Hello, everyone.

It's lovely to see you here today.

My name's Dr.

Clayton.

I'm here to guide you through your learning journey today.

Now today's lesson is called "Romeo and Juliet": Exploring the theme of individuality.

So we're going to be thinking about how we see Romeo and Juliet following their individual desires in the play, but also how we might see the consequences of that desire for individuality.

So if you're ready, grab your pen, laptop, whatever you're using for this lesson, and let's get started.

So by the end of the lesson, you'll be able to explore the concept of individuality in "Romeo and Juliet." So we have three words today we're going to be using as our keywords, they'll be identified in bold throughout the learning material, and I'll try to point them out to you as well so you can see them being used in context.

So our first keyword is individuality which means the quality or character of a particular person or thing that distinguishes them from others of the same kind.

So we're going to be thinking about how Elizabethan society perceived individuality.

Now that might be different to our modern perception, but also how we can see Shakespeare is presenting Romeo and Juliet as individuals in the play.

Our second keyword is autonomy, which means the ability to make your own decisions about what to do.

We're going to be thinking how we might see Romeo and Juliet as desiring autonomy, and what the consequences of this are.

Our final keyword is consequence, which means the result of a particular action or situation, often one that's bad or not convenient.

We're going to think about what we might perceive as the negative consequences of Romeo and Juliet's pursuit of autonomy and individuality.

So I'll just give you a moment to write down those keywords and their definitions.

So pause the video, write them down now.

Fantastic.

Let's get started with the lesson.

So we have two learning cycles in our lesson today.

For our first learning cycle, we're going to think about how we view individuality and how that's different to how individuality was seen in Elizabethan England.

Then we're going to think about how Shakespeare presents Romeo and Juliet as individuals.

For our second learning cycle, we're going to think about the consequences of Romeo and Juliet's individuality and how that might relate to societal ideas about autonomy and individuality.

So let's start off by thinking about what our modern day perception of being an individual is.

So what I'd like you to do is tell me what being an individual means to you.

Now, if you're working through with someone else, you might talk about your ideas with them.

If you're going through this by yourself, you might just think about your ideas.

So pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone, some great ideas there.

Let's talk through some of the things you might have said.

So you might have thought that being an individual means acting for yourself and no one else.

Now this doesn't mean you're selfish, it just means you act in a way that pleases yourself, rather than looking to please other people.

It might mean being unique, so not following the crowd or conforming to how other people think you should dress or act.

It might mean being separate from other people.

So you see yourself as a distinct person, rather than being seen as belonging to somebody else or a group of other people.

It also might mean you have your own desires and your own dreams. So you think about what matters to you, rather than what matters to other people.

Now, what we just discussed was a modern day perception of individuality.

Arguably, individuality was considered differently in the 16th century than it is today.

So in the 16th century, individuality was not seen in terms of autonomy and having your own desires and dreams. Now, autonomy is one of our keywords.

It means the ability to make your own decisions about what to do.

So being an individual in the 16th century didn't mean necessarily having the ability to make your own decisions about what you wanted to do with your own life.

Individuals were seen as existing as part of a network of social and family structures.

You weren't seen as a separate person, you were seen as part of a network of other people.

Now, people are expected to behave in a way that benefited their social and family networks.

So for example, you would've been expected to marry according to what's best for your family rather than what you might have wanted for yourself.

However, these ideas about individuality began to change towards the end of the 16th century.

Now, "Romeo and Juliet" was written in 1597, so right at the end of the 16th century, as the concept of an individual began to change and people were seen as having autonomy, rather than simply being part of a social network.

So the idea of individuality was starting to move towards a more modern understanding where people were starting to be seen as wanting to make their own decisions, rather than simply acting in a way that benefited their social networks.

Now arguably, Shakespeare explores the concept of individuality and individual desires through the characters of Romeo and Juliet.

So we're gonna spend this lesson thinking about how Romeo and Juliet are portrayed as wanting autonomy and what the consequences of this are.

So now for a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

So is it true or false that individuality in the 16th century was seen differently to how we see it today? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

The correct answer is true.

Now I'd like you to tell me why it's true.

So pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

You might have said: Individuality in the 16th century was seen as being part of a social network, whereas we associate it with autonomy.

So very well done if you got those right.

Fantastic work, everyone.

And now the first task of the lesson.

We're going to think about Romeo and Juliet specifically, and this idea of individuality.

So what I'd like you to do is answer the following questions: So question one: How do you think Shakespeare presents Romeo and Juliet as individuals in the play? Question two: How might we see Romeo and Juliet as following their own individual desires in "Romeo and Juliet"? Now, you might consider: how Romeo is presented as different to his peers.

How is the way he acts and feels different to the other young men in the play, such as Mercutio and Benvolio? You also might think about Juliet's actions throughout the play.

How does she not act in a way that would've been expected for a young woman? Now you also might think about the fact that Romeo and Juliet acknowledge their families are enemies.

So how are they following their individual desires, rather than that of their social network? So pause the video, answer the questions now.

Welcome back, everyone, some amazing work there.

What I'd like you to do is think about Izzy's answers.

Do you agree? Why or why not? So question one: How do you think Shakespeare presents Romeo and Juliet as individuals in the play? And Izzy said, "I think Romeo is presented as an individual in the play because he's introduced as separated from his peers.

His attitude towards love is unique.

He sees it as deeply emotional and part of his identity, while his peers do not.

I think Juliet's also presented as an individual because we see her acting autonomously, rather than following the desires of her family.

So pause the video, think about whether you agree with Izzy's ideas.

Welcome back, everyone.

It was great to see people thinking about how we might also see Romeo as being unique because he doesn't conform to ideas of violence and honour at the beginning of the play.

We see him as separate to the fighting.

He tries to diffuse violent situations, rather than immediately seeing violence as a solution as the other male characters do.

So now let's think about Izzy's response to question two.

So question two was: How might we see Romeo and Juliet as following their own individual desires in "Romeo and Juliet"? And Izzy said, "I think Romero and Juliet are following their own individual desires by falling in love.

They both state they desire to no longer be a Montague or a Capulet, which implies they acknowledge that they're acting for themselves rather than their family's benefit.

So pause the video, think about whether or not you agree with Izzy's ideas.

Welcome back, everyone.

It was great to see people thinking about how they're also acting autonomously by not adhering to the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets.

We see the other characters almost blindly following the feud.

But Romeo and Juliet acknowledge their family as enemies and pursue their love anyway.

Amazing work, everyone.

Now onto the second learning cycle.

We're going to think about how Shakespeare presents the consequences of Romeo and Juliet's desire to be individuals.

So let's begin by thinking about Romeo.

So at the start of the play, Benvolio states: "Towards Romeo I made, but he was 'ware of me "And stole into the covert of the wood." So Benvolio is saying that Romeo saw him, but he turned to walk away into the woods, as if coming to see Benvolio.

Now this is part of Romeo's individuality because his sadness is due his unrequited love for Rosaline, which is something that the other male characters do not understand.

So what I'd like you to think about is what might the significance of this be in terms of the consequences of Romeo being presented as unique from his peers? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone, some great ideas there.

Now one of our Oak pupils, Jacob said, "I think it suggests that Romeo's individuality causes social isolation.

He's physically and emotionally separated from the others." So what I'd like to think about now is whether you agree with Jacob, why or why not? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now I think we could definitely say we see Romeo as being separate from the others in the play.

He doesn't exchange any lines with his parents, for example, which I think shows he isn't seen as part of their social network.

His energy is often portrayed as differently to his peers.

While they're on their way to the Capulet ball, for example, Mercutio and Benvolio are light and jovial, whereas Romeo says he feels heavy and sad.

So we can definitely see the isolation and that separation.

So what I'd like you to think about now is how might we also see Juliet as experiencing social isolation due to her individuality? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone, some fantastic ideas there.

Now one of our Oak pupils, Lucas said, "We never see Juliet with any peers.

Maybe Shakespeare's showing her as socially isolated through that? We also see Juliet choosing her individual desires in isolation in Act 4, Scene 3, when she decides to take the potion rather than call the nurse back to her." So what I'd like you to think about now is do you agree with Lucas' ideas? Why or why not? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now I think we can definitely say we see Juliet as being separated from her family network in "Romeo and Juliet." She's not separated in the physical sense that Romeo is because he removes himself from situations.

He doesn't communicate with his family.

But we do see Juliet as emotionally separated.

We see from her interactions with her mother.

They don't have a close relationship.

We see her father willing to disown her.

So we can see her isolation from this family network.

Arguably the nurse is the character who is closest to Juliet in the play, but we see their emotional separation towards the end of the play where the nurse encourages her to marry Count Paris against her wishes.

So now for a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

So it true or false that Shakespeare present Romeo and Juliet as connected to their social and family networks? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

The correct answer is false.

Now I'd like to tell me why it's false.

So pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

You might have said that we see both Romeo and Juliet are presented as experiencing social isolation in the play.

So very well done if you've got those right.

So now let's think about how we can connect ideas of individuality to the nature of the tragedy.

Because "Romeo and Juliet" is a tragedy that ends with the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.

So what I'd like you to think about is how might we see Romeo and Juliet following their individual desires as the cause of their tragic deaths? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some great ideas there.

Now one of our Oak pupils, Alex said, "I think Romeo and Juliet's secret marriage is a direct result of their individual desires.

If they had acknowledged the feud between their families and not pursued each other, then arguably they wouldn't have died." So what I'd like you to do is think about whether or not you agree with Alex.

Why or why not? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, I think a lot of people are agreeing with Alex there, that if Romeo and Juliet had conformed to the expectations of their social network rather than following their individual desires, then they wouldn't have died.

So now for a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like you to do is tell me whether the following statement is true or false.

So is it true or false? We might interpret Romeo and Juliet's individual desires as leading to their tragic downfall.

So pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

The correct answer is true.

Now I'd like to tell me why it's true.

So pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now you might have said that by marrying in secret, Romeo and Juliet are following the individual desires.

It is this secret marriage that arguably leads to their tragic downfall.

So very well done if you've got those right.

Fantastic work, everyone.

Now the final task of the lesson where we're going to tie these ideas together, of what Shakespeare's intentions might have been.

So what I'd like you to think about is how might we interpret "Romeo and Juliet" as Shakespeare criticised this new concept of individuals being autonomous? Now remember, this is a new concept that society was starting to think about.

Do you think Shakespeare was suggesting individuals should be autonomous or not? Now, you might think about: the social isolation that both Romeo and Juliet arguably experience, that their individual desires arguably lead to their tragic downfall.

So pause the video, take a few minutes to discuss.

Welcome back, everyone, some amazing discussions there.

So what I'd like you to do is think about Sofia's ideas.

Do you agree? Why or why not? So Sofia said, "I think Shakespeare is criticising the idea of individuals as autonomous beings.

The fact that Romeo and Juliet both seem to experience social isolation, shows autonomy brings a separation from others.

Furthermore, I think Shakespeare might be suggesting to act on your own desires rather than those of your social or family network can lead to tragedy." So pause the video, think about whether or not you agree with Sofia's ideas.

Welcome back, everyone.

Now, I think these ideas really cut to the heart of how we see Shakespeare as a writer.

Do we see him as a conservative writer who's trying to preserve society as it is and the status quo? Or do we see him as a progressive writer who's trying to reshape ideas about society? That's something you take away and think about whenever you read a Shakespeare play.

You all did amazingly well today, everyone.

Here's a summary of what we covered: Until the late 16th century, individual identity was seen as a function of an individual's place in a social network.

We typically see individuals in our modern society as being unique, having their own desires and dreams. But until the late 16th century, they saw people's extensions of their family networks.

Arguably, Romeo and Juliet both act based on their individual desires in "Romeo and Juliet." So we see Romeo and Juliet choosing to get married despite the feud that exists between the Montagues and the Capulets, and the fact they would've been expected to marry according to their parents' wishes rather than their own.

Potentially, we might see this individuality causing social isolation for both Romeo and Juliet.

We see Romeo as both physically and emotionally separated from his family and his peers at the start of the play.

We also see Juliet as emotionally separated from her family throughout the play.

For Romeo Juliet, their individual desires arguably lead to their tragic downfall.

So you might see their pursuit of their love as what leads to their tragic downfall.

If they'd conform to the wishes of their family network and accept the feud between them, then arguably, their tragic end wouldn't have happened.

I really hope you enjoyed the lesson, everyone.

I hope to see you for another lesson soon.

Goodbye.