Demetrius is one of the lovers in
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
's play ''
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 amon ...
''. He is a young man who is engaged to a young woman,
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, ...
, who is in love with
Lysander
Lysander (; grc-gre, Λύσανδρος ; died 395 BC) was a Spartan military and political leader. He destroyed the Athenian
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital a ...
.
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
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 Fair ...
, the
fairy
A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spiri ...
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
Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of meanings is that the love o ...
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 Hermia), while Demetrius's love for Hermia continues unaltered. Later, Puck pours the love juice in Demetrius’ eyes as well, with the result that both Demetrius and Lysander fall in love with Helena and despise Hermia. They fight over Helena, until Puck lulls them to sleep, and then Puck reverses the spell upon Lysander so that Lysander will love Hermia again. The spell on Demetrius, however, is not removed, and the play ends with Demetrius very much in love with Helena.
Portrayals
* In the 1925
silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...
called
Wood Love
''Wood Love'' (German title: ''Ein Sommernachtstraum'') is a 1925 German silent comedy film directed by Hans Neumann and starring Werner Krauss, Valeska Gert and Alexander Granach. It was an adaptation of William Shakespeare's ''A Midsumm ...
, Demetrius is portrayed by
Hans Albers
Hans Philipp August Albers (22 September 1891 – 24 July 1960) was a German actor and singer. He was the biggest male movie star in Germany between 1930 and 1960 and one of the most popular German actors of the twentieth century.
Early life
...
.
* In the 1935
film, Demetrius is portrayed by
Ross Alexander.
* In the 1968
film, Demetrius is portrayed by
Michael Jayston
Michael James (born 29 October 1935), known professionally as Michael Jayston, is an English actor. He played Nicholas II of Russia in the film ''Nicholas and Alexandra'' (1971). He has also made many television appearances, which have include ...
.
* In the 1981
BBC Television Shakespeare
The ''BBC Television Shakespeare'' is a series of British television adaptations of the plays of William Shakespeare, created by Cedric Messina and broadcast by BBC Television. Transmitted in the UK from 3 December 1978 to 27 April 1985, it ...
production, produced by
Jonathan Miller
Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE (21 July 1934 – 27 November 2019) was an English theatre and opera director, actor, author, television presenter, humourist and physician. After training in medicine and specialising in neurology in the late 1 ...
, Demetrius was portrayed by
Nicky Henson
Nicky Henson ( Nicholas Victor Leslie Henson; 12 May 1945 – 15 December 2019) was a British actor.
Early life
Nicholas Victor Leslie Henson was born in London, the son of Harriet Martha ( Collins) and comedian Leslie Henson. Adam Henson, a f ...
.
* In the 1996 film directed by
Adrian Noble
Adrian Keith Noble (born 19 July 1950) is a theatre director, and was also the artistic director and chief executive of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1990 to 2003.
Education and career
Noble was born in Chichester, Sussex, England. After le ...
, Demetrius is portrayed by
Kevin Doyle.
* In the 1999
film, Demetrius is portrayed by
Christian Bale
Christian Charles Philip Bale (born 30 January 1974) is an English actor. Known for his versatility and physical transformations for his roles, he has been a leading man in films of several genres. He has received various accolades, includin ...
.
* In another 1999 film directed by
James Kerwin, Demetrius is portrayed by
Travis Schuldt
Travis Schuldt (born September 18, 1974)"Catching up with....Travis Schuldt." ''Soap Opera Digest''. August 12, 2013. p. 63. is an American actor. He originated the role of Ethan Winthrop on '' Passions'', and played the recurring roles of Keith ...
.
* In the 2002 film ''
A Midsummer Night's Rave
''A Midsummer Night's Rave'' is a 2002 American film adapted from Shakespeare's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' released on November 1, 2002. The film stars Corey Pearson, Lauren German, Andrew Keegan, Chad Lindberg, and Sunny Mabrey; and was dire ...
'', the character Damon, who is portrayed by Corey Pearson, corresponds to Demetrius.
"A Midsummer Night's Rave" (2002)
IMDb
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, p ...
. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
References
{{Authority control
Characters in A Midsummer Night's Dream
Literary characters introduced in 1596
Male Shakespearean characters
Fictional Greek people