A Midsummer

Night’s DreamWilliam Shakespeare

S2 Unit: Exploring Shakespeare

Unit Structure:Lesson 1 – Title discussion, brainstorm on words. Shakespeare introduction (context, life, the man behind the play. Biography. Look at first scene. Shakespearean comedies: Look at features of this. Not a comedy to fit our understanding but comedy is more varied in Shakespearean times. Keep in mind that it is a comedy and review at the end if you found it funny and entertaining.

Lesson 2 - Examine Egeus’ speech (translate into modern English. Introduction to characters. Spider diagram of what you know about these characters.

Lesson 3 - Look in depth at the problems for the female characters. How would you feel in their position? Do you feel sympathy for them? Why? Write a letter to a problem page for either Hermia, Helena, or Egeus or Lysander. Extension work: write the advice that you would give to this character.

Lesson 4 - The fairies. Importance of Fairies and magic in Shakespeare’s England? Court case surrounding the argument between Oberon and Titania (bring in debating values).

Lesson 5 - Magic potion. Write your own magic potion recipe. What does it do? Side effects? Would this be more useful for the plot than the love juice they use? Sales pitch. Do the fairies meddle or is their help useful? What do you think of Puck?

Lesson 6 - Oberon’s revenge: Titania and Bottom. Draw a cartoon strip depicting the encounter between these two characters. Do you feel sympathetic to Titania and/or Bottom?

Lesson 7 - The lovers’ plight to fight. Relationships disintegrating. The course of true love never did run smooth. How true is this statement? Hot seat each of the lovers to obtain a deeper understanding of their feelings at this particular time.

Lesson 8 - Look at Shakespearen language and in particular insults. The Poem highlighting the words that Shakespeare invented. Make up a new insult using Shakespearean words.

Lesson 9-10:

Lesson 11 – Gossip Columist writing on finding the lovers in the forest. Reaction to this scandal. Interview with Theseus about his recation to this scene. Look at Lysander’s speech. Is this effective in saving the lovers from the fate of Athenian law? If Hermia had been allowed to make this speech what do you think she might have said to Theseus and her father? Write a monologue for hermia. Volunteers to perform these in class.

Lesson 12 – Wedding celebration. Imagine your group were guests at the wedding. Describe the scene (either the actual wedding and/or the performance of the workers) Did you have fun? Write a review for the play.

Lesson 13 – Final scene. Puck asking for acceptance of the audience or he can use magic to wipe the scenes from their minds. Given group poster project to do. Q and A session to ensure that pupils understanding the task. Assign roles within the group and discuss what to include.

Lesson 14-15 – Work on project. Use resources and teacher support to complete poster.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream:Group Poster

Each Poster Should include Pictures and Text on the following:

A Summary of the plot Descriptions of the characters of: Oberon, Titania, Puck, Duke

Theseus, Hippolyta, Egeus, Hermia, Helena, Lysander, Demetrius, Bottom and the other mechanicals.

Cartoon of Titania falling in love with Bottom (use quotations as caption or simple own word captions)

Helena’s Diary. Wedding Invitation. Programme of the play. A Review of the Performance of ‘Pyramus and Thisby’ The Fairies.

Divide these tasks amongst each member of the group.

What is the Play about?

The play you are going to read is called

A Midsummer Night’s DreamWriters always try to choose a title which will

‘hook’ the reader give the reader an idea of what the novel is about

PAIR ACTIVITY

Look at the picture on the book cover Think of the title of the story. What do the words MIDSUMMER, NIGHT and DREAM

make you think of. What do you already know about the story. How do the words of the title and your knowledge guide you in what the play will be about.

With your partner write down any ideas and expectations of the play from your first impressions and previous knowledge.

Ideas on what the story might be about

Why we think this

EXAMINING THE MAIN PLOT AND SUB-PLOT A Midsummer Night’s Dream can sometimes get a bit confusing

because it is 4 stories in one play.

The main plot is centred around the four lovers :

- Act 1 scene 1

- Act 2 scene 1

- Act 2 scene 2

- Act 3 scene 2

- Act 4 scene 1

But then there is also the story of Theseus and Hippolyta: - Act 1 scene 1

- Act 4 scene 1

- Act 5 scene 1

The fairies:

- Act 2 scene 1

- Act 3 scene 1

- Act 4 scene 1

- Act 5

Bottom and the Workmen:

- Act 1 scene 1

- Act 3 scene 1

- Act 4 scene 1

- Act 5

TRACKING THE PLOTScene Log

Act/Scene

Time/Place

Characters Action Comments

1/1 Athens, the court

Theseus, Hippolyta, Egeus, Hermia, Lysander,

Egeus comes to court to complain about

Arranged marriages were usual but Egeus does seem harsh.

Demetrius Hermia. She wants to marry Lysander but Egeus wants her to marry Demetrius

Understanding Shakespearean Comedy

"Comedy", in Elizabethan times, had a different meaning from modern comedy. A Shakespearean comedy has a happy ending. That is the main feature of comedies. Happy endings usually involve marriages at the end.

Shakespearean comedies share similarities with fairy tales. Particularly this play with the fairies (Oberon, Titania and Puck).

Comedies also include:

young lovers rebelling against the older characters (parents) mistaken identity separation subplots a clever servant Humour

And MUST have a HAPPY ENDING!!

INDIVIDUAL/PAIR ACTIVITY

1. Rate what you think are the three most important ingredients for comedy (people behaving silly? Confusion? A happy ending? Funny costumes?)

2. Does the play tick all the requirements?3. Have you seen any examples of these so far? Note down any examples of

events or characters which back up the features of a comedy. Fill the rest in as examples appear through the play.

Comedy Feature Evidence Personal Reaction

Young Lovers

Humour

Clever Servant

Mistaken Identity

Separation

Sub-plots

Happy Ending

At the end: REVIEW – even though a Shakespearean comedy does not need to be funny. Did anyone find any part of A Midsummer Night’s Dream amusing?

Not even Puck? Or the lovers fighting in the forest?

About William Shakespeare

Read about the life of William Shakespeare. Underline the facts you think are most important

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford upon Avon in 1564. He was the son of John Shakespeare, a wealthy merchant. He went to the local grammar school until his father’s business began to fail in 1577.

In 1580, at the age of 18, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway. His daughter Susanna, was born in 1583, and twins Hamnet and Judith were born in 1585.

In 1586 Shakespeare went to London and became an actor. From about 1591-1592 he started writing plays.

Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. He wrote a large selection of sonnets, and a range of plays from comedies, to tragedies to histories.

He was known as England’s national poet and the “Bard of Avon.”

In 1613 he retired to Stratford upon Avon and settled there for the rest of his life. He died in 1616

Look at the information above. Use this to create a social network profile for Shakespeare. Use the template to show details about his life. You can do further research into his life to gain extra facts about him or

just write what you think he would say. Try and include his name, date of birth, place of birth and interests. Have fun.

Elizabethan Social Network

Name:

Gender:

B Birthday:

Relationship Status:

Hometown:

Photos of Me

Edit my profile

Friends:

Current location:

Bio:

Education:

Work:

Interests:

Contact Information:

What is on your mind?:

Edit Profile

Delete Contact

PLot

Main events:

Theseus and Hippolyta are looking forward to their wedding. Egeus demands that his daughter Hermia should marry Demetrius, not Lysander. So she decides to run away and marry Lysander. They tell Helena who then tells Demetrius (as she loves him)

A group of Athenians decides to stage Pyramus and Thisbe for the Duke’s wedding. Bottom wants to play all the parts. They decide to rehearse in the woods.

Puck tells us about the conflict between Oberon and Titania. When they meet they accuse each other of having affairs. Oberon sends Puck to fetch a flower which makes people fall in love with the first person they see when they wake up. Oberon sees Demetrius and Helena and decides to make Demetrius love her. He tells Puck to use the juice of the flower on Demetrius when he is near Helena.

While Titania sleeps, Oberon squeezes the juice in her eyes. Puck uses the juice on Lysander instead of Demetrius. Helena wakes Lysander and he falls in love with her. He leaves Hermia and follows Helena.

The workers rehearse the play. Puck gives Bottom a donkey’s head. The others run away when they see him. Bottom wakes Titania by singing and she falls in love with him.

Puck tells Oberon what he did to Lysander and Bottom. Oberon realises that Puck got the wrong man and applies magic juice to Demetrius’s eyes. He also falls in love when Helena when he wakes. Lysander challenges Demetrius to a duel. Oberon orders Puck to leave Demetrius in love with Helena and make Lysander back in love with Hermia, so he does.

When Bottom and Titania fall asleep, Oberon removes the enchantment from Titania and wakes her. Puck removes the donkey head from Bottom.

The duke and his hunting party wake the lovers. The lovers find it hard to remember the events of the night. Egeus demands that they should be punished. Theseus overrules him and invites the lovers to be married in a joint ceremony with him and Hippolyta.

Back in Athens, the workers mourn Bottom. They rejoice when he arrives and announces that their play has been chosen to be performed.

After the marriage ceremony, the play is performed. The audience mock the performance.

When the play is over, Oberon and Titania enter and bless the newly-weds. Puck finishes the play by asking the audience’s approval.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Scheme of Work

1.Title:

The title of the play is displayed on the board and the pupils are asked if they know anything about the play.Group Activity: Brainstorm Midsummer, Night and Dream separately to see what they might suggest about the play.

Midsummer: the longest day, hot, fun, holiday, adventure, pagan celebration (the fire festival/bonfires were used to protect against evil spirits), summer solstice, the nativity of John the Baptist, Midsummer plants were believed to have healing properties.

Night: dark, secretive, spooky, witching hour, scary, danger, evil, fear of the unknown, vulnerability, survival, magic (more powerful at night), blackness-symbol of villainy, non-existence and lack of knowledge.

Dream: fantasy, take you away from reality, transport to another world, anything is possible, escape who you are and become what you hope to be, hope, fears and desires, subconscious, messages, dreams were historically used for healing, guidance and divine inspiration, possibility, freedom, sleep, relaxed, vulnerable, visions.

3 Stray One Stay: so that the ideas of the whole class can be built upon and collected through the possibility of discussion with others.

Think, Pair and Share: Pupils should write a summary of the play in one sentence and then, in pairs, create a one paragraph summary using the quotes provided.Volunteers to share their summary paragraphs with the whole class.Pupils then watch and read the speech of Egeus. In pairs pupils summarise who each character is.

Performing a Speech

Pair Activity

Look at Egeus’ speech.

Read through it carefully and underline any words you do not understand. Answer the questions: 1) Who does Egeus want Hermia to marry?

2) What punishment does her want for Hermia?

3) What impact does this have on Hermia?

4) How does he say Lysander got her to fall in

love with him?

Make a list of these tricks and any other way the lovers have been drawn together.

Once you are confident you understand what the speech is about practice it with a partner.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is made to be performed so read it aloud, act it out. Be creative. Aim to get a feel for the language and the overall play.

Assign roles. One be the actor and the other the coach. Provide nice and helpful comments and help . Then swap roles so both have chance to rehearse the speech.

Volunteers can then perform the speech to the whole class in the character of Egeus to help improve the understanding of the speech and the character of Egeus.

Full of vexation come I, with complaint

Against my child, my daughter Hermia.

Stand forth Demetrius. My noble lord,

This man hath my consent to marry her.

Stand forth, Lysander. And my gracious duke,

This man hath bewitched the bosom of my child.

Thou, thou, Lysander, thou hast given her rhymes,

And interchanged love-tokens with my child.

Thou hast by moonlight at her window sung,

With feigning voice, verses of feigning love,

And stolen the impression of her fantasy …

… With cunning hast thou filched my daughter’s heart,

Turned her obedience, which is due to me,

To stubborn harshness. And, my gracious duke,

Be it so she will not here before your grace

Consent to marry with Demetrius,

I beg the ancient privilege of Athens.

As she is mine, I may dispose of her:

Which shall be either to this gentleman,

Or to her death, according to our law

Immediately provided in that case.

Act One, Scene One

Sympathy Log

Your feelings towards the characters are very important in impacting the way you read and understand the play.

Do you feel sympathy for any of the characters so far?

You have met all the lovers now. Do you feel more sympathetic towards some rather than others?

Rate the level of sympathy you feel for each character. (if you would like to add other characters to your comparison, you can do so). Circle the number that corresponds to the amount of sympathy you feel.

Character Rating(0=no sympathy, 5=lots of sympathy

Hermia 0 1 2 3 4 5Helena 0 1 2 3 4 5Lysander 0 1 2 3 4 5Demetrius 0 1 2 3 4 5

Transfer this data onto your graph.

Which character do you feel the most sympathy for? Why?

Which character do you feel the least sympathy for? Why?

Hermia Helena Lysander Demetrius0

1

2

3

4

5

Compare the sympathy you feel for the lovers in Act One

Column1Column2Column3

Character

Leve

l of S

ympa

thy

Introduction to the Fairies

As soon as we meet the fairies we find that the King and Queen are in the middle of a fight.

1. What are they fighting about?

Imagine you are one of the fairies ruled by Oberon and Titania. Look at the arguments for Titania and those for Oberon having custody of the child.

Reasons to Support TITANIA Reasons to Support OBERON

Read Act Two, scene one, page 57-65 to help you

Which character do you think should have custody of the child?Why?

Write a script/role play with a partner a conversation between two fairies about who they should support? Do they support the same character? Are they having an argument? What do they have to say?

Magic Potion Pair Activity

Today you are going to create your own Love potion.

Think about:

The ingredients The method of preparation The magic spell connected with the potion (look at the spells cast by Oberon

and Puck. Does it rhyme?) What the potion and spell will do? And to whom?

Shakespeare’s example:

Flower of the purple dye,

Hit with Cupid’s archery,

Sink in apple of his eye.

When his love he does espy,

Let her shine as gloriously

As the Venus of the sky.

When thou wak’st, if she be by,

Beg of her for remedy.

On the ground

Sleep sound

I’ll apply

To your eye,

Gentle lover, remedy.

Jack shall have Jill;

Naught shall go ill;

The man shall have his mare again,

And all shall be well.

The Character of PuckPair Activity

Complete the following activity. Decide if each statement about Puck is true or false.

Statement True False1. Puck gives bottom an ass’s head

2. Puck follows instructions accurately

3. Puck is well behaved and friendly

4. Puck meddles with the love life of the young lovers.5. Puck is well known among the humans for his bad

behaviour

What do you think about his character? Would you like to meet him? If you were, Oberon, the lovers or the mechanicals?

Puck has a reputation for mischief

Think about the mischievous things that Puck gets up to. Imagine what tricks he might play on a school teacher if he had the chance.

Create a wanted poster for Puck: Have a brief description of the trick he has played, have the interpretation of the teacher and their opinion on Puck and the situation. Is there a reward? Where was he last seen?

WANTED!

Character Development

You are going to write a letter to the agony aunt (or uncle) of the ATHENIAN TRIBUNE.

Write this letter from either: Hermia, Helena, or Egeus.

The PURPOSE of the letter is to ask for ADVICE about your worries.Keep the letter in the first person (I, me) because you are writing from the point of view of the character.

HERMIA:

- Describe her father’s demands and how she feels about these unreasonable qualities

- Her feelings for Lysander- Her response to Demetrius’ love- Look at Act one, scene one, page 31-42

HELENA:

- Describe her feelings for Demetrius- Demetrius’ treatment of her and how she feels about this- Her jealousy of Hermia- Look at Act one, scene one page 39-43

EGEUS:

- His complaints about his daughter’s behaviour- His feelings about the rival claims of Lysander and Demetrius- His response to Theseus’ wise decision (Do you think that he might be

worried about what will happen to Hermia?)- Look at Act one, scene one, page 29-37

Hot Seating: Character development

WANTED!

Group Activity

- Each group will be given a character to look at (hermia, Helena, Lysander, Demetrius, Puck or Oberon).

- Look through the play so far and do a spider diagram for your character. Use your notes and the text.

- Pick a volunteer from the group to be this character and answer questions from the other groups.

- Think what questions you would ask the other characters. What would help you understand the scene and the characters even more? What information does the play not give you?

- E.g. How are you feeling about this situation? Why did you do that? Etc.- Once ever group is ready the volunteers will take a seat at the front of class and

answer the questions from the other pupils. You MUST stay in character.

When Looking in depth at Helena you might want to think about:

Her relationship with Hermia. Why are they fighting? Has she said anything she might regret? Has she been upset by this argument?

Her feelings for Demetrius. Her confusion over his change in emotions. Does she feel like he is being genuine? Is she upset by his behaviour?

The situation with Lysander falling in love with her. Trying to get rid of him. Is she upset by his treatment of her? Who does she blame?

What does she do? What does she say? This is an emotional time for her, she is very upset and feeling confused by the

whole situation. Her feelings of jealousy come into view and situations escalate. How do you think she feels? She is not under a spell, but is suffering at the hands of magic.

When looking at Hermia, you might want to think about:

Her jealousy towards the attention Helena is getting. Her anger at Demetrius. Her upset at the absence of Lysander’s love for her. How does she react to this change in affections. What does she say? She is also not under a spell, is this important.

When looking at Lysander, you might want to think about:

Why he loves Helena now instead of Hermia? Does he understand what is happening? Does he feel confused? Or does he just accept this alteration?

His dislike of Hermia His rivalry with Demetrius What does he do?

What does he say? How do you think he is feeling? Is it any different than he was feeling before?

When looking at Demetrius, you might want to think about:

How have his feelings changed? His feelings towards Helena, Hermia and Lysander. What he does What he says

When looking at Puck, you might want to think about:

What has he done to the lovers? His reaction to mix up with the love juice? Does he find it entertaining? Why? His behaviour towards Bottom and the other workers. Does he seem like a good or bad character? Does he feel any concern or worry?

When looking at Oberon, you might want to think about:

His reaction to Puck’s mistake. Is he angry? Does his reaction differ from Puck’s?

His feelings towards the news about Titania and Bottom Does he seem like a good character? What he says What he does

Shakespeare’s LanguageWhat are your first impressions on Shakespeare’s language?

Read this poem:

Did you understand most o0f the words in that?

They were invented by Shakespeare, so you see lots of the words that we use today were created by Shakespeare. He doesn’t seem so old fashioned now does he.

Also don’t get caught up in the language, it is a drama and therefore it is the combination of seeing and hearing which provide a full understanding.

The key differences with Shakespeare is:

Thee, thou and thy: What do you think they mean? Do they just sound all posh and old?

‘tis instead of it is (easy enough, once you know what it means) Shakespeare was very creative with language and some words now don’t have

the same meaning or aren’t used anymore. What do you think RUDE, WEEDS and DISFIGURE mean? Encourage them to shout out suggestions.

We have just seen the lovers all insulting each other. Hands up anyone who thought these insults were daft or amusing.

Take one of the insults, Write down what you might be an accurate translation. Then look it up in the text to see what it actually means? Is it more or less insulting?

Look at the words that Shakespeare uses and make up your own insult. Write a short conversation between two of the lovers (just a couple of sentences) and use your new insult.

The Athenian Tribune

The lovers are discovered in the forest by Theseus.

You are the reporter first on scene.

These lovers are the local celebrities and everyone wants to know the truth about this scandal.

Write your gossip column about this revelation.

- Where were the lovers found?- Why were they there?- What had happened?- What is your reaction to their discovery?- You can also include an interview with Theseus to tell your

readers his recation to these events?- You should also use quotes from the text to show the

feelings and excuses of the lovers.

Remember your readers want to know what is happening.

Make it interesting and fun.

Do not just state the facts, the readers want to hear the true scandal of the situation.

SimilaritiesNow you have read the whole play. What do you understand about the characters.

Can you see any similarities between any of the characters.

Hermia and Helena

Lysander and Demtrius Titania and Oberon and Hippolyta and Theseus

Puck and Bottom

Are there any other similarities between any characters.

What is your impression of all the characters now.

Write one sentence about how you feel about each character.

- Do you like them?- Why?

Is this different to how you felt about them at the beginning of the play.

Why?

Do you think it is to do with the magic?

The way Puck speaks at the end of the play, it sounds like he can and might be able to put a magic spell on you. Maybe the power of the play to change your mind is Shakespeare’s magic. What do you think?

Are any characters very different to all the others.

What about Egeus? He probably isn’t very happy at the end of the play? He seems to be the bad guy throughout the whole play.

Do you think using Puck to end the play is a good choice?

Why?

How does it make you feel?

FREEZE FRAMES

Look at this photo.

Use one word to describe this scene.

Describe what you think is happening.

In groups each take the identity of one of these characters and think if your character could just step out of the photograph and speak to the audience in a soliloquy what would they say?

Think about what your character might say. Look at your text to see if it will give you any guidance and then take the positions shown in the photo. One by one step out and speak your thoughts.

After you have done that discuss in your groups if anyone was surprised by what any of the characters said. Why which ones? What did you expect? Did you have any expectations.

Feedback to the whole class anything that you found interesting during this activity.