Sunday, March 23, 2014

From Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, what are the specific actions by Lysander that Egeus cites as “bewitching”?

In the opening scene of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Egeus brings Demetrius, Lysander, and his daughter Hermia to the presence of Duke Theseus to settle the matter of who will marry his daughter. Egeus feels as if Demetrius is the better match for his daughter, but Lysander has already stolen her heart. By Athenian law, a father owns his daughter and has a right to determine whom she will marry, or exercise the right...

In the opening scene of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Egeus brings Demetrius, Lysander, and his daughter Hermia to the presence of Duke Theseus to settle the matter of who will marry his daughter. Egeus feels as if Demetrius is the better match for his daughter, but Lysander has already stolen her heart. By Athenian law, a father owns his daughter and has a right to determine whom she will marry, or exercise the right to have her executed for disobedience. In an effort to strengthen his case, Egeus names all of the things that Lysander has done to capture Hermia's love. Lysander's bewitching spells and tricks according to Egeus are as follows:



"This hath bewitched the bosom of my child.


Thou, thou, Lysander, thou hast given her rhymes,


And interchanged love tokens with my child.


Thou hast by moonlight at her window sung


With feigning voice verses of feigning love,


And stol'n the impression of her fantasy


With bracelets of they hair, rings, gauds, conceits,


Knacks, trifles, nosegays, sweetmeats--messengers


Of strong prevailment in unhardened youth. 


With cunning hast thou filched my daughter's heart,


Turned her obedience which is due to me


To stubborn harshness" (I.i.27-38).



In summary, and by order of appearance, Lysander did the following: he wrote Hermia love poems; exchanged tokens of love; serenaded her at her window; stole her fantasy of love; gave her lockets of his hair, rings, trinkets, and clever gifts; gave her knick-knacks, bouquets of flowers, and candies; as well as the fact that he frequently sent her messengers/messages to persuade her to fancy him. Thus, in the process, Lysander won Hermia's heart and also her obedience. Egeus seems to be more upset that he lost Hermia's obedience because he cannot control her now.

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