ia's father Egeus says to Theseus, Duke of Athens:"Full of vexation come I, with complaint Against my child, my daughter Hermia. Stand fourth, Demetrius. My noble lord, This man hath my consent to marry her. Stand forth, Lysander. And, my gracious Duke, This man hath bewitched the bosom of my child." Egeus tells the Duke that his daughter can marry Demetrius, not Lysander. Hermia replies ". . . If I refuse to wed Demetrius," Egeus replies "Either to die the death, or to abjure for ever the society of men." If Hermia does go against her father's wishes, and weds Lysander, she will either be put to death, or be forced to become a nun. Both pairs of lovers also seek help from another. Juliet and Romeo seek Friar Lawrence, and Lysander and Hermia seek Lysander's aunt, who lives in the woods near Athens. Both sets of youths have the same character type. They are young, their love is prohibited, both women are prudent, and both seek the help of an adult. Yet they have their subtle differences. For example, Lysander, never mentioned a love before Hermia. Romeo loved Rosaline, before he loved Juliet. Hermia's family and Lysander's family were not feuding, whereas the Montagues' and Capulets' feude was central to the plot of the play. The stories of "Romeo and Juliet" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" are very different however. "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is a comedy. Oberon, king of the fairies, sends a mischievous imp named, Puck, to play a trick on the queen of the fairies, Titania, and on a pair of Athenian youth. Puck turns Nick Bottom's head into that of an ass (Nick Bottom is the man in the play production within "A Midsummer Night's Dream"; he tried to play every part), and places an herb on Titania that causes her to fall in love with him. This is quite humorous. However, at the end of the play all the couples are back together, with the ones they love. Thus Lysander and Hermia do get married. If Egeus had showed up at the wedding, he co...
