Quote 1
HERMIA
Before the time I did Lysander see
Seem'd Athens as a paradise to me.
O, then, what graces in my love do dwell
That he hath turned a heaven unto a hell! (1.1.209-212)
It's clear from Hermia's ranting that love also has the capacity to change the way we view our surroundings. According to Hermia, her love for Lysander has transformed her own home into a nightmare world.
HERMIA
Why are you grown so rude? What change is this,
Sweet love?
LYSANDER
Thy love! Out, tawny Tartar, out!
Out, loathèd med'cine! O hated potion, hence! (3.2.172-175)
In this play, female characters have a harder time accepting the transformation of their loved ones. Here Hermia refuses to believe Lysander does not lover her, and earlier Helena had difficulty comprehending Demetrius's change of affections.
Quote 3
HERMIA
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. (2.2.152-157)
Hermia's dream is a mirror for reality; while Hermia sleeps, Lysander deserts her and renounces his love for her. In the dream, Hermia is abandoned (which is true), but she is also betrayed by Lysander. The dream is also a reflection for what's about to come. Hermia battles the snake (Helena) in the dream and in the actual wood, though Lysander is really at fault for letting Hermia get hurt, both in the dream world and in reality.