At this point the character of Helena enters, the reader should keep in mind that Shakespeare intends for the character of Hermia to be shorter with dark hair in contrast to Helena, who is taller and has blond hair. The dialogue of this scene and the humor of a later scene depend upon this distinction.
HERMIA |
shorter |
brunette hair |
HELENA |
taller |
blond hair |
After Hermia greets her friend as “fair Helena,” Helena responds with the following:
Call you me fair? That ‘fair’ again unsay. Demetrius loves your fair – O happy fair! (181-82)
The word fair had a double meaning in the Renaissance: it meant both (1) beautiful and (2) having light-colored features (blond hair, blue eyes, white skin). And according to the traditional Renaissance concept of beauty, a truly beautiful woman would have light-colored features. Of course, there was some debate on this view; for there were dark beauties living in England during the Renaissance. And poets and playwrights enjoyed debating this issue through their fictional works. More importantly, writers like Shakespeare also enjoyed playing on the double meaning of the word fair: sometimes it means beautiful, sometimes it means having light features, and sometimes it means both of these. When Helena first addresses Hermia, the word fair suggests beauty (but not light features). Helena is angry that Demetrius is more attracted to Hermia and wants to marry her. Helena is upset that Demetrius appears to love the beauty of a dark- featured woman.
Helena then proceeds to state that she wishes she looked like Hermia and sounded like Hermia so that Demetrius would turn his attention towards her. Helena is in love with Demetrius. She is, in fact, madly in love with him; and so she speaks and acts irrationally.
Hermia tries to explain that she frowns at Demetrius and hates him. She tries to discourage him, but Demetrius is stubborn and persistent. He is so infatuated with Hermia that he, also, cannot think or act rationally.
A conflict that appears in nearly every Shakespeare play (as well as many other literary works) is that of Reason vs. Emotion. Shakespeare had much different views regarding emotion than did the Church. Both Catholics and Protestants preached that Reason was a gift that God had given to all mankind. With Reason, all men and women are capable of controlling their emotions and avoiding temptation and sin. A person who does not control his emotions is, then, merely being weak or lazy.
Shakespeare did not agree. He realized that there are times in every person’s life when a certain emotion (positive or negative) becomes so strong that it becomes impossible to resist. When such a powerful emotion takes over a person, that person’s reason abandons him or her. Love, hate, lust, pride, greed, and envy: any of these and many more emotions as well can cause a man to become irrational. Any of these can possibly make a man mad. Knowing that this weakness is common to all men, Shakespeare was thus able to devise many great tragedies and comedies to reveal the influence of emotions over the rational mind.
Hermia and Lysander realize that Helena is quite upset over losing Demetrius, so they tell her about their plan to elope. Hermia and Lysander are trying to encourage Helena not to give up. Hermia suggests that once she is gone from Athens, Demetrius will eventually stop thinking about her and return to Helena.
Hermia and Lysander are trying to console Helena, but they are not aware of how irrational Helena has become. Because she is not thinking clearly, Helena decides to tell Demetrius about Hermia’s plan to run away. But then Demetrius will try to stop Hermia.
By revealing their secret, Hermia and Lysander thus risk having their plans ruined. They risk their future happiness together. On the other hand, if they had not revealed their plan to Helena, the comic plot that follows would not have been possible.