Throughout the history of books, plays, and stories as a whole, competition over a boy or a girl is a very common element that even occurs in real life. The aspect of this competition provides parallels between two characters, entailing drama, humor, and interesting themes to the story. A perfect example of this element is within William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The two main women of the story, Hermia and Helena, compete over boys in the story, and that, as well as their different personalities makes the story quite interesting. The relationships between the two women changes constantly, as they are competing over boys they love yet remain best friends. The characters differ from each other in a number of ways to make
This shows that foils are essential because they attract viewers or readers by making it more interesting. The play puts them at opposing ends, so even though they are friends, their opposition shows difference in one another. In brief, the foil characters of Hermia and Helena provide an entertaining theme and storyline for the play. Each of these characters provides important roles that foil each other and ultimately shape the play. Helena can be considered one of the jokes of the play, because she considers herself ugly even though she is described as beautiful, as well as everyone rejects her initially, and then falls in love with her, confusing the character and entertaining the audience. She is very sensitive and jealous, which does not help by being ridiculed and then tricked with the love potion. Hermia however is the opposite; both men are truly in love with her. The men, when not under the influence, are all over her, and she gives the competitive drive between Demetrius and Lysander. Additionally, at the main point of the book, the two switch roles and continue to foil one another, as the magic potion makes the boys fall in love with Helena, and Hermia is left without anyone courting her. This is an example of irony because although they are in different shoes, they still oppose one another, proving that they were meant to be some of the main foil characters. Both these characters have contributed roles that would make them essential to the