Helena is jealous of Hermia because she thinks Demetrius likes her, and Helena likes him.
Helena is jealous of Hermia because she is interested in Demetrius, the man that Helena’s father Egeus wants her to marry. The ironic thing is that Hermia is actually interested in Lysander instead. Hermia and Egeus appear before Theseus, the Duke of Athens, who tells Hermia that she does not get a choice in the matter. She has to marry the man her father chooses.
What say you, Hermia? be advised fair maid:
To you your father should be as a god;
One that composed your beauties, yea, and one
To whom you are but as a form in wax
By him imprinted and within his power
To leave the figure or disfigure it.
Demetrius is a worthy gentleman. (Act 1, Scene 1)
Hermia decides that she wants to take matters into her own hands. She and Lysander elope through the woods. Hermia tells Helena first, which is how Helena ends up following them. Helena also tells Demetrius.
Once in the woods things get complicated because of supernatural means. Puck has a special potion that makes a person fall in love with the first person he or she sees. This is how both Demetrius and Lysander end up in love with Hermia, which makes Helena very upset and jealous. Helena feels that Hermia always gets what she wants, with poor Helena ending up left out. She turns her bitterness toward Hermia.
O, when she's angry, she is keen and shrewd!
She was a vixen when she went to school;
And though she be but little, she is fierce. (Act 3, Scene 2)
In the end, the pairs are matched correctly. Theseus is married, and Helena ends up with Demetrius. Hermia is allowed to marry Lysander, and her father just has to deal with it.
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