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The following question is based on your reading of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare.

HERMIA [Awaking]
Help me, Lysander, help me! do thy best
To pluck this crawling serpent from my breast!
Ay me, for pity! what a dream was here!
Lysander, look how I do quake with fear:
Methought a serpent eat my heart away,
And you sat smiling at his cruel prey.
Lysander! what, removed? Lysander! lord!
What, out of hearing? gone? no sound, no word?
Alack, where are you speak, an if you hear;
Speak, of all loves! I swoon almost with fear.
No? then I well perceive you all not nigh
Either death or you I'll find immediately.

This speech ends Act 2. Why is it ironic?

User Saral
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2 Answers

4 votes

Answer:

  • A snake swallowing Hermia's heart is ironic, considering that Hermia had this dream in which she thought Lysander had abandoned her.

Step-by-step explanation:

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User Scott Lamb
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5 votes

Answer:

It is ironic that Hermia has this dream that Lysander has abandoned her, with a snake eating her heart.

User Geert Van Laethem
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