Monologue

Helena Monologue from A Midsummer Night's Dream

From A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

female · anguished · 56 sec

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Have you not set Lysander, as in scorn, To follow me, and praise my eyes and face? And made your other love, Demetrius, Who even but now did spurn me with his foot, To call me goddess, nymph, divine and rare, Precious, celestial? Wherefore speaks he this To her he hates? And wherefore doth Lysander Deny your love, so rich within his soul, And tender me, forsooth, affection, But by your setting on, by your consent? What though I be not so in grace as you, So hung upon with love, so fortunate, But miserable most, to love unlov’d? This you should pity rather than despise.

About this piece

Helena expresses her feelings of betrayal and confusion regarding the affections of Lysander and Demetrius, highlighting her unrequited love and the pain it brings her.

20s · sadness · love · jealousy · betrayal · identity

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