Hello, everyone.

It's lovely to see you here today.

My name's Dr.

Clayton.

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

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

Welcome to today's lesson.

The lesson is called Revising the Theme of Inequality Within "The Tempest".

Now, our general outcome for today is that by the end of the lesson, you'll be able to explore the theme of inequality and how it's presented throughout the play.

In order to do that, we're gonna start by thinking more generally about the theme of inequality within literature, and thinking about why a writer might choose to write for inequality.

And then we're gonna consider inequality in "The Tempest," specifically through first a colonial lens and then a gender lens.

I think this is such an interesting topic for us to consider because inequality is all about power dynamics.

So it really cuts the core of why the study of literature is so interesting.

Because it allows us to perhaps understand the psychology of humanity, and why we act the way we do towards each other, perhaps a little bit more.

So we have four words today we're gonna focus on as our keywords.

Our first keyword is unequal.

Now, this is absolutely essential for thinking about ideas of inequality because to be treated unequally means to be treated unfairly and differently to others, which is a key thing we need to understand about inequality.

It's all about being treated unfairly and differently to others.

Our second key word is colonialism.

Now, this is one of the key contextual ideas for thinking about "The Tempest" as a play.

This colonialism is a process of taking control over another country and exploiting it economically, which we can arguably see reflected in the actions of Prospero towards the island and its inhabitants.

Our third key word is enslave.

Now, when you enslave someone, you consider them your property and you force 'em to obey you.

Again, it's a key word for "The Tempest" as a play because we can see this when Prospero forces Caliban to obey him.

Our final key word is power.

Now, having power means being able to control events or people.

Now, this is essential for considering ideas about inequality because unequal power dynamics are the essence of where we can see inequality happening.

So we have three learning cycles in our lesson today.

For our first learning cycle, we're going to start by thinking more generally about what inequality means and considering why it's such a predominant theme in literature in general.

Why might writers want to think about the theme of inequality in their work? By the end of the learning cycle, we're going to start applying those ideas to "The Tempest" and thinking about which characters we might think about as being treated unequally in the play.

For our second learning cycle, we're going to think about colonialism.

We're going to think not only about how colonialism relates to ideas of inequality, but we're also going to think about how we can arguably apply those ideas of colonialism to "The Tempest" through the characters of Prospero and Caliban.

Finally, we're going to explore the theme of gender.

We're going to begin by thinking a little bit about what the gender dynamics were in Shakespeare in England, and how we might consider them as unequal, and then consider how we can apply those dynamics to the relationship between Prospero and Miranda.

Now, as I said, we're going to begin by thinking about inequality more generally.

So let's start with the definition to make sure we're all on the same page about what it means.

So inequality is the unfair situation where some people have more opportunities and money than others, which cause them to become unequal.

Now, unequal is one of our keywords.

It means to be treated unfairly and differently.

So inequality is essentially where some people are treated unfairly and differently compared to others.

So now we have our definition.

What I'd like you to do is discuss what factors you think might contribute to someone experiencing inequality and being treated unfairly.

Now, ideas around inequality can be quite sensitive and even upsetting to some people.

So when you're having your discussions, it's really important to make sure you listen to what someone is saying fully before responding to them.

You never want to dismiss what someone else is saying or start talking over them.

So what factors do you think might contribute to someone experiencing inequality and being treated unfairly? Pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Amazing, some really thoughtful discussions there.

And it was great to see people really making the effort to listen to others and then respond to them without just butting in with their own opinions.

Now, like Laura, you might have thought that "Potentially, characteristics such as race, religion, gender, class, or age could cause people to face inequality in society." So now that we've thought about what inequality is, let's start thinking about it in relation to literature.

Now, many great works of literature deal with a theme of inequality in their work.

Now, what I'd like you to think about is why do you think writers might want to write about the theme of inequality? Remember, there are no right or wrong answers.

It's purely your opinion.

So make sure you treat everyone's ideas with respect.

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

Amazing, some fantastic discussions there.

I really liked hearing people talk about what books they've read recently, and considering why that particular writer might have been drawing their attention to inequality.

Now, like Izzy, you might have thought that, "Maybe they want to draw people's attention to what it feels like to suffer unequal treatment at the hands of those with power." For me, reading literature is all about experiencing the world from someone else's perspective.

So writers might be trying to use that to show you what it feels like to be someone who experiences inequality so you can feel empathy for them and potentially even try to make a difference to stop that inequality from happening.

Now, for a quick check for understanding.

What I'd like to do is select which two of the following statements are true.

A, inequality means a fair situation.

B, inequality means an unfair situation.

C, writers don't often consider the theme of inequality.

Or D, writers often consider the theme of inequality.

So pause the video and make your selections now.

Correct answers are B, inequality means an unfair situation, and D, writers often consider the theme of inequality.

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

Amazing, everyone.

One of the first tasks of the lesson.

Well, we're going to start thinking about how we could apply our knowledge of inequality and what it means to "The Tempest." So here's a list of characters in "The Tempest." We have Prospero, a magician and ruler of the island.

We have Miranda, who's Prospero's daughter.

We have Ariel, a magical being enslaved by Prospero.

Caliban, an inhabitant enslaved by Prospero.

Remember, enslaved is one of our keywords, and it means they're forced to obey Prospero.

We have Alonso, the King of Naples, Antonio, the Duke of Milan, Sebastian, Alonso's brother, Ferdinand, Alonso's son, Stephano, Alonso's butler, Trinculo, Alonso's jester, and Gonzalo, Antonio's adviser.

Now, what I'd like you to think about is which of these characters do you think might face inequality in the play? So pause the video, take a few minutes to think about it.

Fantastic work, everyone.

Again, it was great to see such respectful discussions of people really trying to listen and understand other people's points before responding with their own ideas.

Now, like Aisha, you might have thought that Ariel and Caliban would face inequality, since they're enslaved to Prospero, which means he has power over them.

They're forced to obey him and he has control over them.

Or like Sofia, you might have thought that Miranda is the only female character in the play.

She might face some unequal treatment as a result of that.

We're gonna focus on these three characters for the rest of the lesson when we can think about how we can view inequality in "The Tempest" through the ideas of colonialism and gender.

Amazing work so far, everyone.

We're onto our second learning cycle where we're going to consider the context of colonialism and how we can arguably apply it to "The Tempest" to expand our understanding of inequality in the play.

So let's start by thinking about the time in which Shakespeare's writing in and perhaps how that might have affected his views.

So Shakespeare's writing in the late 16th and early 17th century.

Now, what I'd like you to think about is what do you know about society at the time? Do you think people might have faced more inequality than they do now? So pause the video, take a few moments to think about it.

Amazing, some great discussions there.

I really like seeing people draw on their historical knowledge and think about how people were persecuted in Shakespearean times because people thought they might have been a witch.

Like Lucas, you might also thought that society was a lot more unequal, meaning that people were treated unfairly because slavery still exists at this point and women were treated as less important than society because society was patriarchal.

So let's think about what Shakespearean society was like in a little bit more detail.

So when Shakespeare was writing, there were many examples of inequality in society.

For example, there were rigid class systems in Shakespearean times where those in power could take advantage of those from a lower class.

Remember, power is one of our keywords.

It means the ability to influence people or events.

So those who are higher up in the class system had more control over the world around them than those from a lower class system.

There were legal and social restrictions about what women could do because society was patriarchal and women were considered inferior.

And we're gonna discuss that in more detail in our third learning cycle.

Slavery was legal when Shakespeare was writing, which is incredibly relevant to "The Tempest" and inequality because Prospero enslaves Caliban.

Finally, England was going through a period of religious turmoil, which led to both Protestants and Catholics being executed for their beliefs.

Now, most of Shakespeare's plays feature the theme of power and the abuse of power, therefore, inequality is arguably a predominant theme of Shakespeare's work.

So let's think about how we can apply those ideas about Shakespearean society and inequality to "The Tempest." In this lesson, we're gonna focus our attention on revising the theme of inequality in "The Tempest" by first looking at colonialism and then at gender.

Remember, colonialism's one of our key words.

It's the process of one country taking over another country and exploiting it economically.

Now with Shakespeare's writing, Britain had begun to build its empire by creating colonies in North America.

Now, as part of this process, English men would take control of a settlement, exploit its resources, and take advantage of the indigenous people who already live there.

Now, what I'd like you to do is use your knowledge of "The Tempest" to discuss where we can see similarities between this process and what happens in "The Tempest." So pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Amazing, some great ideas there.

You might have said that Prospero's actions could be seen as mimicking that of a coloniser since he arrives in the island and forces the inhabitants, Ariel and Caliban to serve and obey him.

So let's think about Prospero and Ariel's relationship in a bit more detail.

Now, while we don't know if Ariel is indigenous to the island, we do know that Ariel lived there before Prospero arrived.

So here's a summary of Prospero and Ariel's relationship.

Before Prospero arrives, Ariel is magically imprisoned in a tree.

Prospero arrives and frees them.

However, Prospero then forces Ariel to serve him.

He then threatens to return Ariel to their magical imprisonment if they do not obey him.

Now, this clearly shows an uneven power dynamic, since Prospero has the power to force Ariel to obey him and even force him into imprisonment if they do not obey.

We're now gonna look at a quotation and analyse it.

In Act one, Scene two, Ariel asks for their freedom.

Now, we want to always make sure we're using quotations from the text as our basis for our argument.

So in response to Ariel asking for their freedom, Prospero responds, "Before the time be out? No more." What I'd like you to do is analyse the quotation.

How does it show the inequality between Prospero and Ariel? So pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Amazing, some great ideas there.

Now, you might have thought that when Prospero says "Before the time be out?" It shows he is the one who has defined the terms of Ariel's service.

And when he says "No more," it shows his complete control of the conversation and Ariel's freedom.

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 Prospero is shown to have more power than Ariel? Remember that power means the ability to influence events or people.

So pause the video and make your selection now.

The correct answer is true.

Prospero is shown to have more power than Ariel.

Now, I'd like you to justify that.

So is he shown to have more power through A, he refuses Ariel's request for freedom, or B, he demands that Ariel work harder.

So pause the video and make your selection now.

The correct answer is A, Prospero refuses Ariel's request for freedom.

So very well done if you got that right.

Now, let's think about Prospero's relationship with Caliban.

Now, while we're not sure if Ariel is indigenous to the island, we know that Caliban was born there.

So here's a summary of their relationship.

When Prospero and Miranda first arrive, Caliban shows them how to survive on the island.

However, after Caliban tries to hurt Miranda, Prospero enslaves Caliban.

He forced him to obey him through threats of physical violence.

Amazing work, everyone.

Now, for your second task of the lesson, I'd like you to repeat the process we did with the quotation about Prospero and Ariel's relationship with a quotation about Caliban and Prospero.

So I'd like you to analyse this exchange between Prospero and Caliban, and show how their relationship is unequal.

So in Act one, Scene two, when giving orders to Caliban, Prospero says, "If thou neglect'st or dost unwillingly what I command, I'll rack thee with old cramps." And Caliban responds, "I must obey." Now, to analyse what we need to think about is which words show it's unequal.

So which word or words show that Caliban is being treated unfairly? We need to think about how the audience would react.

And if you can try to think about how we can link their relationship to colonialism.

So pause the video, take a few minutes to analyse the quote.

Amazing work, everyone.

It was great to see people thinking about how they can link the context of colonialism to this quotation because thinking about a text in relation to what's happening socially at the time is essential to fully understanding a text.

Now, you might have said "What I command" shows Prospero giving orders to Caliban, expecting those orders to be obeyed.

"I'll rack thee" shows that Prospero is able and willing to physically hurt Caliban if he does not obey.

And the audience would feel sorry for Caliban at that moment.

Now, Caliban's response of "I must obey" shows the unequal nature of the power dynamic between them.

And finally, it links to colonialism, since it shows Prospero taking control of the island, and taking advantage of Caliban the indigenous person.

Amazing work, everyone.

We're onto our third learning cycle.

We're going to consider the gender dynamics in Shakespeare's time, and how we might relate them to the relationship between Prospero and Miranda.

Now, as I mentioned earlier, Shakespearean society was patriarchal, and that means men occupied positions of power and women were seen as inferior.

There were legal restrictions on what women could do, such as fathers were responsible for arranging their daughter's marriages.

And the marriages were predominantly arranged for social advantage or money.

So the daughter's feelings wouldn't really have been taken into account.

Married women could not own property since legally everything belonged to their husbands.

So women were incredibly dependent on men.

And married women did not have legal rights over their own children.

As well as the legal restrictions, women also faced social pressure to be obedient to men.

Now, let's think about how we can apply this information to "The Tempest." And let's start with a bit of context around Miranda in "The Tempest." So in the play, she's the only female character.

She arrived on the island with Prospero, her father, when she was three years old.

For 12 years, she's lived on the island with no other human contact.

And during the course of "The Tempest," she meets Ferdinand and they fall in love.

Now, let's think about the language that Shakespeare uses around ideas of power and gender, and see how we can relate it to the theme of inequality.

So in Act four, Scene one, when agreeing to the marriage of Ferdinand and Miranda, Prospero says, "Then as my gift and thine own acquisition, worthily purchased, take my daughter." Now, what I'd like to think about is how does this quotation show the inequality between Prospero and Miranda? Pause the video, take a few moments to consider.

Amazing, some great discussions there.

You might have said that the quote implies that Prospero's consent is required for the marriage.

And words such as gift and purchased suggest that Miranda is an object to be passed between two men.

And finally, you might have noticed that Miranda's voice is not heard.

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 Prospero implies that Miranda is a valuable object in Act four, Scene one? Pause the video and make a selection now.

The correct answer is true.

He does imply she's a valuable object.

Now, I'd like you to justify that.

So does he imply she's a valuable object because he calls her a thing? Or does he imply she's a valuable object because he calls her a gift? Pause the video and make a selection now.

The correct answer is B.

He calls her a gift.

So very well done if you got that right.

Amazing work, everyone.

Now, let's bring everything we've just talked about together and apply it to the final task of the lesson.

So what I'd like you to do is complete the following sentences in order to consider the inequality around gender in "The Tempest." So when Prospero agrees to the marriage of Miranda and Ferdinand, Miranda's voice is not heard.

This suggests society was unequal because.

And when agreeing to their marriage, Prospero calls Miranda a gift.

And this implies women were considered inferior to men because.

So pause the video and complete the sentences now.

Amazing work, everyone.

It was great to see people looking back over their context of how she experienced society was patriarchal in order to really understand how the questions relate to inequality for women at the time.

Now, you might have said that when Prospero agrees to the marriage of Miranda and Ferdinand, Miranda's voice is not heard.

And this suggests society was unequal because it suggests that Miranda's feelings are not important, and that Prospero and Ferdinand are the only ones who need to consent for the marriage to take place.

And when agreeing to their marriage, Prospero calls Miranda a gift.

Now, this implies that women were considered inferior to men because it implies that women could be given from one man to another.

Amazing work today, everyone.

Here's a summary of what we covered.

So inequality is the unfair situation where some people have more opportunities, money, or power than others.

People in Shakespearean times faced inequality because of their race, gender, and religion.

Arguably, Ariel, Caliban, and Miranda faced inequality in "The Tempest." And potentially, Shakespeare links the inequality faced by Ariel and Caliban to colonialism.

I really hope you enjoyed the lesson, everyone.

Goodbye.