A Most Depressing Helena

Today is the official start to Shakespeare Week on Goodreads and if you still don't know what that is, here's a link to make the rest of the blog post make sense.
https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/6...

For day one I decided on a topic that is controversial, at least to me. William Shakespeare created some incredible heroines and female villains in his plays, from Rosalind to Lady Macbeth. Then he included some female characters that are just...there. This introduces the today's topic of the "Favorite Heroine." I'll say straight off the bat that Helena would fill this category for me.

I should explain this choice. After all, Helena is not a particularly brave, clever, or kind character in A Midsummer Night's Dream. By all accounts, she's the most lovesick, annoying character in the entire cast. Yet something made me admire her when I first read the play in middle school. Besides Dream being my favorite of Shakespeare's plays, Helena has two qualities unlike any I've noticed in other characters created by Shakespeare.

Helena is loyal to her aspirations and dreams in a completely innocent way. She never attempts to hurt anyone, except in a few mean-spirited remarks she throws at her friend Hermia. Honestly, Hermia was equally as lively as Helena.

There's something admirable in Helena's simple, hopeful personality that she will not give up. She never lets anyone tell her or force her to give up the life she wants. That's a trait I believe has trickled down into the personas of many young adult heroines today.

Tomorrow another Shakespeare-themed blog post will be released, this time unmasking some of the more deceitful characters in the Bard's plays.