“Though She Be But Little”: An Analysis of Shakespeare’s Most Consistent Character in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”

Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is rife with unpredictability; multiple characters experience shifts in loyalty and altered emotions. Lysander has a love spell cast on them that causes him to fall in love with Helena; Demetrius abandons Helena in favor of Hermia, then falls under a spell that causes him to love Helena again; Nick Bottom’s head is turned into that of a donkey; Titania is also the victim of a love spell that causes her to fall for Nick Bottom. However, Hermia remains consistent in her values: being brave, remaining loyal to love, speaking the truth, enduring hardship, and standing up for herself, making her Shakespeare’s most morally consistent character in the play, despite her physical stature, which Shakespeare uses to highlight how real strength lies in a person's moral consistency and not in their physical strength or qualities. 

Hermia shows strength in the opening scene of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” when her Father, Egeus, takes her before Theseus in order to force her to marry Demetrius. Egeus states: 

I beg the ancient privilege of Athens: / As she is mine, I may dispose of her, / Which shall be either to this gentleman / Or to her death, according to our law / Immediately provided in that case. (1.1.40–44)

Theseus, the ruler of Athens, upholds Athenian law, supporting Egeus’s wish to have Hermia marry Demetrius. Theseus passes his judgment as such: “Either to die the death, or to abjure / For ever the society of men” (1.1.65–66). The consequence for Hermia’s refusal to submit to the marriage is either death or life spent in a convent. Despite these threats, Hermia refuses to give in to the pressure from Theseus and her father, publicly and openly disagreeing with Egeus. She respectfully but firmly questions Theseus’s judgment when she asks: 

I do entreat your grace to pardon me. / I know not by what power I am made bold, / Nor how it may concern my modesty / In such a presence here to plead my thoughts, / But I beseech your grace that I may know / The worst that may befall me in this case / If I refuse to wed Demetrius. (1.1.58–64)

 To marry Demetrius would be to betray her heart. Hermia shows her strength of character when she says the following lines: “So will I grow, so live, so die, my lord, / Ere I will yield my virgin patent up / Unto his lordship whose unwished yoke / My soul consents not to give sovereignty” (1.1.79–82). This shows that Hermia would rather risk punishment than betray her heart or surrender her autonomy. Hermia’s moral strength is first shown in the play through this act of immense bravery. 

Another way Hermia shows her moral strength is through her consistent affection and loyalty for Lysander. Hermia’s love for Lysander is authentic, which is evidenced when she promises to run away with him: “By all the vows that ever men have broke / (In number more than ever women spoke), / In that same place thou hast appointed me / Tomorrow truly will I meet with thee” (1.1.175–178). Hermia also shows strength of character when she stands by her principles even when Lysander changes. When Lysander is placed under a love spell that causes him to suddenly fall in love with Helena, Hermia’s feelings remain unchanged, despite the changing loyalties and emotions of Lysander. Her earlier vows of love when Hermia promises: 

My good Lysander, / I swear to thee by Cupid’s strongest bow, / By his best arrow with the golden head, / By the simplicity of Venus’ doves, / By that which knitteth souls and prospers loves, / And by that fire which burned the Carthage queen / When the false Trojan under sail was seen, 

do not change despite shifting circumstances (1.1.168–174). Hermia’s love is steadfast and solid, unchanging despite the transformations and shifting emotions of the characters around her. 

Hermia also shows her loyalty to Lysander when she awakens and finds him gone. This underscores Hermia’s deep loyalty to Lysander and their love, because she refuses to think the worst of him. When Hermia awakens and finds Lysander is gone, she assumes that Demetrius has killed him. Hermia states: 

Now I but chide, but I should use thee worse, /For thou, I fear, hast given me cause to curse. / If thou hast slain Lysander in his sleep, / Being o’er shoes in blood, plunge in the deep, / And kill me too. / The sun was not so true unto the day / As he to me. Would he have stol’n away / From sleeping Hermia? I’ll believe as soon / This whole earth may be bor’d, and that the moon / May through the centre creep and so displease / Her brother’s noontide with th’ Antipodes. / It cannot be but thou hast murder’d him. / So should a murderer look, so dead, so grim. (III.2.45-57)

Hermia’s lines prove that she thinks so highly of Lysander that she believes he would never willfully desert her. In her mind, he must be dead because she believes so strongly in their love that this is the more likely reason for Lysander’s disappearance than the more logical explanation that he abandoned her. 

Hermia is unique in her moral strength because her actions throughout the play are guided by honesty. This differs from many characters who actively deceive others throughout the course of the play. For example, Oberon manipulates his wife, Titania, by having a spell placed on her: “Having once this juice, / I’ll watch Titania when she is asleep / And drop the liquor of it in her eyes” (2.1.177–179). This spell causes her to fall in love with Bottom, a self-absorbed player. Puck, Oberon’s servant, is an agent of chaos when he mistakenly places the love spell on Lysander instead of Demetrius. Puck admits his mistake when he says: “Captain of our fairy band, /  Helena is here at hand, / And the youth mistook by me, / Pleading for a lover’s fee. / Shall we their fond pageant see? / Lord, what fools these mortals be” (III.2.110-115). Demetrius and Lysander become confused under the effects of the love spell and begin to rival one another for Helena’s love. Hermia, however, consistently speaks honestly about her feelings and intentions. For instance, when she confronts Lysander, who openly rejects her in the woods: “What, can you do me greater harm than hate? / Hate me? Wherefore? O me, what news, my love” (3.2.271–272). Hermia speaks what she knows in her heart to be the truth, that she and Lysander are in love, despite the effects of the love spell. The outward appearance of Lysander proclaiming love and fawning over Helena does not negate what Hermia knows to be true in her heart. Hermia stands by her truth despite appearances. 

Hermia endures emotional hardship without losing her character. In the forest, Lysander openly rejects Hermia in favor of Helena. Helena accuses Hermia of mockery, thinking Hermia has conspired with Demetrius and Lysander to act as if they are in love with Helena. Helena chides Hermia for the perceived insult by saying: “It is not friendly, ’tis not maidenly. / Our sex, as well as I, may chide you for it.” (3.2.217–218). This causes Hermia to become isolated and confused. Despite Hermia’s pain, she never abandons her core values. Her love for Lysander remains the same and does not waver, and she does not deliberately seek revenge on Helena, whom she could easily blame for Lysander’s abandonment. Instead, she tries to reason with Helena: “I am amazed at your passionate words. / I scorn you not. It seems that you scorn me” (3.2.221–222). This shows she still values Helena’s friendship, despite the fact that Lysander has abandoned their love for Helena’s. 

Shakespeare contrasts physical and social power with moral strength through the portrayal of Hermia’s character. Hermia is described as being short in stature: “...though she be but little, she is fierce” (3.2.323–325). Her character, however, is morally strong despite being petite. Many characters in the play possess forms of power. Theseus possesses political power as the ruler of Athens, Egeus possesses parental authority, which he uses to decide Hermia’s destiny by forcing her to marry Demetrius, and Oberon and Puck have magical power, which they use to place love spells on Demetrius and Lysander. These characters create or directly contribute to the conflict and chaos in the play. Hermia, however, does not possess authority or magic. She lives in a patriarchal society, where she must submit to her father’s authority and to the authority of Theseus. Despite the many voices of those around her and her own physical limitations, Hermia is a force to be reckoned with. She is not timid, and she does not hold back what she thinks or feels. For example, when she confronts Lysander, saying: “You speak not as you think. It cannot be.” (3.2.192). She does not speak like a shy or bashful maiden, but forceful and bold person in her opinions. 

Overall, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is a play of illusions and constant transformations. Hermia, however, is one of the few characters in Shakespeare’s play who remains constant throughout. Throughout the play, Hermia refuses to marry Demetrius, stays loyal to love and friendship, stands up for the truth, and speaks her mind despite being described as small in stature. Through Hermia, Shakespeare underscores how physical limitations have no bearing on the strength of a person’s character. Hermia embodies strength, loyalty, bravery, and honesty, and never changes despite the chaos around her, proving she is the most morally consistent character in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. 

Works Cited 

Shakespeare, William. “A Midsummer Night's Dream.” William Shakespeare: The Complete Works, edited by Stephen Orgel and A.R Braunmuller, Penguin Books, 2002, pp. 258-284.