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Hermia
Hermia is a fictional character from Shakespeare's play, ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''. She is a girl of ancient Athens named for Hermes, the Greek god of trade. Overview Hermia is caught in a romantic entanglement where she loves one man, Lysander, but is being courted by another, Demetrius, whose feelings she does not return. Though she loves Lysander, Hermia's father, Egeus, wants her to marry Demetrius and has appealed to Theseus, the Duke of Athens, for support. Under Athenian law, Hermia's refusal of her father's command would result in her being put to death or being banished to a nunnery. Lysander and Hermia then meet Demetrius' former fiancé, and Hermia's lifelong friend, Helena while discussing their run-away plans. Demetrius had abandoned Helena to woo Hermia but Helena is still hopelessly in love with him. Hermia tells Helena not to worry; Hermia will elope with Lysander and Demetrius will no longer see her face. Helena relates Hermia's plan to Demetrius in the hop ...
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A Midsummer Night's Dream
''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict among four Athenian lovers. Another follows a group of six amateur actors rehearsing the play which they are to perform before the wedding. Both groups find themselves in a forest inhabited by fairies who manipulate the humans and are engaged in their own domestic intrigue. The play is one of Shakespeare's most popular and is widely performed. Characters * Theseus—Duke of Athens * Hippolyta—Queen of the Amazons * Egeus—father of Hermia * Hermia—daughter of Egeus, in love with Lysander * Lysander—in love with Hermia * Demetrius—suitor to Hermia * Helena—in love with Demetrius * Philostrate— Master of the Revels * Peter Quince—a carpenter * Nick Bottom—a weaver * Francis Flute—a bellows-mender * Tom Snout—a tink ...
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Helena (A Midsummer Night's Dream)
Helena is one of the four young lovers – the others being Demetrius, Lysander, Hermia – featured in William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''. Role in ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' Helena, the daughter of Nedar, is the lifelong friend of Hermia (whom she often compares herself to). Before the events of the play, Helena was betrothed to the nobleman Demetrius, but she was jilted when his affections turned to Hermia. Despite this, Helena's abiding love for Demetrius remains consistent throughout the play. Hermia and her suitor, Lysander, confide in Helena that they plan to elope. In the hopes that she will gain back some of Demetrius' respect, Helena tells him of Hermia and Lysander's plans, and they follow the escaping lovers into the forest. Though Demetrius is deliberately cruel towards her, Helena remains true to her devotion. Her ardor catches the attention of Oberon, who commands that Puck enchant Demetrius so that he will fall back in love with Hele ...
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Egeus
Egeus is a character in '' A Midsummer Night's Dream'', the comedy by William Shakespeare. He is an Athenian who tries to keep his daughter, Hermia, from marrying Lysander (the man she loves). In original performances, the actor for his role probably played the part of Philostrate as well. Egeus wants Hermia to marry Demetrius. Role in the play Appearing in Act I, Scene 1 and Act IV, Scene 1, Egeus is the father of Hermia, who disapproves of Hermia and Lysander's love, appealing to Theseus to force Hermia to marry Demetrius. If Hermia refuses to wed Demetrius, she could be put to death, or cloistered in a nunnery for the rest of her life — both sentences supported by Athenian law. Criticism Egeus plays a key part in illustrating the love play's theme of law versus love, and reason versus imagination. Constantly refusing his daughter's plea to marry the man she loves, Lysander, he demands that she be forced to marry Demetrius. He goes so far as to say that if she disobeys, he ...
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Lysander (Shakespeare)
Lysander is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's play '' A Midsummer Night's Dream''. A handsome young man of Athens, Lysander is in love with Egeus's daughter Hermia. However, Egeus does not approve of Lysander and prefers his daughter to marry a man called Demetrius Demetrius is the Latinized form of the Ancient Greek male given name ''Dēmḗtrios'' (), meaning “Demetris” - "devoted to goddess Demeter". Alternate forms include Demetrios, Dimitrios, Dimitris, Dmytro, Dimitri, Dimitrie, Dimitar, Dumi .... Meanwhile, Hermia's friend Helena has fallen in love with Demetrius. When Hermia is forced to choose between dying, never seeing a man again or marrying Demetrius by the next full moon, she and Lysander run away into the forest near Athens. After Lysander is put under Puck's spell, being mistaken for Demetrius he falls in love with Helena, but Helena loves Demetrius. Eventually, the spell is reversed and Lysander marries Hermia. There is a party at the end ...
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Demetrius (Shakespeare)
Demetrius is one of the lovers in William Shakespeare's play '' A Midsummer Night’s Dream''. He is a young man who is engaged to a young woman, Hermia, who is in love with Lysander. Role in ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' After Hermia has confided in Helena regarding her plans to elope with Lysander, Helena reveals the plan to Demetrius, in the hopes of gaining Demetrius's trust. However, Demetrius merely goes to the forest seeking Hermia, without giving Helena a second thought. After that he returns to the king. Helena follows Demetrius, and Oberon, the fairy king, sees them arguing. Oberon feels pity on Helena and decides to help her by putting love juice on Demetrius's eyes, thereby compelling Demetrius to return Helena's love. Oberon instructs Puck, another fairy, to pour love juice on the eyelids of the "Athenian man". However, Puck sees Lysander sleeping, and pours the love juice in Lysander's eyes instead, thus causing Lysander to fall in love with Helena (and abandon Her ...
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Olivia De Havilland
Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland (; July 1, 1916July 26, 2020) was a British-American actress. The major works of her cinematic career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films and was one of the leading actresses of her time. At the time of her death in 2020 at age 104, she was the oldest living and earliest surviving Academy Award winner and was widely considered as being the last surviving major star from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema. Her younger sister was Oscar-winning actress Joan Fontaine. De Havilland first came to prominence with Errol Flynn as a screen couple in adventure films such as '' Captain Blood'' (1935) and '' The Adventures of Robin Hood'' (1938). One of her best-known roles is that of Melanie Hamilton in '' Gone with the Wind'' (1939), for which she received her first of five Oscar nominations, the only one for Best Supporting Actress. De Havilland departed from ingénue roles in the 1940s and later distinguished herself for perf ...
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John Simmons (painter)
John Simmons (1823–1876) was a British miniature painter and illustrator, known primarily for his watercolours of ethereal fairyland scenes, often illustrating Shakespearian or other literary works (such as his illustrations for '' A Midsummer Night's Dream''). He was one of several popular Victorian artists who together created "a genre of forest idyll" in their fairy paintings. They are often grouped with the Pre-Raphaelites. Simmons lived in Bristol, and also painted portraits.Wood, p. 124. He was elected to membership of the Bristol Academy of the Fine Arts in 1849. He died in November 1876 and is buried at Arnos Vale Cemetery. Fairy painting The typical fairy painting is strongly rooted in the literary influences of Romanticism, as well as in the Victorian cultural period. Among the most significant of these influences were the themes of Shakespeare's '' A Midsummer Night's Dream'' and '' The Tempest''. Other literary works, such as Edmund Spenser's ''The Faerie Qu ...
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Anna Friel
Anna Louise Friel (born 12 July 1976) is an English actress. Born in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, she has been acting professionally since age 13. Friel achieved fame with her portrayal of Beth Jordache on the British soap opera '' Brookside'' (1993–1995), and came to international prominence when she played Charlotte "Chuck" Charles on ABC's ''Pushing Daisies'' (2007–2009). She is the recipient of several accolades, including an International Emmy Award, a Drama Desk Award, a National Television Award, an RTS Award, and an honorary degree, as well as nominations for BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, Satellite Award, Saturn Award, Genie Award and Czech Lion Award. Friel made her film debut in ''The Land Girls'' (1998). She has since appeared in various features, such as ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', '' Rogue Trader'' (both 1999), '' Sunset Strip'' (2000), '' Me Without You'' (2001), '' Timeline'' (2003), '' Goal!'' (2005) and its sequel (2007), '' Bathory'' (2008), '' ...
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Oberon
Oberon () is a king of the fairies in medieval and Renaissance literature. He is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', in which he is King of the Fairies and spouse of Titania, Queen of the Fairies. Etymology Oberon is derived from Alberich (from Old High German ''alb-'' "elf" and ''-rîh-'', "ruler", "king"), the name of a dwarf from Germanic mythology. In the ''Nibelungenlied'', a Burgundian poem written around the turn of the 13th century, Alberich guards the treasure of the Nibelungen, but is overcome by Siegfried. In Old French, the name Alberich evolved into ''Alberon'' and then ''Auberon'' and ultimately into ''Aubrey''. French heroic song The name Oberon (as Auberon) is first attested to in the early 13th century entitled , wherein it refers to an elven man of the forest encountered by the eponymous hero. Huon, son of Seguin count of Bordeaux, passed through the forest inhabited by Oberon. He was warned by a hermit ...
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Female Shakespearean Characters
Female (symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females and males are results of the anisogamous reproduction system, wherein gametes are of different sizes, unlike isogamy where they are the same size. The exact mechanism of female gamete evolution remains unknown. In species that have males and females, sex-determination may be based on either sex chromosomes, or environmental conditions. Most female mammals, including female humans, have two X chromosomes. Female characteristics vary between different species with some species having pronounced secondary female sex characteristics, such as the presence of pronounced mammary glands in mammals. In humans, the word ''female'' can also be used to refer to gender in the social sense of gender role or gender identity. Etymology and usage T ...
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Literary Characters Introduced In 1596
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include oral literature, much of which has been transcribed. Literature is a method of recording, preserving, and transmitting knowledge and entertainment, and can also have a social, psychological, spiritual, or political role. Literature, as an art form, can also include works in various non-fiction genres, such as biography, diaries, memoir, letters, and the essay. Within its broad definition, literature includes non-fictional books, articles or other printed information on a particular subject.''OED'' Etymologically, the term derives from Latin ''literatura/litteratura'' "learning, a writing, grammar," originally "writing formed with letters," from ''litera/littera'' "letter". In spite of this, the term has also been applied to spoken or s ...
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Hippolyta
In Classical Greek mythology, Hippolyta, or Hippolyte (; grc-gre, Ἱππολύτη ''Hippolytē'') was a daughter of Ares and Otrera, queen of the Amazons, and a sister of Antiope and Melanippe. She wore her father Ares' ''zoster'', the Greek word found in the Iliad and elsewhere meaning "war belt." Some traditional English translations have preferred the more feminine-sounding " girdle." Hippolyta figures prominently in the myths of both Heracles and Theseus. The myths about her are varied enough that they may therefore be about several different women. The name ''Hippolyta'' comes from Greek roots meaning "horse" and "let loose." Legends Ninth Labor of Heracles In the myth of Heracles, Hippolyta's belt (ζωστὴρ Ἱππολύτης) was the object of his ninth labour. He was sent to retrieve it for Admete, the daughter of King Eurystheus.Hyginus, ''Fabulae'', 30 Most versions of the myth indicate that Hippolyta was so impressed with Heracles that she gave him ...
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