Always Stick Together
Hermia and Lysander
Hermia and Lysander's Relationships
Hermia and Lysander obviously play a major role in the themes of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. The two of them start loving each other, then start making everything confusing as the plot deepens, and their story is truly unusual. This playlist of songs will walk you through the twists and turns of the love between Hermia and Lysander.
Safety Dance - Men Without Hats Official Video
Song 1: Safety Dance
The lyrics of the song Safety Dance by Men Without Hats connect relatively well to Hermia's and Lysander's relationship in the beginning. The first stanza of Safety Dance contains the lyrics: "We can dance if we want to, We can leave your friends behind"; you can see that Hermia and Lysander are leaving Athens and therefore their friends like Helena, but they still want to have fun by loving(dance). The next stanza has the lyrics: "Say, we can go where we want to A place where they will never find". Hermia and Lysander also go to a place that few people know about.
Calvin Harris - Feel So Close To You ( With Lyrics )
Song 2: Feel So Close To You
My second selection was Feel So Close To You by Calvin Harris. The overall feeling of the song connects to a particular scene in the play where Hermia and Lysander have just finished their first day of escaping Athens. In Act 2, Scene 2, Lines 34-53, Hermia and Lysander have a conversation about not sleeping as close to each other. I feel like Feel So Close To You can relate to Lysander because of his wanting to sleep next to Hermia. Lysander just feels so close to Hermia with the love between them.
Jar of Hearts - Christina Perri Lyrics
Song 3: Jar of Hearts
This one is a bit unusual; Jar of Hearts by Christina Perri. From the play itself, you can see that Hermia is very worried when Lysander disappears because he is "in love" with Helena. However, in my opinion, I think Hermia feels betrayed inside. She feels like Lysander may not have ever wanted to love her. Hermia feels kind of destroyed. If Hermia were to sing this song, I think it would be like I said before: inside of her.
Evanescence-My Immortal lyrics
Song 4: My Immortal
Song number 4 is My Immortal by Evanescence. Though the lyrics don't directly relate to Hermia's situation with Lysander having left her for Helena, it still gives a good picture of Hermia's feelings. In this song, the lyrics are about formerly loving. Not only that, but from the singer's point of view, she still loves her former partner. This is also true for Hermia, as she tries and tries to find Lysander and get him back.
Live - The Beauty of Gray (MTV Unplugged, 1995)
Song 5: The Beauty of Gray
In The Beauty of Gray by Live, the singer discusses a very different topic from the rest of the topics in A Midsummer Night's Dream. It is racism. I mainly chose this song because of a particular scene with Hermia and Lysander. This quote by Lysander to Hermia is the main part of it: "Get away, you African!" (Lysander, 3.2.262). Lysander openly calls Hermia an African, but not only that, he says it like being an African is bad. This promotes some pretty recent discriminating against blacks and other minorities.
Broken lyrics- Lindsey Haun
Song 6: Broken
Broken by Lindsey Haun is a good song to represent Hermia's feelings as both Lysander and Demetrius start to love Helena. Hermia feels very defeated and sad. In Broken, the singer empathizes with the audience, and Hermia is doing the same. Now, Hermia knows what it is like to be all alone, with nobody to respect you. She knows what it was like to be Helena.