A Double Cherry Parted

Puck has mistakenly put some love-juice on Lysander's eyes, so now both he and Demetrius are in love with Helena, while nobody loves Hermia. Helena cannot believe that the two men are in love with her and accuses her best friend, Hermia, of plotting with Lysander and Demetrius to make fun of her.

Act 3, Scene 2: Another part of the wood

hermia: What love could press Lysander from my side?

lysander: Lysander's love, that would not let him bide¹,

Fair Helena, who more engilds² the night

Than all yon fiery oes³ and eyes of light.

[To hermia] Why seek'st thou me? Could not this make thee know 5

The hate I bare thee⁴ made me leave thee so?

hermia: You speak not as you think; it cannot be.

helena: Lo, she is one of this confederacy⁵.

Now I perceive⁶ they have conjoined⁷ all three

To fashion⁸ this false sport in spite of me⁹. 10

Injurious¹⁰ Hermia, most ungrateful maid¹¹

Have you conspired, have you with these contrived¹²

To bait¹³ me with this foul derision?

Is all the counsel¹⁴ that we two have shared -

The sisters' vows¹⁵, the hours that we have spent 15

When we have chid the hasty-footed time

For parting us¹⁶ – O, is all forgot?

All schooldays' friendship, childhood innocence?

We, Hermia, like two artificial¹⁷ gods

Have with our needles created both one flower¹⁸, 20

Both on one sampler¹⁹, sitting on one cushion,

Both warbling²⁰ of one song, both in one key,

As if our hands, our sides, voices, and minds

Had been incorporate²¹. So we grew together

Like to a double cherry, seeming parted 25

But yet an union in partition,

Two lovely berries moulded²² on one stem,

So with two seeming bodies but one heart,

Two of the first, like coats in heraldry,

Due but to one²³, and crowned with one crest²⁴. 30

And will you rent our ancient love asunder²⁵,

To join with men in scorning²⁶ your poor friend?

It is not friendly, 'tis not maidenly.

Our sex as well as I may chide you for it²⁷,

Though I alone do feel the injury. 35

GLOSSARY

1.bide: wait

2. engilds: brightens up, embellishes

3. oes: round, shiny pieces of material used to ornament dresses

4. bare thee: have for you

5. confederacy: conspiracy

6. perceive: see

7. conjoined: joined together

8. fashion: create

9. in spite of me: to spite me, to get at me

10. Injurious: hurtful, causing injury

11. maid: girl

12. contrived: planned in a secret way

13. bait: torment

14. counsel: talking as friends

15. vows: promises

16.When we have ... parting us: when we have criticised (chid) time because it went by too quickly (hasty-footed), forcing us to part, even though we would have liked to spend more time together

17. artificial: highly skilled in art

18. Have with our needles … flower: We embroidered a flower together

19. sampler: piece of embroidery

20. warbling: singing like a bird

21. incorporate: of one body

22. moulded: shaped

23. Two of the first ... Due but to one: like two bodies in one as on a heraldic shield

24. crest: decoration at the top of a heraldic shield

25. rent asunder: tear apart

26. scorning: rejecting

27. Our sex ... for it: all women will condemn you as I do

COMPREHENSION

1. Why does Lysander no longer love Hermia?

2. Does Hermia believe what Lysander says?

3. What does Helena think that Hermia, Lysander and Demetrius have joined together to do?

4. Why is she particularly angry with Hermia?

5. How long have Helena and Hermia been friends?

6. What activity does Helena recall them doing together? (Lines 19-24)

7. In lines 24-30 Helena makes two comparisons. What does she compare her friendship with Hermia to?

8. Does she believe that she will be the only one to criticise Hermia's behaviour?

ANALYSIS

1. In line 1 Hermia asks Lysander why he no longer loves her. How would you describe Lysander's reply?

• Truthful • Straightforward • Hurtful

• Insensitive • Reasonable

What justification can be given for Lysander's harsh reply?

2. Helena asks three questions in her attack on Hermia. Underline them in the text. What effect do you think Helena hopes to achieve through her questioning? She hopes:

• to embarrass Hermia into an admission of guilt.

• to win Hermia over to her side.

• to discredit Hermia in front of Lysander and Demetrius.

• to get answers and understand why Hermia has betrayed her.

3. In lines 19-24 Helena describes how she and Hermia embroidered a flower together as an example of how close they were as friends. Which adjectives would you choose to describe the example she chooses?

• Intimate • Feminine • Trivial

• Striking • Calming

4. Helena says that she and Hermia were a 'double cherry' (line 25). Do you think that this image is effective? Justify your answer

5. In lines 1-10 there is end-of-line rhyming. Write the same letter of the alphabet beside the words that rhyme. Read the lines aloud emphasising the rhyme pattern.

WRITER’S WORKSHOP

Blank verse. Heroic couplet ◊ Shakespeare's plays have been described as poetic drama. Part of what gives his work its poetic quality is the rhythm and musicality of the language. In the extract that you have read Shakespeare uses two verse forms: blank verse and rhyming (or heroic) couplets. Blank verse consists of unrhymed iambic pentameters – ten syllable lines in which unstressed syllables are followed by stressed syllables.

A rhyming couplet consists of two lines of iambic pentameter that rhyme in pairs: AA, BB, and so on.

Task

The first part of the extract that you have read is written in rhyming couplets, the second part is blank verse. At what point does the change take place? Say why you think the verse form changes. Consider the following points:

- as Helena gets angrier her language becomes freer;

- blank verse is better suited to the tone of what Helena is saying.

STAGING THE PLAY

Setting ◊ A Midsummer Night's Dream takes place in the daytime world of Athens, a state of disciplined order and down-to-earth reality, and the night-time world of the enchanted wood, a realm of disorder and fantasy. These two distinct settings must be created by stage scenery, properties (props) and lighting. Settings for a play may vary from extravagant expensive sets to essential or abstract staging, depending on the budget that is available and the personal preferences of the director. Whatever the case may be, the stage setting should not be a distraction but should enhance the audience's understanding of the play.

Over to you ◊ The speech in the Text takes place in the enchanted night-time wood where fairies and disorder rule. Work in groups and decide what stage scenery, props and lighting you would use for a performance of the speech in your classroom. Take into consideration the amount of time you have to prepare scenery and props, the space that is available and the possible sources of light. Be realistic in your suggestions. Discuss your proposals with other groups. Choose the best ideas and plan a performance.

OUT

Hermia and Helena have been friends since childhood but have fallen out because of a misunderstanding caused Puck's mistake. From your own experience and knowledge make a list of reasons why long, close friendships sometimes break up.

You Juggler! You Puppet!

Act 3, Scene 2: Another part of the wood

Hermia realises that Lysander really is in lave with Helena and does not love her anymore. She accuses Helena of stealing him from her.

hermia: O me, you juggler¹, you canker-blossom²,

You thief of love! What, have you come by night

And stolen my love's heart from him?

helena: Have you no modesty, no maiden³ shame,

No touch of bashfulness⁴? What, will you tear 5

Impatient answers from my gentle tongue⁵?

Fie⁶, fie, you counterfeit, you puppet⁷, you!

hermia: Puppet? Why so? - Ay, that way goes the game⁸.

Now I perceive⁹ that she hath made compare¹⁰

Between our statures¹¹. She hath urged her height, 10

And with her personage, her tall personage,

Her height, forsooth¹², she hath prevailed with him¹³.

And are you grown so high in his esteem¹⁴

Because I am so dwarfish¹⁵ and so low?

How low am I, thou painted maypole¹⁶? Speak! 15

How low am I? - I am not yet so low

But that my nails can reach unto your eyes¹⁷.

GLOSSARY

1. juggler: (artist who keeps objects in the air by throwing them up quickly and catching them again), trickster, deceiver

2. canker-blossom: a worm that eats into and destroys a flower

3. maiden: young woman, virgin

4. bashfulness: modesty

5. What, will... gentle tongue: are you trying to force me into answering you?

6. Fie: expression of disgust (arch.)

7. puppet: a small human being or animal

8. Ay, that way goes the game: so, that is the way she did it

9. perceive: see

10. hath made compare: compared

11. statures: heights

12. forsooth: truly

13. she hath prevailed with him: she has won him over

14. esteem: favourable opinion

15. dwarfish: like a dwarf, short

16. maypole: tall pole around which people danced on May Day

17. I am not yet... your eyes: I am tall enough to scratch your eyes out

COMPREHENSION

1. What does Hermia accuse Helena of doing?

2. Why does Hermia think Helena has called her a puppet?

3. What, according to Hermia, has Helena used to win Demetrius's love?

4. How does Hermia threaten to hurt Helena?

ANALYSIS

1. Hermia calls Helena a 'juggler', a 'canker-blossom' and a 'thief of love' (lines 1-2). Try to explain why she uses each of these offensive terms. Example:

She calls Helena a juggler because she plays with other people's emotions.

2. Helena accuses Hermia of being a 'counterfeit' and a 'puppet'. Which of the two insults offends Hermia more deeply? Do you think that Hermia is envious of Helena's height?

3. There is a pun in line 13: 'And are you grown so high in his esteem ...'. Can you explain it?

WRITER’S WORKSHOP

Comedy. Humour ◊ Comedy is a major form of drama. In it the characters amuse and entertain us rather than engage our profound concern. We are confident that great disasters will not occur and we know that the action will usually turn out happily for the chief characters.

Humour is the main ingredient of a comedy. It can be divided into three broad categories:

• verbal humour, when what the characters say is funny;

• behavioural humour, when what the characters do is funny;

• situational humour, when the situation the characters find themselves in is funny. In the case of most comedy the humour is a mixture of all three categories.

Task

Say whether the following are examples of verbal, behavioural or situational humour. - Hermia and Helena, two very refined, ladylike characters, insult each other and threaten each other with physical violence.

- Hermia, who previously was loved by both Lysander and Demetrius, is now despised by both of them.

- There is a double meaning in the expression 'high in his esteem' which means 'respected' but also may be a reference to the fact that Helena is very tall.

Over to you ◊ Make a list of three comic actors that you admire. Discuss whether their comedy is primarily based on verbal, behavioural or situational humour or if it is a mixture of all three.

STAGING THE PLAY

Movement ◊ Movement can be used to reveal character and mood to the audience. A character may change the way he walks, for example, according to the mood he is in. Movement can also be used to indicate the relationships between characters. One character may, for example, walk away from another in disgust or slowly approach another in a confrontation that produces rising tension. Where characters should stand and how they should move must be carefully planned in the rehearsal stages of a play.

Over to you ◊ The characters in the Text feel a range of strong emotions including anger, hatred, shock, insecurity, disgust and vengeance. Discuss how each character is feeling as she delivers her lines. Work on how you are going to convey these emotions through the character's movements. Experiment with space. Have two actors perform the piece standing as far apart as possible and then as close to each other as possible. Which of the two options worked best? Are some of the lines better shouted from a distance? Are other lines more effective whispered fiercely at close physical contact? Have the two actors act out the scene using numbers instead of the script. This will allow them to focus on movement and body language.

On the basis of your experimentation decide how the characters should move in this scene and then prepare a performance.

OUT

Wouldn't it be nice sometimes to live under the protection of a magic spell like the sleeping couples in Midsummer Night's Dream?

If you were living under a magic spell, how would you like your life to change? Here are two examples to help you:

I would be able to read people's minds.

I would be protected from all forms of physical danger.