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.
Noen ganger er elever så bekymret for ordet Shakespeare at de ikke en gang kommer inn i stykket fordi de synes det er for vanskelig. Bare sørg for at elevene har MYE de kan forstå, og jobb hardt for å få disse forbindelsene med dem.
Språket til Shakespeare kan være vanskelig for elevene å forstå, så bruk litt tid på å avklare ideer for elevene. Du kan hjelpe dem med å engasjere seg i en tekst, og da kan entusiasmen bære dem.
Elevene lærer best ved å gjøre, og storyboards er en fin måte for dem å aktivere læring. Ved å se på historieelementer gjennom bilder og beskrivelser, kan elevene bryte ned vanskelige ideer til mer håndterbare konsepter.
Noen tror at Shakespeare kan være for vanskelig for studenter, men å lese Shakespeare kommer til å lære unge mennesker om den menneskelige tilstanden. Shakespeares skuespill er fylt med kjærlighet og hat, liv og død, og alt i mellom. I tillegg til å være velskrevne skuespill som skal studeres, skal de lære elevene hvordan de skal være mennesker.
En enetale er en tale som en karakter sier alene på scenen som gir innsikt i karakterens tanker og følelser, og andre elementer i stykket. Shakespeare bruker soliloquies for å grave dypere i bakgrunn, følelser osv.
En midtsommernattsdrøm har fire forskjellige historielinjer, og akkurat som tittelen tilsier, handler et av hovedplottene om drømmer og virkelighet. Gjennom handlingen til karakterene viser Shakespeare at ting ikke alltid er som de ser ut til!