Lysander: The Faithful Lover Who Forgets He Is One

Lysander has everything Demetrius has (birth, wealth, Hermia's love) and no Athenian law on his side. His problem in Act 1, Scene 1 is purely political: Hermia's father prefers Demetrius, and the law supports fathers over daughters. His suggestion to elope through the forest is the play's inciting action.

Under Puck's enchantment in Act 2, he abandons Hermia mid-sleep and pursues Helena with declarations of sudden devotion. The comedy of this is only possible because we know it is magic. Without that knowledge, what he does to Hermia (waking her with cruelty after she calls out for him) is not funny at all.

He is restored to Hermia by the play's end, his love presumably genuine again. But the enchantment has demonstrated something the play leaves hanging: put the right pressure on any person, and their constancy can be redirected. 'The course of true love never did run smooth,' he says in Act 1, Scene 1. He has no idea.