Hermia the Fiesty Dwarf

I watched the live version and then the Rice University production of Act IV Scene II. I looked specifically at the physical interactions between the characters in both versions. Some things were quite similar between the two but there were a few obvious differences. The character that was the most different was Hermia. In the Rice University production she was much more physically forceful during this scene than the live version. In the beginning of Scene II when Hermia accuses Demetrius of murdering Lysander, the Rice University production had her actually physically threaten him by hitting, punching, and twisting his ear. The live version had nothing like this. What really caught my attention was the way both characters acted like this was normal, suggesting that Hermia had done this to Demetrius before, which is certainly a contrast to the weak females and strong males that are shown in the other version.

Later on in the scene, Hermia’s physical reactions were fairly similar in both versions. She jumped on Lysander, clung to his leg, and tried to attack Helena, all in very similar ways. In the live version, however, as the scene goes on Hermia becomes less physical and starts looking less angry and more like she’s going to cry. In the Rice University version she remains angry and physically threatening throughout the whole scene.

These differences created a unique gender dynamic in the Rice University version. Although Helena never gets very physical (at least in the scene I saw), Hermia’s physical threats make her seem almost dominant over Lysander and Demetrius despite her small size. Perhaps they did this to counteract some of the more anti-feminist elements of the play. If so, they did a good job of at least showing Hermia as a strong female (though a bit alarmingly abusive) through her physical interactions with the other characters.