Hello everyone.

It's lovely to see you here today.

My name's Dr.

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

Today's lesson is called "Romeo and Juliet", contextualising violence and honour in Elizabethan society.

We're going to be thinking about the role of violence and honour in Elizabethan England, and that might relate to Romeo and Juliet.

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

So by the end of the lesson, you'll be able to explain the role of violence and honour in Elizabethan society.

So we have five words today we're going to be using as our key words.

They've identified in bold throughout the learning material, and I'll try to (indistinct) to you as well so you can see them used in context.

So our first keyword is masculinity, which means qualities or attributes, regarded as characteristic of men or boys.

We're going to be thinking about the stereotypes of masculinity and how it might connect men to violence.

Our second keyword is honour, which means equality that combines respect, being proud and honesty.

We're going to be thinking about the importance of honour in Elizabethan society.

Our third keyword is stereotype, which means a set idea that people have about what someone or something is like.

We're going to be thinking about what set ideas people might have around the idea of being a man in Elizabethan England.

Our fourth keyword is dominant, which means to be in control, to be powerful.

We're going to be thinking about how men are expected to be dominant in Elizabethan England.

Our final keyword is duel, which means a contest with deadly weapons arranged from two people in order to settle a point of honour.

We're going to be thinking about the illegal nature of duels and what it might mean about men's ideas about honour.

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

So pause video, write them down now.

Fantastic.

Let's get started with the lesson.

So we have three learning cycles in our lesson today.

For our first learning cycle, we're going to recap the plot of "Romeo and Juliet" and think about what the main theme might be.

For our second learning cycle, we're going to think about the context of violence in Elizabethan society and how Shakespeare may have staged the violence in "Romeo and Juliet".

For our third learning cycle, we're going to think about the concept of honour and what men's actions regarding honour might reveal about them.

So let's begin our recap with the summary of the plot of "Rome and Juliet".

So the Montagues and Capulets are feuding, so they're fighting families.

The play opens with a street fight between the servants of the two families.

Romeo, a Montague, meets Juliette, a Capulet, at a ball.

They fall in love and marry in secret.

Mercutio, Romeo's friend is killed fighting Tybalt.

Romeo then kills Tybalt and is banished from Verona.

Juliet fakes her own death.

However, Romeo believes she truly is dead, so he kills himself.

When Juliet realised that Romeo's dead, she kills herself.

Now, we are specifically looking at violence and honour in Romeo and Juliet.

So what I'd like you to think about is where can you see acts of violence within the plot summary? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Well, welcome back everyone.

You might have noticed we see violence throughout Romeo and Juliet.

We open with a fight between the Montagues and the Capulets.

The climax of the play is a violent encounter between Romeo, Tybalt and Mercutio, which leaves Tybalt and Mercutio dead.

Then we end with violence where Romeo and Juliet kill themselves.

So let's think specifically about the structure of the play.

Structurally, Romeo and Juliet begins and ends with acts of violence.

So what I'd like you to think about is what might the significance of that be? What does it suggest about violence if the first and last thing we hear is about violence.

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

Welcome back everyone, some great ideas there.

As Laura says, "By opening and ending the play with violence, I think Shakespeare's demonstrating how central violence is as a theme.

It explains and resolves the behaviour of the characters." 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? The Shakespeare structure of "Romeo and Juliet" suggests that violence is unimportant.

Pause the video.

Take a few moments to think about it.

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.

They might have said that by opening and ending the play with violent acts, Shakespeare implies that violence both explains and resolves the play.

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

Fantastic work everyone.

We're now done with the first task of the lesson.

Now, some critics have said that "Romeo and Juliet" is a play about violence and that love is a subplot.

So love is less important.

So what I'd like you to discuss is to what extent do you agree, and why.

Now you might think about whether you think violence or the marriage moves the plot along? Do you think the play would exist without violence? Do you think the play would exist without love? Pause the video.

Take a few minutes to discuss.

Welcome back everyone, some great discussions there.

What I'd like you to do now is think about Laura and Sofia's ideas.

Whose ideas align more closely with your ideas? So Laura said, "I think it's primarily about violence.

Romeo and Juliet's love story is defined by violence and it drives the plot forwards." And Sophia said, "I disagree.

I think "Romeo and Juliet" is about love overriding all other emotions, loyalties or concerns.

So pause the video, think about whose ideas align most closely with your ideas.

Welcome back everyone.

Now we're going to move on to the second learning cycle.

We're going to look at the role of violence in Elizabethan society.

Amazing work everyone.

We're now at the second learning cycle, we're going to think about the nature of violence in Elizabethan society as well as how Shakespeare stages violence in "Romeo and Juliet".

Now, exposure to violence was a reality in Elizabethan society.

Public fights, protests and brawls were common occurrences, particularly when Romeo and Juliet was published, as was widespread poverty amongst people due to grain shortages.

Public executions of lower class criminals and traitors were common.

Violent acts, such as bear and bull baiting, were seen as common entertainment.

So now for a quick check for understanding.

So what I'd like you to do is tell me which of the following statements are true.

A, people in Elizabethan society weren't regularly exposed to violence.

B, people in Elizabethan society were regularly exposed to violence, or C, violence was seen as a form of entertainment in Elizabethan society.

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

Now as we said, people were exposed to street fights as well as public executions.

So they were regularly exposed to violence.

Bear and bull bating was also seen as entertainment.

So violence was seen as a form of entertainment in Elizabethan society.

So very well done if you got those right.

Now let's think about the context of weapons in public in Elizabethan society.

So in Elizabethan England, nobleman were permitted to carry a sword in public.

The middle classes began to carry swords to be more like the aristocracy.

So what I'd like you to think about is what do you think that might suggest about how violence was seen in society if the middle classes also wanted to carry swords in public like nobleman.

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 if nobleman were permitted to carry weapons, you might have thought the weapons were seen as a status symbol.

They reflected how well born you were.

You also might have thought about the fact it's just you wanted to be seen as ready for violence.

I think this is really important, because just that being ready for violence was seen as sort of status symbol.

You publicly want to be seen as being ready to fight.

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 arguably weapons were seen as status symbols in Elizabethan England? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Now 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.

They might have said that traditionally only the aristocracy carry weapons in public.

However, Elizabethan England saw the aspirational middle class as carrying weapons to appear more noble.

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

Now, when we're thinking about the context of violence, I think it's important to remember that Elizabethan England was a patriarchal society.

So a society where men were in control.

Men were expected to adhere to the stereotypes of masculinity.

So there's a set way that people expected men to behave.

So what I'd like you to think about is what stereotypes of masculinity can you think of? How are men expected to behave, what are they expected to be like? 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 men are expected to be physically and emotionally strong.

They aren't supposed to show any weaknesses.

They're supposed to be protective, to be the man of the house.

They're supposed to be the hero, to put themselves in danger to help others.

They're supposed to be powerful, in control, dominant and tough.

They're supposed to react to situations in a way that shows this power and this dominance through aggression.

Now in Elizabethan society, the majority of violence was concerned with men.

So 90% of homicides were committed by men, and of that 90%, 80% had male victims. So what I'd like you to think about is how do you think stereotypes of masculinity might feed into this connection between men and violence? Pause the video.

Take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back everyone.

Some great ideas there.

You might have said, the expectations placed on men could lead them to resort to violence.

If they're expected to be protective and the hero, they might resort to violence to achieve that.

You also might have thought the expectations of strength, power, and dominance imply violence.

Men are supposed to act in a certain way and it implies a certain aggression and a certain violence.

So now for a quick check for understanding.

So which of the following were stereotypes of masculinity? A, being vulnerable and open.

B, demonstrating strength and power.

C, being emotional rather than rational.

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

Welcome back everyone.

Now men were supposed to demonstrate strength and power.

So very well done if you got that right.

Amazing work, everyone.

We're now with the second task of the lesson.

We're going to think about how violence is staged in "Romeo and Juliet".

So I'd like to think about the following information.

The majority of violent fights within "Romeo and Juliet" occur in broad daylight.

The street fight at the beginning and the fight between Tybalt, Mercutio and Romeo all occur in broad daylight.

The violent fights within "Romeo and Juliet" have witnesses.

So what I'd like you to think about is what do you think Shakespeare might be telling us about violence in society through the way he staged the fights in Romero and Juliet.

So think about what we normally associate with something happening in the daylight.

Pause the video, take a few minutes to discuss.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some fantastic discussions there.

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

How well do they align with your ideas? So Jacob said, "Typically, we associate daylight with revealing the truth.

Therefore, I think that Shakespeare's suggesting how accepted violence was in society by staging the fights in daylight.

Furthermore, the fact there are witnesses, perhaps hints at the public nature of violence in Elizabethan England." So pause the video, take a few minutes to think about how well Jacob's ideas align with your ideas.

Welcome back everyone.

Now I think the idea of staging is so important to consider when you think about themes and ideas within plays.

Where are they taking place? If it's at nighttime, we might assume it's something transgressive, something immoral.

If it's in the daylight, we might assume it's acceptable in some way.

Amazing work everyone.

We're now with the third learning cycle.

We're going to think about the context of honour in Elizabethan society.

Now in Elizabethan England, honour is a central aspect of a man's identity.

Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" opens with the line: "Two households, both alike in dignity".

So here Shakespeare's saying the Montagues and the Capulets were equal in status and honour.

So we need to think about the structural element of this and think about the question.

How does Shakespeare choosing to open with this line reflect the importance of honour? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back everyone.

They might have said, it means the first thing we hear is about the concept of honour and that signals how important is to the play and to society.

Now in Elizabethan England, honour and violence were often intertwined.

Though duelling was illegal in Elizabethan England, many men engaged in duels to protect their honour.

So what I'd like to think about is where can you see examples of this in "Romeo and Juliet"? Pause the video.

Take a few moments to think about it.

Welcome back everyone.

Some great ideas there.

You might have said, that Tybalt's challenge to Romeo and Mercutio's fight with Tybalt, both demonstrate men duelling for honour.

Now I think Shakespeare demonstrating duels and the desire to duel throughout "Romeo and Juliet" is again commenting on how common this was in society.

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 the opening line of the prologue suggests the importance of honour.

Pause the video.

Take a few moments to think about it.

Now 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.

They might have said that by opening with a line about honour, Shakespeare ensures the first thing the audience hears is related to honour, and that suggests it's important.

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

Fantastic work, everyone.

We're now with the final task of the lesson.

So what I'd like you to do is write short answers to the following questions.

Number one, what does it suggest about honour if men acted illegally to defend it? what does that suggest about what was more important to them? Question two, what does it suggest about honour if men need to publicly defend it? Do you think honour is an internal or external value? Pause the video, write your answers now.

Welcome back, everyone.

Some fantastic work there.

What I'd like you to do is think about Alex's answers about how well they align with your ideas.

So question one, what does it suggest about honour if men acted illegally to defend it? What's does it suggest about what was more important to them? And Alex said, "I think it suggests that honour is more important than acting within the legal system.

It suggest that private codes of honour were more important than public legal obligations." And question two, what does it suggest about honour if men needed to publicly defend it? Do you think honour was an internal or external value? And Alex said, "I think it suggests that honour was an external value.

It's something that's conveyed upon you by other people rather than being something you can give yourself.

You need to publicly prove you're honourable so that other people say you're honourable." So pause the video.

Think about how well Alex's ideas align with your ideas.

Welcome back everyone.

Now I think it's really important to keep these ideas for honour and violence in our minds as we read the play, because it helps to understand and explain why some of the characters act in the way they do.

You all did amazingly well today, everyone.

Here's a summary of what we covered.

"Romeo and Juliet" opens and ends with acts of violence.

Exposure to violence would've been a reality in Elizabethan England.

By staging the fights in daylight, Shakespeare implies that violence is accepted in society.

Honour is a central aspect of men's identities in Elizabethan England.

Arguably, we might see honour as something that must be proven in public.

I really hope you enjoyed the lesson, everyone.

I hope to see you for another lesson soon.

Goodbye.