A Midsummer Night's Dream- Helen Mirren & Diana Rigg, Act 3

Early work from Helen Mirren, Diana Rigg and Ian Holm.

This clip starts with Act 3, scene 2, line 132 (Pelican edition, Helen's "Your vows to her ad me, put in two scales")
and ends with Helena and Hermia's exit, line 344 (Hermia's "I am amazed, and know not what to say")

David Warner ... Lysander
Helen Mirren ... Hermia
Diana Rigg ... Helena
Michael Jayston ... Demetrius

William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" - 1968 film Directed by Peter Hall


William James Rolfe notes in his edition:

line 172: 'Home returned.'... Cf. Sonn. 109. 5: —

" That is my home of love; if I have rang'd,
Like him that travels I return again."

Johnson quotes Prior: —

"No matter what beauties I saw in my way,
They were but my visits; but thou art my home."


line 188: 'Oes.'... Orbs. S. elsewhere uses O for anything round. See L. L. L. v. 2. 45, Hen. V. prol. 13, and A. and C. v. 2. 8I. Steevens quotes John Davies of Hereford's Microcosmos, 1605:

"Which silver oes and spangles over-ran"; and The Partheneia Sacra, 1633: "the purple canopy of the earth, powdered over and beset with silver oes," etc. Cf. Bacon, Essay 37 : "And Oes, or Spangs, as they are of no great Cost, so they are of most Glory."

line 213: 'Two of the first, like, etc.'.... The allusion is to "the double coats in heraldry that belong to man and wife as one person, but which have but one crest" (Douce).

line 282: 'Canker-blossom'....Some understand this to mean the canker-worm, like cankers in ii. 2. 3 ; but Schmidt and Furness explain it as the blossom of the canker (see Much Ado, i. 3. 28) or wild rose. 5. does not use the compound elsewhere, but he has canker bloom in Sonn. 54. 5, where the scentless flower is contrasted with "sweet roses."

line 329: 'Knot-grass'....The Polygonum avicutlare (Schmidt), which was anciently supposed to hinder the growth of an animal or child. Steevens quotes Beaumont and Fletcher, 'Knight of the Burning Pestle', ii. 2 : "Should they put him into a straight pair of gaskins, 'twere worse than knot-grass, he would never grow after it" ; and The Coxcomb', ii. 2: "a boy . . . kept under for a year with milk and knot-grass." Mr. H. N. Ellacombe (in the London Garden, May 19, 1877) suggests another explanation of hindering. He cites Johnstone, who says that in the north of England, the plant "being difficult to cut in the harvest time, or to pull in the process of weeding, it has obtained the soubriquet of the "Deil's lingels" (lingel — thong). Shakespeare's "hindering" weed cannot be the knot-grass mentioned by Milton, Comus, 542 : —

"the savoury herb
Of knot-grass dew-besprent."

This must be one of the pasture grasses — perhaps Agrostis stolonifera, as it is said to be in Aubrey's 'Natural History of Wilts'.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Shakespeare
• Helen-Mirren
• Diana-Rigg
• Midsummer-Night's-Dream
• 1968
• David-Warner
• Michael-Jayston
• play
• theatre
• performing
• arts

[MADEgirl73]

I'm Helena in my school production of this but we made it circus themed with the four lovers as clowns hahaha it should be fun :D performing next week!

[ltnicky200]

this is my favorite scene!!

i play as lysander in a week..CANT WAIT!!!!

[wickedlover88]

8 people don't know good acting if it smacks them square in the face!

[operaticzebra11]

i am playing helena at my school! i am so excited!

[bellabradley4ever]

I have to learn Helenas speach tonight. Hmm... I think I'll fail. x

[grosvenor1000]

This is one of the most engaging (Midsummer Nights Dream) productions that l have ever seen& I (LOVE IT!!). This refreshing portrayal really makes it easy for me to follow it& l absolutely (LOVE IT!!). l only wish that it was available on (Region2). l know its available in (Region1) but its crazy that its not available for English viewing.

If you have it in your power to release it in (Region2) then please do. Im not to proud to say, PLEASE!. PRETTY PLEASE! WITH A CHERRY ON TOP!. lts not fair!

[MrsEmmaPeel07]

lol. I love Diana Rigg as Helena. Talented actress. :D

[watadog12]

this is bad... the 1935 was great

[TheZeesh94]

Help I'm stuck im playing Helena and i reallly cant find her monolouge from the original version caould anyone helppp ???? thankyouuuuuu :)

[bluesun7777]

Oh. Oh, jeez. This is terrible! I thus conclude that the 1960s failed at Shakespeare.

[DefyingGravity97]

ugh i hate this version. the '34 version is soooo much better and soooo funny :)

[Pianist46]

Actually I think Helena is prettier than Hermia