A Midsummer Night's Dream- Helen Mirren & Diana Rigg, Act 2

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

This clip starts with Act 2, scene 2, line 35 (Pelican edition) to end of scene, line 156 (Hermia awakes and ends speech with "Either death, or you, I'll find immediately."

David Warner ... Lysander
Helen Mirren ... Hermia
Ian Holm ... Puck
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 46: 'Love takes the meaning, etc.'..."In the conversation of those who are assured of each other's kindness, not suspicion but love takes the meaning. No malevolent interpretation is to be made, but all is to be received in the sense which love can find, and which love can dictate" (Johnson). Henley says: "The idea is exactly similar to that of St. Paul: ' Love thinketh no evil.' "

line 77: 'Near this lack-love, etc.'....The metre of this line has sorely troubled the critics. Pope changed it to "Near to this lack-love, this kill-curtesie"; Theobald to "Near to this kill-courtesie"; Warburton to "Near to this lack-love kill-curtesie"; Steevens to "Near this lack-love, kill-curtesy"; other changes have been suggested. S. allows himself considerable freedom in this measure. Line 74 just above is iambic throughout; and this is like it if we make courtesy a dissyllable, as it sometimes is, or if we scan thus: "Near this | lack-love, [ this kill-cour- | tesy," treating the second this as an extra unaccented syllable


GC Verplanck, in his edition of the play (New York, 1847), remarks:

"it is, in several respects, the most remarkable composition of its author, and has probably contributed more to his general fame, as it has given a more peculiar evidence of the variety and brilliancy of his genius, than any other of his dramas.

Not that it is in itself the noblest of his works, or even one of the highest order among them; but it is not only exquisite in its kind — it is also original and peculiar in its whole character, and of a class by itself.

... It stands by itself, without any parallel; for The Tempest, which it resembles in its preternatural personages and machinery of the plot, is in other respects wholly dissimilar, is of quite another mood in feeling and thought, and with, perhaps, higher attributes of genius, wants its peculiar fascination.

Thus it is that the loss of this singularly beautiful production would, more than that of any other of his works, have abridged the measure of its author's fame, as it would have left us without the means of forming any estimate of the brilliant lightness of his 'forgetive' fancy, in its most sportive and luxuriant vein.

... It has, in common with all his comedies, a perpetual intermixture of the essentially poetical with the purely laughable, yet is distinguished from all the rest by being (as Coleridge has happily defined its character) 'one continued specimen of the dramatized lyrical.'

Its transitions are as rapid, and the images and scenes it presents to the imagination as unexpected and as remote from each other, as those of the boldest lyric; while it has also that highest perfection of the lyric art, the pervading unity of the poetic spirit — that continued glow of excited thought — which blends the whole rich and strange variety in one common effect of gay and dazzling brilliancy."

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Shakespeare
• Helen-Mirren
• Diana-Rigg
• Ian-Holm
• Midsummer-Night's-Dream
• 1968
• play
• performing
• arts

[unguapodel900]

Hmmm...I think first, you gotta eat all your spinach baby. She's Dame Diana Rigg, one of the best shakespearean actress in th U.K.

[almadora]

the entire thing is worth watching; with helen mirren, a very handsome david warner, and ian holm as the spunky emerald fairy, Puck. (but for strict ian holm devotees, he appears at almost exactly 2 minutes... but for context i recommend you watch the whole clip.)

[al1936ful]

@unguapodel900 That's Helen Mirren at the beginning.

[baraxor]

Helen Mirren, Ian Holm, and David Warner all played characters on "SOS Titanic", and all of their characters somehow survived.

(David Warner then pushed his luck too far in the blockbuster "Titanic"!)

[GABZandB]

IT'S BILBOOOO! :D

And Lysander looks a bit like Adrian  Brody :P

[Anchoviakis]

Sir Ian Holm looks like Anthony Perkins in here))))))))))))

[JeremyIrons1fantoo]

I just love Michael Jayston, he is one of my favorite actors, his acting is superb, He's gorgeous in these early films

[pdutube]

As much as I love Dame Mirren I think they really phoned it in in this movie.

[kinganarkzie]

There's no sex in this. He's meant to be trying it on, he looks like he just speaking for the sake of it.

[coramunroe]

Oh my goodness - Ian Holm is awesome.

[DeaconBlues]

It must be that Bilbo lies dreaming this scene someplace as methinks he seems more like Gollum than his usual self. ;)