gets turned down shows that Helena has a strong frame of mind. This also shows some stupidity on Helena's part, who in their right mind would pursue a man that they had no chance with? But, love often blinds a person from what is normally a clear choice. And love is obviously blinding Helena.

Earlier in scene II Robin Goodfellow anoints Lysander with the nectar that makes him fall in love with the next person he sees. Later, when Lysander awakes the first person he sees in Helena. Because of the nectar Lysander starts telling Helena his feelings for her. But, Helena tries to remind Lysander how he truly loves Hermia and not herself. By doing this I feel Helena showed a great deal of friendship toward Hermia. Helena could have easily jumped right into Lysander's arms, but she tried talking Lysander out of it. This shows the bond of friendship between Hermia and Helena.

Also in this scene Helena makes a direct reference to herself, allowing the audience to know how she really feels about herself. Helena says, "no, no, I am as ugly as a bear, for beasts that meet me run away for fear" (61). By saying this, Helena shows the audience how little she thinks of herself. To say those things about herself shows that she does not believe in herself one bit.

Overall, Helena is going through a lot of hardships. Hopefully as this story progresses Helena will be able to gain more self confidence and will start believing in herself.