A defiant Athenian maiden fighting for love against her father's will.

Who they are

Hermia is the fiery young heroine who refuses to marry Demetrius, her father's choice, and elopes with her true love Lysander. She defies patriarchal authority with bold eloquence, then endures a night of magical chaos when Puck's love-potion causes Lysander to reject her. Her journey—from rebellion through heartbreak to comic resolution—anchors the play's central romantic plot. Her closest bond is with Helena, a friendship that shatters under the love-potion's strain but is restored by dawn.

Playing them

Play Hermia's intensity full-out: she has a warrior's spirit in a maiden's body. Use a strong, clear voice capable of both fiery defiance (Egeus' scene) and fragile vulnerability (the nightmare serpent). Her physicality should shift from upright defiance to bewildered hurt when Lysander spurns her, then to comic fury as she challenges Helena. Energy wise, she's the engine of the first and third acts—drive the stakes.

Appearance

Traditionally short in stature (Helena mocks her as 'puppet' and 'dwarf'), often costumed in contrast to Helena's taller frame—perhaps a darker, richer palette to match her passionate nature. She can be costumed as a proper Athenian lady who literally runs into the woods.

Where they appear

Act 1, Scene 1 17 speeches
Act 2, Scene 2 5 speeches
Act 3, Scene 2 24 speeches
Act 4, Scene 1 2 speeches

Shakespeare the way it was meant to be had — out loud

These plays were written to be performed, not silently read. Yorick is a rehearsal app that lets you perform them: you take a part in any of Shakespeare’s 38 plays, and Yorick reads every other role aloud, listens while you speak your lines, keeps your place, and prompts you the moment you dry.

It is built for the person who has to be off book by tech week — school and college productions, community theatre, festivals, drama students and classical auditions — and for anyone who wants to hear a scene rather than skim it. Alongside the performance you get a plain-English translation of every speech, scene context, performance notes, and the ability to ask about any line and get an answer that already knows the play, the scene and who is speaking.

The text is the public-domain Cambridge/Globe edition. Translations and notes are AI-generated rehearsal aids for actors and students, not a scholarly apparatus. Yorick runs in a browser with nothing to install, and on iPhone and Android.