Starter quiz
- In 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', what is the name of Hermia's father?
- Theseus
- Lysander
- Egeus ✓
- Oberon
- Demetrius
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- Where is 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' set?
- England
- the theatre
- London
- Athens ✓
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- In 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', who does Egeus want Hermia to marry?
- Bottom
- Oberon
- Theseus
- Lysander
- Demetrius ✓
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- In 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', Hermia faces punishment if she doesn't obey her father and marry Demetrius. What punishments does she face?
- being killed by the state ✓
- having to become a nun ✓
- being sent to prison
- banishment to the forest outside Athens
- forced marriage to a man she doesn't love ✓
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- In 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', what supernatural or magical elements does Shakespeare include in the play?
- witches
- a magical forest ✓
- a sleeping potion
- fairies ✓
- a love potion ✓
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- In 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', why might we describe Athens, where the play is set, as patriarchal?
- It's a society in which women are considered equal to men.
- It's a society in which women are considered superior to men.
- It's a society in which women are considered inferior to men. ✓
- It's a society in which women are considered equal to fairies.
- It's a society in which women are considered inferior to fairies.
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Exit quiz
- 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' was first performed in around 1595. What is the name for the play's first audiences?
- Jacobean
- Athenian
- Shakespearean
- Elizabethan ✓
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- Who was on the throne when Shakespeare wrote 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'?
- Queen Elizabeth II
- King James I
- Queen Victoria
- Queen Elizabeth I ✓
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- 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' was first watched by an Elizabethan audience. What were some common expectations of Elizabethan women?
- to obey their husbands ✓
- to accept their superiority to men
- to obey fathers ✓
- to obey their mothers
- to accept their inferiority to men ✓
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- A pupil said, 'When 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' was first performed, women were considered men's equals.' How might you respond to this statement?
- Correct - because when the play was written, the monarch was a woman.
- Correct - this is why Hermia has the power to run away from Athens.
- Incorrect - Elizabethan society was patriarchal. ✓
- Incorrect - women were considered superior because the monarch was a woman.
- Incorrect - women were considered equal only if they had supernatural powers.
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- In Act 1, Scene 1 of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', Egeus says Lysander has "______" Hermia and that is why she has fallen in love with him.
- 'bewitched' ✓
- In Act 1, Scene 1 of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', Egeus says Demetrius has his "______" to marry Hermia, whereas Lysander does not.
- 'consent' ✓
Worksheet
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Lesson Details
Key learning points
- ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ was first performed to an Elizabethan audience.
- Elizabethans believed women should obey their fathers and husbands.
- Elizabethans believed the supernatural was evil.
- Shakespeare included ideas about the patriarchy and the supernatural in his plays as a way to connect to his audiences.
- When writing about ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, you should include context to help develop your ideas.
Common misconception
The characters in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' are Elizabethan.
The play's first audiences were Elizabethan, and Shakespeare explores Elizabethan attitudes and ideas in the play. But the play is set in Athens many centuries before the Elizabethan period.
Keywords
Context - information about when and why a text was written that helps us understand a text more deeply
Supernatural - something that can’t be explained by the laws of nature
Patriarchy - a society in which men hold the power; the laws and structure of that society prevent women from having power
Bewitch - to put a magical spell on someone
Elizabethan - a person alive when Elizabeth I was on the throne (1558-1603); the first audiences of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ were Elizabethan
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