This unique tale blends humor, fantasy, and romance into one enthralling play. Written by Shakespeare around 1595, A Midsummer Night's Dream has become a favorite of many actors and lovers of theater. It features devious fairies, young people in love, and a play within a play.
Despite being one of Shakespeare's most popular works, A Midsummer Night's Dream can be a tough play to follow. It contains four plots, and as Puck's work unfolds, things can get a little strange. With the help of these activities, your students will master this comedy and become pros with Shakespeare!
A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare is a fanciful comedy centered around Puck (also called Robin Goodfellow), a magical fairy-like creature. The play begins with the Duke of Athens preparing to wed the Queen of the Amazons. During preparations for the festival, two young men, Demetrius, and Lysander meet a young nobleman’s daughter, Hermia. Both men fall in love with her, but her father only gives her permission to marry Demetrius. However, it is Lysander that Hermia loves. She makes plans to run away with Lysander and tells her best friend, Helena. Unbeknownst to Hermia, Helena is in love with Demetrius, and plans to tell him in hopes of winning him over.
Meanwhile, Puck is sent on a quest by Oberon, King of the Fairies, to find a magical Cupid-like flower so that he can punish Titania, the Queen of the Fairies, and force her to give him a changeling for his servant. When the flower is sprinkled on a sleeping person's eyelids, they will fall desperately in love with the first thing they see when they wake up. Puck uses the flower on Titania, who wakes up to see a hapless basket-weaver and actor, Bottom, whose face has been turned into that of a donkey. Due to the mischievous nature of fairies, issues again arise when Puck tries to intervene with the predicaments of Hermia, Helena, Demetrius, and Lysander, who have all run away to the forest. After sprinkling dust in each of the men's eyes, they both fall in love with Helena, forgetting Hermia. This creates intense jealousy between the women, and renewed rivalry between the men, who challenge each other to a fight to win Helena.
After some time, Puck is forced to fix his mistakes. However, while rectifying things, Demetrius truly falls in love with Helena. At this time, the Duke of Athens arrives, finding the lovers in the woods, and is told the story. He insists that they are all wed during his wedding ceremony. After the wedding, Bottom's troupe performs a comical version of a play, Pyramus and Thisbe. In the end, only Puck remains on stage. He begs the audiences' forgiveness for his embarrassing mistakes and prays everyone remembers the play as if it were only a dream.
Někdy mají studenti ze slova Shakespeare takové obavy, že se do hry ani nedostanou, protože si myslí, že je příliš těžké. Jen zajistěte studentům, že je toho hodně, čemu mohou porozumět, a tvrdě pracujte na tom, abyste s nimi tato spojení vytvořili.
Jazyk Shakespeara může být pro studenty obtížně srozumitelný, proto věnujte nějaký čas studentům objasňování myšlenek. Můžete jim pomoci zapojit se do textu a jejich nadšení je pak může nést.
Studenti se nejlépe učí praxí a storyboardy jsou pro ně skvělým způsobem, jak aktivovat učení. Když se na prvky příběhu podívají optikou obrázků a popisů, studenti dokážou rozložit náročné nápady do lépe zvládnutelných konceptů.
Někteří lidé si myslí, že Shakespeare může být pro studenty příliš obtížný, ale četba Shakespeara naučí mladé lidi o lidských podmínkách. Shakespearovy hry jsou plné lásky a nenávisti, života a smrti a všeho mezi tím. Kromě toho, že jde o dobře napsané hry ke studiu, naučí studenty, jak být člověkem.
Samomluva je řeč, kterou postava říká sama na jevišti a která nabízí vhled do myšlenek a pocitů této postavy a dalších prvků hry. Shakespeare používá samomluvy, aby se dostal hlouběji do pozadí, emocí atd.
Sen noci svatojánské má čtyři různé dějové linie a jak název napovídá, jedna z hlavních zápletek pojednává o snech a realitě. Prostřednictvím akce postav Shakespeare ukazuje, že věci nejsou vždy takové, jaké se zdají být!