SEDAS || Christa Zaat

Christa Zaat



Edward John Poynter (British painter, designer, and draughtsman) 1836 - 1919
Helena and Hermia, 1901
oil on canvas
125.7 x 100.4 cm.
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play by William Shakespeare. Believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596, it portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and Hippolyta. These include the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of six amateur actors, who are controlled and manipulated by the fairies who inhabit the forest in which most of the play is set. The play, categorized as a Comedy, is one of Shakespeare's most popular works for the stage and is widely performed across the world.

Hermia is a fictional character from Shakespeare's play, A Midsummer Night's Dream. The dialogue makes it clear that she is shorter than Helena. She is caught in a romantic accident where she loves one man, Lysander, but is loved by Demetrius, whose feelings she does not return.
Hermia is basically the main character in the whole story because most of the attention is focused on her.
Hermia loves Lysander, but her father, Egeus, wants her to marry Demetrius. Hermia's refusal of her father's command would result in her death sentence or residence at a nunnery by Athenian law.

Helena is one of the iconic four young lovers in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and is a very desperate woman. She is generally interpreted as being tall, slim and blonde - her best friend Hermia calls her a "painted maypole" during an argument. Hermia, on the other hand, is very short.
Helena takes advantage of this by calling her short when they have a row. Although she does not see herself as attractive, she is just as pretty as Hermia. Helena comes from a rich family in Athens and, with regards to status, is towards the higher end of the social hierarchy.