In the book A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare, there are many interesting and fascinating characters. The one character that I found to be the most intriguing was Helena, one of the lovers in the play. I found Helena interesting because no one actually loves her. Her best friend, Hermia, really only likes Helena because Helena calls her beautiful constantly and idolizes her. The man she loves, Demetrius, doesn't love her back and loves her best friend Hermia. Demetrius has these monologues where he's just expressing his hatred for Helena and he draws his sword upon her several times in the play as well. Lysander is constantly annoyed with Helena because all she does is mope around about how Demetrius doesn't love her. I was also interested in Helena because she will do anything for love from Demetrius. She has this one line where she is simply laying her heart to Demetrius, saying "I am your spaniel, and Demetrius, the more you beat me I will fawn on you. Spurn me, strike me, neglect me, lose me, only give me leave unworthy as I am to follow you". If she was his dog, and he beat her constantly, she would be happy just because she would be in his life. Helena is just as beautiful as Hermia, if not more, yet no one loves Helena, and even by the end of the play you know that no one ever will.
One of the reasons that I found Helena intriguing is because no one loves her. Helena is a beautiful woman, and it is known. In the first act, Helena says, "Through Athens I am thought as fair as she". Yet Helena is not thought of very highly in Athens by anyone, even though she is very pretty. She lost her virginity before she got married to Demetrius, who left her afterwards. For a woman in that time period to do that is extremely scandalous. Hermia and Helena's relationship is very interesting. They are best friends and they have known each other since childhood, yet Helena just compliments Hermia over and over and that is their friendship. There are countless monologues where Helena is just being so frustrated about Hermia being so beautiful. Hermia doesn't really do anything to help Helena, and kind of just has this "Yeah I'm pretty, and you're just going to have to deal with it" attitude. Lysander finds Helena so annoying because whenever he wants to get with Hermia, Helena is in the way sobbing about her life. He finds her melodramatic yet very monotonous at the same time. And biggest of all, Demetrius doesn't love Helena. He loves Hermia and wishes to marry her. Helena wants him so amazingly bad, yet he will never ever love her. No one loves Helena. Demetrius has to be put under a spell to love Helena. I find this very interesting about the character of Helena.
Another reason I find Helena so interesting is because she will do anything for love, specifically from Demetrius. In one scene where she is chasing Demetrius throughout the woods, and he takes out his sword and points it at her. Helena yells, "Stay, though thou kill me sweet Demetrius". This describes the painful love that Helena is experiencing in the play. Even if Demetrius plunged his sword into her heart it would be okay, because she loves him. This situation is so hopeless about how Helena would literally go to the ends of the earth just to be in the presence of one man. And what makes the situation even worse is that Helena lost her virginity to Demetrius, and he just left her without saying a word after. She had basically given up her purity and a good reputation just to be with Demetrius, who was probably drunk through the whole thing. And in the play, Demetrius is just absolutely terrible to her. He threatens to leave her alone in the dangerous woods of Greece and even threatens her life multiple times. He blames her for losing her virginity to him, practically saying she was stupid to go and be with him because he will never ever love her. And even at times, he'll play with her mind a little bit because he knows she is completely in love with him and will do whatever he wishes, which I believe is the worst part. Helena will do anything in the world just to make this egotistical, cruel man love her. And he never will.
In conclusion, I think Helena is one of the most interesting characters in A Midsummer Night's Dream because of how desperate and unloved she is. No one in Athens truly loves her. Most people think of her of as a disgrace because she slept with a man before she got married. Her best friend, Hermia, only hangs around with her because Helena showers her in compliments. Hermia never actually gives Helena any good advice about the predicament she's in, only accepts Helena's compliments by apologizing for being so beautiful. Hermia's lover, Lysander, doesn't like Helena either. Helena interrupts Lysander and Hermia's relationship constantly with all her problems, and this obviously angers Lysander. And the man Helena is so much in love with does not love her back. He, in fact, hates her with a fiery passion. Another reason I found Helena so fascinating was because she will do anything for love from Demetrius. Demetrius is simply terrible to her. He does not treat Helena the way she deserves to be treated at all, yet Helena never stops loving him any less. All in all, I think the character of Helena from A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare is very intriguing for these reasons.
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