Why does helena tell demetrius

Now, Helena decides she'll tell Demetrius that Hermia and Lysander are going to run away together. To unlock this lesson you must be a Study. This does not please Helena either, because she is also in love with Demetrius. Before the play begins, Helena and Demetrius were in a loving relationship, as were Hermia and Lysander. In fact, he almost seems to hate her.

Log in here for access. This is why, almost as soon as Hermia tells Helena her plans, she turns around and has a soliloquy about Demetrius in which she vows to tell him.

She feels spurned by Demetrius, because he loved her. Why does Nick Bottom want to play all the parts? Demetrius reveals that he has somehow come to love Helena again. Why do they tell hermia about their plan. However, Hermia does not return his love. Helena comes up with a plan: to win the favor of Demetrius, she will tell him about Hermia's plan to run away with Lysander. Suddenly, Hermia had two suitors, and Helena had none.

They are going to escape to his widow aunts. Log in or sign up to add this lesson to a Custom Course. Helena loves Demetrius, so she tells him of Hermia and Lysander's idea to run away, and … They tell Helena of their plans, but she tells Demetrius to get into his good books, as she loves him. However, Demetrius merely goes to the forest seeking Hermia, without giving Helena a second thought. Well, sort of. Helena, who's vowed to be as loyal as his ''spaniel'' and dog-like, follows Demetrius.

Are you a teacher? Puck initially messes up and anoints Lysander and Demetrius, making for some tense interactions between the four lovers in the forest. It isn't until Oberon king of the fairies overhears an exchange between the two that things begin to change. Helena tells Demetrius that Hermia and Lysander have run away because she hopes that he will change his mind and fall for her.

You do impeach your modesty too much, To leave the city and commit yourself Into the hands of one that loves you not; To trust the opportunity of night And the ill counsel of a desert place With the rich worth of your virginity. Now, Helena decides she'll tell Demetrius that Hermia and Lysander are going to run away together.

That way, she's sure Demetrius will chase after Hermia, and she can chase Demetrius some more. Her heart is pure and, if he'd only stop attracting her, she'd stop being attracted to him.

She says she's like Demetrius's dog—the more he kicks her, the more she'll follow him. He can do whatever he wants to her, she says, if he'll only allow her to keep trailing after him. She says it would be a great honor to her, and no cost to him, if he could use her as his dog.

It's not night when she sees his face, and the forest isn't deserted when he's near, as he's her whole world. She says he can run away, but, even though she's a woman, she'll chase after him, switching traditional roles. She says his scorn makes a scandal on her femininity, as women are supposed to be the pursued, not the pursuers. As Demetrius leaves, Helena says she'll follow him, making heaven out of the hell he gives her, even if it kills her.

She says that, wherever Hermia is, she's sure to be happy, because she has blessed and attractive eyes. Helena is sure her eyes didn't get that way from crying, as she herself has done her fair share of crying and is still "ugly as a bear.

Finally, Helena decides her mirror lied. It's no use to compare herself to Hermia. She then trips over the sleeping Lysander and worries that he might be dead. In Act 2 Scene 1, Helena reveals just how lovesick she is. What kind of a man would treat his dog in the way Helena describes, and what does this say about Demetrius? Spurn me, strike me says Helena. She describes what would be considered as animal cruelty today.

Values change over time, but even so, any kind of cruelty or abuse can hardly be seen as an attractive quality in a future husband. Helena previous. Through Athens I am thought as fair as she. But what of that? Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Lee Jamieson. Theater Expert.

Lee Jamieson, M. He previously served as a theater studies lecturer at Stratford-upon Avon College in the United Kingdom. Updated November 08, Featured Video. Cite this Article Format. Jamieson, Lee.