Hi, everyone.

This is Mr. Chandrapala here.

And I'm really looking forward to working with you today.

We're gonna be having a look at Puck's ambiguous character.

Puck is a member of the supernatural within "A Midsummer Night's Dream", and it's really interesting that Shakespeare keeps on coming back to characters who have elements of the supernatural, call upon the supernatural at different parts in different elements of his texts.

We're gonna have a look at why he links Puck to the supernatural here, and why that actually creates a more conflicted or ambiguous, more mixed view of our.

So, let's start off with our outcome for today.

We are going to be explaining how Puck is presented over the course of the play.

So our key words for today's lesson include the noun, the "supernatural", which are things that can't be explained by the laws of nature.

We're gonna be considering the significance of "folklore", which are stories and traditions that are passed down from generation to generation.

These aren't always written down but are often told verbally.

We've then got the adjective "ambiguous", which means that someone or something is open to interpretation.

So Puck's nature leaves him ambiguous.

It is ambiguous how we read him.

It is open to our interpretation whether he is mischievous, or whether he is truly evil.

We're then gonna be having a look at the concept of "Shakespearean comedies", which are plays designed to make us laugh, often involving misunderstandings and ending in marriage.

And we're also gonna be considering the play, the tragedy, "Macbeth", also written by Shakespeare, which includes the supernatural in the form of the witches, and Lady Macbeth calling upon at the supernatural at certain points in the play.

This is a tragedy with a sad, violent ending.

I'm gonna be trying to consider, actually, what is the link between how Shakespeare presents the supernatural in "Macbeth", and also in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" through Puck.

So, we're gonna start off by just establishing an understanding of Shakespeare's interest in the supernatural.

So it's important to say that Shakespeare was really interested in the supernatural.

Lots of his plays include supernatural characters, events, or ideas.

This can include "The Tempest", where we have a main character, who is a powerful magician, Prospero, who has a supernatural spirit called Ariel.

We can also think about "Macbeth", the play that I referred to in our keyword section, which is a play that starts with three evil witches chanting.

And these three evil witches predict the future and cast spells.

Then there's of course "Othello", where a father, Brabantio, accuses a man, or protagonist, Othello, of casting a spell on his daughter so she falls in love with him.

So we can clearly see that over the course of each of these plays, Shakespeare is working with concepts of supernatural.

Now, I'm gonna ask us just to pause here, and you may want to talk to the person next to you, or you may just wanna jot some ideas down for yourself.

Can we see any similarities between these plays and "A Midsummer Night's Dream"? Pause the video now.

What similarities, what links, what connections can we build between the two? When you are ready, hit play.

Really well done there, everyone.

Really liked the fact that people were starting to pick out the idea of the supernatural and the fact that actually, we've got quite contrasting versions of the supernatural in "Macbeth" and "Othello" compared to maybe "A Midsummer Night's Dream", where Puck isn't necessarily straightforward and evil character.

He is, maybe, a problematic character or Brabantio views, as how as being an evil character, but that's a different point entirely.

And maybe actually, if I was to interject a little bit here, I'd maybe say that Prospero is quite an ambiguous character in "The Tempest" as well.

And because Shakespeare is actually trying to show how he tries to realign himself with society because he lets go of his magic, because he lets go of his grudges, and therefore allows himself to be accepted back into society.

So it may be worthless considering that for Puck as well, and how Puck maybe makes different choices because of who he is, and therefore ends up staying out of society or being accepted.

So, sometimes Shakespeare presents the supernatural as clearly evil.

This is seen in "Macbeth", where we have the witches lead to the death of the hero, Macbeth, and they cast spells around a cauldron with items like eye of newt' and toe of frog.

So these obviously, what we view now as being quite cliched or tropes of sort of witch like behaviour, which suggests that they are able to inflict pain and almost use these really awful ingredients as part of their incantations, and spells, and potions.

It's also important to say that witches don't obey anyone in the play except for themselves.

They are led by a lead, which is called Heke, and they seem to be sort of entirely making their own decisions.

They don't really listen to Macbeth.

They sort of stay out of societal control.

There are other moments though, where Shakespeare presents the supernatural in a more ambiguous way.

So if we consider how Puck is introduced in Act 2, Scene 1, from lines 32 to lines 42, he opens with, "Fairy, either I'm mistake your shape and making quiet, or else you are that shrewd and knavish sprite called Robin Goodfellow.

Are not you he that fights the maidens of the villagery, misled night-wanderers, laughing at their harm? Those that Hobgoblin call you and sweet Puck, you do their work, and they shall have good luck.

Are not you he?" So, here, we can see how Puck is first introduced into the play.

These are lines that are directed towards him when he's first spotted.

Now, I want us just to pause the video here and I want you just to start dissecting, what here suggests that Puck is an ambiguous character.

He's a sort of mixture where he's open to interpretation but not sure how to read him, and we have to come to our own decisions.

Can you find any evidence of that within this? Pause the video now and see if you can start finding those elements.

Really pleased with the range of ideas I was hearing there from loads of people.

And I really loved how forensic you were getting in terms of the detail.

I'm really pleased to see that so many of you were discussing that idea of "I mistake your shape", and actually if I think about that, that links quite nicely to Macbeth.

Well, actually Banquo and Macbeth, when they first see the witches are unsure what to call them.

They're uncertain of how they should address them.

So there is that idea of ambiguity there as well.

And actually here, we've got this idea of Puck is seen as Robin Goodfellow that fights the maidens of the villagery.

So, actually, can do quite nasty things potentially.

But Robin Goodfellow, also as a member of folklore, will come to understand as, actually meant to be quite a good-natured sprite.

Then we've got the idea of Hobgoblin.

Hobgoblin is, again, like this mythical creature meant to terrify people.

And then we've got that in contrast in the line as "sweet Puck", where we have Puck being presented as maybe good, maybe charming, maybe serving of others.

Something that, like, brightens our day through that adjective, "sweet".

So Puck's ambiguous character could reflect how Elizabethans felt about supernatural.

On the one hand, supernatural was evil and connected to the devil.

But on the other hand, supernatural characters and events were an enjoyable part of Elizabethan folklore.

It's here that I'm just gonna pause and have a check for our understanding.

I want you to pause the video once I've asked this question.

And I want you to think about how do we know Shakespeare's interested in the supernatural? Is it A, because he presents the supernatural as ambiguous? B, because he the explores at many of his plays? C, he includes it in his folklore? Or D, he includes it in all his plays? Pause the video now and select A, B, C, or D.

And when you are ready, hit play.

You may wanna check back through your notes just to really make sure you understand this.

When you're ready though, hit play.

Well done there, everyone.

Really pleased to see that so many of you went for B.

It's not that always Shakespeare presents the supernatural as ambiguous because there are several moments in plays where he actually presents the supernatural as being evil, such as in "Macbeth".

He didn't include it in his folklore.

We actually don't know what Shakespeare would have said for folklore.

But because folklore is often an oral tradition, it's sort of spoken rather than written, it's difficult for us to say that he included it in his folklore.

We can say though that he explores it in many of his plays, though crucially, not all of his plays.

There are loads of plays where he doesn't include aspects of the supernatural.

So that wouldn't necessarily be true either.

So it is B, he explores it in many of his plays such as "The Tempest", "A Midsummer Night's Dream", "Macbeth", and "Othello".

So, I wanna just practise our understanding here.

I want you to read the extract from "Macbeth", where the witches make a potion in a cauldron.

You'll find that in the additional material.

Once you've done that, I want you to perform that moment from "Macbeth", making it clear that the supernatural is evil.

You may want to get into small groups to be able to do this, or if you're working alone, you may want to just practise saying an individual witches lines, maybe a particular witch that you think has a really interesting set of lines that you would want to deliver.

I then want you to reread the extract from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" where Puck is introduced for the first time.

And then I want you to perform that moment, in a way that you think shows Puck's more ambiguous character.

Then when I'm getting you to perform it, I really want you to think about actually how we're gonna have quite mixed reactions maybe as a member of the play, as a character within the play, to the supernatural figure.

Are we going to be pleased to see him? Are we going to be threatened? You're going have to make those choices.

You're gonna have to choose why you make those choices within the text.

Pause the video now.

Go to the additional materials finding those extracts, and then work through those tasks.

When you're ready, hit play.

Some fabulous work there, everyone.

Some excellent acting.

I really liked seeing how closely some of you are reading through the lines of the play, and actually, how that really changed the way that you interpreted the text.

Lovely work.

Let's take some feedback.

So Andeep was talking about his performance, and he said, "I really enjoyed being an evil witch.

I liked repeating the line, 'Double, double, toil and trouble.

Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

' I really felt like I was creating a powerful spell.

It also helped me understand Puck a bit more.

Even though he can be malicious, he enjoys mild humiliation rather than evil spells with strange ingredients." And I think that Andeep has got a really nice idea here.

"Double, double, toil and trouble.

Fire burn and cauldron bubble." Because of that rhyme that's almost sort of scattered throughout the text, double, double, trouble, and then bubble, and that sort of load those hard process, double, double, burn, bubble.

Because of those hard process, there's maybe a sense of danger being built.

That's quite different to Puck, who doesn't necessarily have that same level of threat in his dialogue.

I want you to think back to your performances though, or those of your classmates.

What did you enjoy about their work? And how did performing both extracts help you understand Puck further? I'd be really interested in you adding a line, specifically to your notes for today's lesson, looking at that second question, "How did performing both extracts help you understand Puck further?" You may want to think as Andeep did here, about a certain line that you heard for Lady, sorry, the witches, that really made you reevaluate how we read Puck.

Pause the video now and start completing that feedback task, and when you're ready, hit play.

Some excellent work there, everyone.

Really pleased to see such deep reflection.

And I think that's really gonna help us understand Puck just a little bit better.

So we're now going to work on understanding Puck as a comic figure.

So here's a little bit of information about the role of the witches in "Macbeth".

In "Macbeth", the witches obey no one.

They deliberately create chaos leading to the death of a King and others.

And the witches don't help restore order at the end of the play.

In fact, Shakespeare's first audiences believed witches were connected with the devil.

They believed in the idea of witches as well, so they thought that they were a real thing.

In what ways though, is this different to Puck? How do we see Puck as being based in a different sort of Elizabeth belief? How is Puck quite different when we think about him in "A Midsummer Night's Dream"? Pause the video now, maybe talk to the person next to you, maybe jot some ideas down, maybe think back to your previous notes, and then when you're ready, hit play.

Yeah, loads of really good discussion there, and I was so pleased to see so many of you checking back to your notes and being able to retrieve that really key information about how Puck is presented in "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

It's not that Puck doesn't obey anyone, is it? It's in fact the fact that he does obey someone.

He clearly obeys Oberon.

And he does help to restore order by the end of the play.

He's not always happy to.

He's actually quite happy being an agent of chaos at certain elements, but he is quite willing to also help restore things as and when they are needed.

And actually, we can see, because he's being linked to Robin Goodfellow, that actually, he has a more positive basis in folklore.

So we're not just thinking of him as being this awful, threatening character.

So just to recap.

Puck does a obey Oberon.

He creates chaos, but for comic effect, and sometimes by accident.

He does end up helping to restore order.

And he was known for mischief in Elizabethan folklore, but not necessarily for evil.

He was also known if he's based with Robin Goodfellow or based on Robin Goodfellow, to be able to help in some ways.

So Andeep looked at all of this and said, "Well, Puck is key in making 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' a comedy." What do you think has led Andeep to this argument? Pause the video now and see if you can agree with Andeep, or maybe challenge his point of view.

What can you think of from the text that actually suggests that Puck helps make the text a comedy? Some lovely ideas there, everyone.

Really liked the range of thought we were going for.

I really liked the fact that so many of you were picking up on the sense that actually Puck creates chaos.

So he does create almost that sort of slapstick humour at certain points.

But then also, he helps restore order, which means that he plays to that idea of an Elizabethan or Shakespearean comedy, right? He helps to restore the sense of normality, and he actually helps reunite the lovers.

So we're just gonna have a quick check for our understanding here, and I want you to match the sentence stems to that ending.

So, "Puck makes the play comedy because.

." "Puck makes the play comedy, but.

." And "Puck makes the play a comedy, so.

." And I want you to link those to, "His character as ambiguous and we could interpret him as cruel." "He creates fun and laughter, but also restores order in the end." And "Audiences, both past and present, could see him as a figure of fun." You may just want to label the sentences on the left as one, two and three, and then the sentences on the right as A, B, C.

And you may want to just do that very quickly on a piece of paper now.

And then when we go through, you may wanna just write out the correct answers.

But pause the video now.

This is now over to you to check our understanding.

When you're ready, hit play.

Cracking work there, everyone.

Really pleased to see such intelligent thinking there.

Let's go through.

Can I just ask that all of you have a different-color pen in your hands so that you're adding to your notes and making sure that we're taking feedback really clearly.

So we've got "Puck makes the play a comedy because he creates fun and laughter, but also restores order in the end." "Puck makes the play a comedy but his character is ambiguous and we interpret him as cruel." And "Puck makes the play a comedy so audiences both past and present could see him as a figure of fun." These are the three sentences that I would really recommend us to sort of keep in our mind when we're thinking about Puck.

Pause the video now, and if you need to get any of those sentences down, and when you're ready, hit play.

Really good feedback there, everyone.

Let's keep moving.

So, we're now going to have a final moment of practise.

And here, I want us to have a look at what Andeep, our friend, has said again.

Andeep has argued, "Shakespeare's first audiences believed in the supernatural and often associated it with evil.

However, Shakespeare makes it clear Puck is a comic figure who we shouldn't fear." Now, I want you to use the sentence starters and prompts to justify so to agree with Andeep's argument.

So, for the first sentence starter, you've got "More specifically".

And there, I want you to think about how does Puck create fun and laughter in the play? Where specifically would you think of it? And then I've got that sentence starter, "Furthermore".

I want you to think about how is he key to the happy ending, and can we compare his presentation to that the witches in "Macbeth"? That last bullet point is actually a really high-level skill.

As you starting to think about, like, wider context to do with Shakespeare, and it's so impressive when you can do that.

Pause the video now and see if you can complete those sentences.

I'm sure you're gonna be absolutely great.

We've done a lot of work setting this up.

I am sure you'll be great.

Pause the video now and have a go.

When you're ready, hit play.

Sensational work there, everyone.

Really pleased to see a range of ideas there.

Let's take some feedback so that we can make our work even better than it already is.

So, I want you to self-assess your response using these questions to guide you.

"What details from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" did you select to justify Andeep's argument?" Did you refer to the fact that actually, he was helping Oberon, or the fact that he helped to reunite the lovers in the end? And when it said, "How did you compare Puck's presentation and role in the play to that of the witches", did you consider the fact that actually, the witches don't listen to anyone, but actually Puck is quite willing to listen to his master? Did you consider the fact that actually, Puck is more interested in mischief, whilst the witches are more interested in creating evil? Pause the video now.

Add any ideas that you need to in a different colour.

And when you're ready, hit play.

Excellent work there, everyone.

Really pleased to see you all taking such careful notes.

It's really going to help your understanding of the play.

I've been so impressed with your work today, 'cause you've not only managed to grapple with Puck, you've also been able to grapple with the witches in "Macbeth", which is no small feat.

I'm so impressed.

So, let's just summarise Puck's ambiguous character as we come towards the end of today's lesson.

So, Shakespeare explored the supernatural in many of his plays.

We've looked at how he's done it in "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

We've considered "Macbeth", but there's also "The Tempest" and "Othello" to consider.

Sometimes Shakespeare presents the supernatural as clearly evil, such as in the example of "Macbeth" and through the character of the witches within that tragedy.

But in "A Midsummer Night's Dream", the character of Puck is presented in an ambiguous way.

Puck does do, you know, things that are definitely problematic and need to be questioned.

He's not an entirely good character.

He does create chaos.

But some of those issues are because he makes mistakes.

Some of them are because he's more mischievous than truly evil.

And despite the ambiguous presentation of Puck, he is central to making "A Midsummer Night's Dream" a comedy, because he helps to reunite the lovers, and ultimately, he does end up following the social order.

I've been really impressed by your work today, and I've been so pleased to see how well developed your understandings of this difficult character are.

It's been a pleasure working with you again, and I really look forward to working with you very soon.

Bye for now, everyone.