Starter quiz
- In Act 2 of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', many of the characters are in a magical forest. Match each character, or sets of characters, to the reason they are in the magical forest.
- Oberon and Titania⇔rule over the magical kingdom ✓
- Lysander and Hermia⇔running away from Athens to marry ✓
- Demetrius⇔following the woman he loves ✓
- Helena⇔following the man she loves ✓
- Bottom⇔rehearsing a play ✓
- 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' was first performed in 1605. As such, its first audiences were...
- Athenians
- Shakespeareans
- Jacobeans
- Elizabethans ✓
- Victorians
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- Elizabethan England, like Athens in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', was a patriarchal society. What is a patriarchal society?
- a society ruled by the supernatural
- a society ruled by women
- a society in which women's access to power is limited ✓
- a society ruled by nobles
- a society ruled by men ✓
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- In 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', the setting of Athens is presented as patriarchal. How?
- The play opens with men holding power over women. ✓
- Egeus and Theseus dominate the dialogue with Hermia. ✓
- Demetrius is able to follow Lysander into the forest, unlike Helena.
- As her father, Egeus is able to do what he wishes with Hermia. ✓
- As a woman, Hermia is able to say who she wants to marry.
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- In 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', the magical forest is a place of chaos and confusion. What are some examples of chaos and confusion that occur there?
- Titania and Oberon rule over the fairy kingdom.
- Titania falls in love with Bottom. ✓
- The Athenian nobles marry each other without their parents' consent.
- Egeus demands Hermia obey him.
- Puck mistakenly puts the magical potion on Lysander. ✓
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- In Act 1 of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', Lysander and Hermia run away to escape being punished by what Lysander calls "the ______ Athenian law".
- 'sharp' ✓
Exit quiz
- Shakespeare wrote 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' for an Elizabethan audience. As such, the play explores ideas that were important to Elizabethans. Match the key ideas and concepts to their meanings.
- hierarchy⇔a system whereby people or things are ranked ✓
- status quo⇔the accepted standards and rules by which a community lives ✓
- The Great Chain of Being⇔a system of ranking which Elizabethans believed was created by God ✓
- patriarchy⇔a society in which men hold the power ✓
- A pupil said of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream': "The forest is purely a place of disorder and chaos." How would you correct them?
- Athens is just as full of disorder and chaos.
- Titania follows all of Bottom's orders.
- Oberon and Puck make sure to restore the status quo. ✓
- The magical potion is only ever used to help others.
- The forest has a hierarchy (monarchs) so it is not complete chaos. ✓
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- A pupil said of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream': "The forest is just as ordered as Athens." How would you correct them?
- The forest is a place where unexpected transformations happen, unlike in Athens. ✓
- The forest has no hierarchy, unlike Athens.
- The forest sees low and high status characters in relationships, unlike Athens. ✓
- There are no strict laws in the forest, unlike in Athens. ✓
- Theseus rules over the forest, just as he does Athens.
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- Elizabethans believed in a system of ranking called The Great Chain of Being. Starting with the most important, rank each section of society according Elizabethan ideas of importance.
- 1⇔God
- 2⇔angels
- 3⇔monarchs
- 4⇔Church
- 5⇔noble people
- 6⇔people
- 7⇔animals
- In 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', in what ways would the action in the forest disrupt Elizabethan ideas of the status quo?
- Oberon and Puck restore order at the end of Act 4.
- Hermia and Helena have a fight despite being friends.
- Two characters are trying to marry without a parent's consent. ✓
- The poor Athenian actors practice their play in the forest.
- A high status character is in love with a low status character. ✓
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- ______ is a term that was used by Elizabethans to refer to a system of ranking, a system which Elizabethans believed was created by God.
- 'The Great Chain of Being' ✓
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Lesson Details
Key learning points
- Elizabethans believed that everyone had their place in society, a hierarchy they called The Great Chain of Being.
- To question or disrupt this hierarchy was a threat to society.
- The theatre was a place you could explore disorder because what was on stage wasn’t real life.
- It was even safer to explore disorder in a setting that wasn’t associated with law and order, a setting like a forest.
- Whilst much disorder takes place in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, order is restored at the end of the play.
Common misconception
Oberon and Puck deliberately try and create disorder between Hermia, Lysander, Helena and Demetrius.
Oberon orders Puck to put the magical potion on Demetrius so that he falls in love with Helena. Puck makes a genuine mistake by putting it on Lysander.
Keywords
Hierarchy - a system whereby people or things are ranked, with some being higher than others.
Status quo - the accepted standards and rules by which a community lives.
Disorder - confusion, chaos.
Restore - to return something back to its original state.
The great chain of being - a term used by Elizabethans which referred to a system of ranking which they believed was created by God.
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