In Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Helena is in love with Demetrius.
Helena begins the play longing for Demetrius, who has turned away from her and is pursuing her friend Hermia. Desperate to regain his affection, Helena reveals Hermia and Lysander’s plan to escape Athens. Demetrius follows them into the forest, setting the lovers’ magical and comic confusion in motion.
The fairy king Oberon notices Demetrius’s rejection of Helena and orders Puck to use a love potion on him. Puck mistakenly charms Lysander first, causing both Lysander and Demetrius to fall in love with Helena. She cannot believe their declarations and suspects that the two men are mocking her, while Hermia is furious that Helena appears to have taken her beloved.
By the end, the enchantment is corrected for Lysander, while Demetrius remains in love with Helena. Theseus then arranges a group wedding in Athens. The other female names are different characters: Hermia loves Lysander, Hippolyta is Theseus’s Amazon bride, and Titania is the queen of the fairies.