Lysander is a fictional character in William Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. A handsome young man of Athens, Lysander is in love with Egeus’s daughter Hermia. However, Egeus does not approve of Lysander and prefers his daughter to marry a man called Demetrius. Meanwhile, Hermia’s friend Helena has fallen in love with Demetrius. When Hermia is forced to choose between dying, becoming a nun, or marrying Demetrius by the next full moon, she and Lysander run away into the forest near Athens. After Lysander is put under Puck’s spell, being mistaken for Demetrius he falls in love with Helena, but Helena loves Demetrius. Eventually, the spell is reversed and Lysander marries Hermia. There is a party at the end where the Mechanicals perform their play and Hermia and Lysander get married.
First Appearance One of the First Quartos (1600), Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies – Published according to the True Originall Copies, i.e. First Folio (1623)
First Publisher Thomas Fisher
Appearance List A midsummer nights dreame… (1600) by William Shakespeare — First Quarto printed by Richard Braddock for Thomas Fisher; A midsummer nights dreame… (1619; falsely dated 1600) by William Shakespeare — Second Quarto printed by William Jaggard; Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (1623) by William Shakespeare — First Folio; The Fairy-Queen: an opera (1692) by Henry Purcell — major musical adaptation; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, overture, Op. 21 (1826) by Felix Mendelssohn — influential concert overture; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, incidental music, Op. 61 (1842–1843) by Felix Mendelssohn — full theatrical incidental music; A Midsummer Night’s Dream: and Other Stories by E. Nesbit (1890) (A midsummer night’s dream.–Hamlet, prince of Denmark.–Twelfth night.–King Lear) [Internet Archive]; A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1909) directed by Charles Kent & J. Stuart Blackton — early film adaptation (Vitagraph); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1935) directed by Max Reinhardt & William Dieterle — film adaptation; A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1968) directed by Peter Hall — Royal Shakespeare Company screen adaptation…
Description Lysander is a fictional character in William Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. A handsome young man of Athens, Lysander is in love with Egeus’s daughter Hermia. However, Egeus does not approve of Lysander and prefers his daughter to marry a man called Demetrius. Meanwhile, Hermia’s friend Helena has fallen in love with Demetrius. When Hermia is forced to choose between dying, becoming a nun, or marrying Demetrius by the next full moon, she and Lysander run away into the forest near Athens. After Lysander is put under Puck’s spell, being mistaken for Demetrius he falls in love with Helena, but Helena loves Demetrius. Eventually, the spell is reversed and Lysander marries Hermia. There is a party at the end where the Mechanicals perform their play and Hermia and Lysander get married.
