Demetrius is one of the lovers in

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's play '' A Midsummer Night’s Dream''. He is a young man who is engaged to a young woman,

Hermia Hermia is a fictional character from Shakespeare's play, ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''. She is a girl of ancient Athens named for Hermes, the Greek god of trade. Overview Hermia is caught in a romantic entanglement where she loves one man, ...

, who is in love with

Lysander Lysander (; grc-gre, Λύσανδρος ; died 395 BC) was a Spartan military and political leader. He destroyed the Athenian Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital a ...

Role in ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''

After Hermia has confided in Helena regarding her plans to elope with Lysander, Helena reveals the plan to Demetrius, in the hopes of gaining Demetrius's trust. However, Demetrius merely goes to the forest seeking Hermia, without giving Helena a second thought. After that he returns to the king. Helena follows Demetrius, and

Oberon Oberon () is a king of the fairies in medieval and Renaissance literature. He is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', in which he is King of the Fairies and spouse of Titania, Queen of the Fair ...

, the

fairy A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spiri ...

king, sees them arguing. Oberon feels pity on Helena and decides to help her by putting love juice on Demetrius's eyes, thereby compelling Demetrius to return Helena's love. Oberon instructs Puck, another fairy, to pour

love juice Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of meanings is that the love o ...

on the eyelids of the "Athenian man". However, Puck sees Lysander sleeping, and pours the love juice in Lysander's eyes instead, thus causing Lysander to fall in love with Helena (and abandon Hermia), while Demetrius's love for Hermia continues unaltered. Later, Puck pours the love juice in Demetrius’ eyes as well, with the result that both Demetrius and Lysander fall in love with Helena and despise Hermia. They fight over Helena, until Puck lulls them to sleep, and then Puck reverses the spell upon Lysander so that Lysander will love Hermia again. The spell on Demetrius, however, is not removed, and the play ends with Demetrius very much in love with Helena.

Portrayals

* In the 1925

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...

called Wood Love, Demetrius is portrayed by Hans Albers. * In the 1935 film, Demetrius is portrayed by Ross Alexander. * In the 1968 film, Demetrius is portrayed by Michael Jayston. * In the 1981

BBC Television Shakespeare The ''BBC Television Shakespeare'' is a series of British television adaptations of the plays of William Shakespeare, created by Cedric Messina and broadcast by BBC Television. Transmitted in the UK from 3 December 1978 to 27 April 1985, it ...

production, produced by Jonathan Miller, Demetrius was portrayed by Nicky Henson. * In the 1996 film directed by Adrian Noble, Demetrius is portrayed by Kevin Doyle. * In the 1999 film, Demetrius is portrayed by

Christian Bale Christian Charles Philip Bale (born 30 January 1974) is an English actor. Known for his versatility and physical transformations for his roles, he has been a leading man in films of several genres. He has received various accolades, includin ...

. * In another 1999 film directed by James Kerwin, Demetrius is portrayed by

Travis Schuldt Travis Schuldt (born September 18, 1974)"Catching up with....Travis Schuldt." ''Soap Opera Digest''. August 12, 2013. p. 63. is an American actor. He originated the role of Ethan Winthrop on '' Passions'', and played the recurring roles of Keith ...

. * In the 2002 film '' A Midsummer Night's Rave'', the character Damon, who is portrayed by Corey Pearson, corresponds to Demetrius."A Midsummer Night's Rave" (2002)

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, p ...

. Retrieved 13 December 2013.

References

{{Authority control Characters in A Midsummer Night's Dream Literary characters introduced in 1596 Male Shakespearean characters Fictional Greek people