Hermia Timeline and Summary

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Hermia Timeline and Summary

  • 1.1.56: Hermia tries to plead her (and Lysander's) case with Duke Theseus. She says Lysander is a worthy young man, and she only wishes her father would see things her way.
  • 1.1.58: Hermia says she doesn't know what makes her so bold to talk with Duke Theseus so freely, but she hopes he'll forgive her for it. She just wants to know the worst that might happen to her if she really refuses to marry Demetrius.
  • 1.1.79: Hermia says she'll live and die a virgin before she'd give up her virginity to Demetrius. Her soul just won't have it.
  • 1.1.130: Hermia and Lysander get together after that awful meeting with Duke Theseus. Hermia's pretty miserable, and she laments all the things that make their love so difficult.
  • 1.1.150: Hermia responds to Lysander's claim that true love is always hard. She says that, if that's true, then their destiny is to be together. They just have to be patient and bear this little tradition of love.
  • 1.1.168: Hermia promises by Cupid's bow, Venus's doves, and a whole bevy of other love-related stuff that she'll meet Lysander in the forest to be married tomorrow.
  • 1.1.180: Hermia greets Helena warmly, and at Helena's bidding, she reveals the secrets she used to charm Demetrius (against her will). She frowned at him, cursed him, and hated him—and still he loves her. Hermia promises it's no fault of hers that this guy is smitten.
  • 1.1.202: Hermia tells Helena she can take comfort in the fact that Demetrius will never see Hermia again, revealing her plan to escape with Lysander. Hermia also says Athens used to be paradise, but, now that she's met Lysander, the place is a hell to her. Hermia then gives more detail, saying that she and Lysander will go to the woods and run from there to find new friends in the company of strangers. She says goodbye to her dear friend Helena, asking her to pray for them. She also wishes Helena good luck with Demetrius. As she readies to leave, Hermia tells Lysander to remember their promise, as they won't see each other again until they're in the forest at night.
  • 2.2.39: It's bedtime in the forest at night, and Hermia readies to go to sleep. She finds a spot and then has to convince Lysander that he should find some other spot, one that's not so close to her. He presses some more, but she puts her foot down, saying that for love and courtesy they should act like a virtuous bachelor and a virgin maiden in the dark wood. She wishes Lysander good night.
  • 2.2.145: Hermia wakes suddenly from a nightmare she had, crying out for Lysander to help her. She dreamt that a snake was eating her heart while Lysander sat by and watched, smiling. She then realizes Lysander isn't near her after all, and she gets scared. Hermia then sets off to find Lysander, declaring that she'll either find him or kill herself immediately.
  • 3.2.45: Demetrius is with Hermia, and she says she should be more abusive to him. She worries Demetrius has killed Lysander in his sleep and says that, if he's done that, then he should finish the job and kill her, too. Hermia then says that she couldn't imagine Lysander would leave her, because he's such a loyal guy; it's as believable that a hole might be poked through the earth so the moon would slide through and rest with the people on the wrong side of the night. Hermia concludes that the only reasonable explanation for Lysander's absence is that Demetrius killed Lysander, especially because Demetrius is acting suspiciously like a grim murderer.
  • 3.2.62: Hermia pleads some more with Demetrius for Lysander. After finally hearing Demetrius say that he would rather give the guy's carcass to his hounds than return him to her, Hermia flips out. She calls him all sorts of terrible things and demands to know once and for all if he's killed her lover or not.
  • 3.2.77: Hearing that Demetrius hasn't killed Lysander, Hermia next wants to know that Lysander is well. In exchange for this good news, Hermia says Demetrius can have the reward of never seeing her again.
  • 3.2.177: Hermia hears Lysander's voice and follows it to find him. She's grateful that night limits the power of sight, but makes up for it by doubling the power of hearing. She wonders why Lysander left her so abruptly and unkindly.
  • 3.2.185: Hearing that Lysander was pressed to go by love, Hermia wonders, effectively, "WHAT?" On first hearing that Lysander loves Helena, Hermia simply doesn't believe it.
  • 3.2.220: Hermia listens to Helena berate her for betraying their old friendship, thinking she's in on the "joke" with the boys. Hermia is rather confused, thinking that Helena's actually making a mockery of her, not the other way around.
  • 3.2.236: Hermia really can't grasp this weird behavior. She doesn't understand Lysander's scorn or Helena's hurt feelings. Hermia wonders what this change is and whether everyone's joking.
  • 3.2.271: Lysander wonders what harm he has to do to Hermia to prove his love for Helena. He says that though he hates her, he won't strike or kill her. Finally, Hermia gets it. She cries out, asking what worse thing Lysander could do than hate her. She wonders what could possibly have changed between the time they went to bed and now.
  • 3.2.282: Hermia, in her shock, immediately concludes that Helena is to blame. She yells at Helena for stealing her man, calling her a juggler who came by night and stole Lysander's heart away from her.
  • 3.2.289: Helena gets riled up enough to respond with name-calling too, deeming Hermia a puppet (alluding to the fact that the boys seem to be leading Hermia in this mean joke against her). Hermia interprets the "puppet" comment to be a crack at her height and then decides that Helena stole Lysander away by comparing her tallness with Hermia's shortness. Hermia says that she may be short, but she's not too short to scratch out Helena's eyes for stealing her man.
  • 3.2.318: After hearing some more about her height, Hermia listens to Helena say she wishes she could leave the forest. Hermia points out that she'd be quite happy for Helena to get the hell out of the forest, too. Sadly, Helena says she would be leaving her heart behind, and Hermia immediately wants to know if she's leaving her heart with Lysander. After the boys do some egging on, Helena calls Hermia "little" again, and Hermia flips out.
  • 3.2.339: Hermia blames Helena, claiming this uproar is all her fault. Helena runs away. Hermia, left alone, says she has no idea what to say.
  • 3.2.442: Hermia finally wanders to sleep in the wood, muttering that she's never been this tired or this sad. Though her spirit is willing to go on, her legs can no longer keep up. She says she'll sleep through the night, but her last thought before bed is for Lysander—she hopes the Heavens will protect him if he and Demetrius fight.
  • 4.1.189: Waking up in the forest with the other three youths, Hermia declares that she's seeing things out of focus, or maybe even seeing double.
  • 4.1.196: She adds that her father was with Duke Theseus's hunting party, which they'll follow back to Athens.