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Helena: Act 3, Scene 2, lines 192-219.mp3Audio Rendition by Dorothy Li
Helena: Act 3, Scene 2, Lines 192-219
Helena: Act 3, Scene 2, Lines 192-219
"Helena. Lo, she is one of this confederacy!
Now I perceive they have conjoined all three
To fashion this false sport, in spite of me.
Injurious Hermia! Most ungrateful maid!
Have you conspired, have you with these contrived
To bait me with this foul derision?
Is all the counsel that we two have shared,
The sister’s vows, the hours that we have spent,
When we have chid, the hasty-footed time
For parting us—O, is all forgot?
All school days friendship, childhood innocence?
We, Hermia, like two artificial gods,
Have with our needles created both one flower,
Both on one sampler, sitting on one cushion,
Both warbling of one song, both in one key;
As if our hands, our sides, voices, and minds,
Had been incorporate. So we grew together.
Like to a double cherry, seeming parted,
But yet an union in partition;
Two lovely berries molded on one stem;
So, with two seeming bodies, but one heart;
Two of the first, like coats in heraldry,
Due but to one, and crownèd with one crest.
And will you rent our ancient love asunder,
To join with men in scorning your poor friend?
It is not friendly, ‘tis not maidenly.
Our sex, as well as I, may chide you for it,
Though I alone do feel the injury."
COMEDY IN WOE
COMEDY IN WOE
In Act 3, Scene 2 of Shakepspeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, the play brings back together the pair of couples in the middle of the maze-like fairy forest, now with Demetrius and Lysander madly in love with Helena and Hermia completely baffled by the situation. Hermia soon questions about the situation, but then Helena retorts back with anger, betrayal, and frustration, believing that Hermia is behind this scheme to make fun of her. They go on to bicker while Demetrius and Lysander continue to be influenced by the juice of cupid's flower and eventually they all give chase once again, but this time in pursuit of a fight rather than one of love—Hermia after Helena and Demetrius after Lysander (and vice-versa as well). Chaos ensues once again in the forest till Puck tricks everyone to fall asleep and returns them back to their regular states.
I wanted to capture these feelings of anger and hurt Helena presents at the beginning of the monologue, full of exclamatory statements and cacophony of words, spitting out "contrived" and "foul" with a lot of spite! But as her speech continues on, anger transitions to sadness and perhaps a bit of fondness and melancholy as she reminisces about the fond times they had together as friends. She remembers their vows of sisterhood and how they cursed time for keeping them apart, making way for an emotional breakthrough with her question "O, is all forgot?" She does not want to really believe that Hermia can trick her like this, nor does she want it to rip apart their friendship, but by the end of the monologue she resolves herself to this belief, returning back to harsh words like "rent" and "asunder" and scolding her for her deceit.
Though I mainly focused on the feelings of betrayal and loss in Helena's speech, I also tried to make it as exaggerated and dramatic as possible (within my novice voice acting capabilities) for a more comical rendition of the scene. She goes on about how Hermia's actions have hurt her, but we should not forget how this situation came to be in the first place. By telling Demetrius of Hermia's plans to elope with Lysander in the beginning of the play, Helena also sets herself up when she betrays Hermia first, thus coming full circle from her initial betrayal. This use of irony plays well into the more lighthearted and comedic atmosphere of the play, giving way to Helena and Hermia's childish bickering and taunts at one another after Helena's monologue.
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