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Year 8

'A Midsummer Night's Dream': Puck's epilogue in Act 5

I can create a convincing interpretation of Puck's epilogue from Act 5 of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ through performance.

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Year 8

'A Midsummer Night's Dream': Puck's epilogue in Act 5

I can create a convincing interpretation of Puck's epilogue from Act 5 of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ through performance.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ ends with an epilogue given by the character of Puck.
  2. Puck’s epilogue breaks the fourth wall and offers to make “amends” for any offence caused by the play.
  3. Perhaps this epilogue acknowledges some of the fears that Elizabethans had about the potential dangers of the theatre.
  4. Some Elizabethans believed the theatres were a place of dangerous ideas and atmospheres.

Keywords

  • Epilogue - a speech or piece of writing that comes at the end of a text and makes a comment on what has happened in the story

  • Breaking the fourth wall - when a character in a play speaks directly to the audience, acknowledging the audience exists

  • Hierarchy - a system whereby people or things are ranked, with some being higher than others

  • Elizabethan - a person alive when Elizabeth I was on the throne (1558-1603); the first audiences of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ were Elizabethan

  • Censor - to remove parts of a text that you think shouldn’t be seen

Common misconception

It is not significant that Puck performs the epilogue. It could have been any of the characters.

There are many different ideas to explore in terms of why Puck performs this epilogue. It could speak to his centrality to the plot, his infamous reputation amongst the play's first Elizabethan audiences, and the way we should interpret key themes.

Learning cycle 2 sees pupils perform the epilogue. Consider if watching different and varied interpretations of this epilogue over the years would aid their own performance.
Teacher tip

Equipment

You need access to a copy of William Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. However, the relevant extracts for this lesson can also be found in the additional materials.

Content guidance

  • Risk assessment required - physical activity

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
In 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', how does the character of Puck help restore order in Act 3?
He removes the magical potion from Titania.
He removes the magical potion from Demetrius.
Correct answer: Her removes the magical potion from Lysander.
He removes the magical potion from Helena.
He removes the magical potion from Bottom.
Q2.
In 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', how does the character of Puck create chaos?
He brings the Athenian nobles to the magical forest.
He makes Bottom fall in love with Titania.
He disobeys Oberon, focusing his energies on Bottom rather than Lysander.
Correct answer: He puts the magal potion on Lysander by accident.
Correct answer: He transforms Bottom's head into the head of a donkey.
Q3.
The first audiences of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' were Elizabethan. Elizabethan society was intensely hierarchical. What does this mean?
They cared about how hard you worked rather than titles, money and status.
Correct answer: Some people were considered more important than others.
They believed in the supernatural, and that fairies were superior to them.
Correct answer: It was a very ordered society where status was important.
All humans were equal, but God was at the top of the hierarchy.
Q4.
In 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', Puck interacts with most of the characters in the play. Match each character to Puck's involvement with them.
Correct Answer:Oberon,obeys his commands

obeys his commands

Correct Answer:Bottom,transforms his head into that o donkey

transforms his head into that o donkey

Correct Answer:Lysander,puts the magical potion on him by mistake

puts the magical potion on him by mistake

Correct Answer:Demetrius,doesn't put the antidote on him

doesn't put the antidote on him

Correct Answer:Helena,laughs at her distress

laughs at her distress

Correct Answer:Hermia,feels sorry for her when he sees her lying on the ground sleeping

feels sorry for her when he sees her lying on the ground sleeping

Q5.
In 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', why is Titania and Bottom's relationship an example of disorder?
Correct answer: Titania is a fairy, Bottom is a human.
Titania is meant to be in love with Puck, not Bottom.
Correct answer: Bottom's transformatin makes him monstrous.
Correct answer: They are of differing status.
Titania is presented as a character who isn't meant to love anyone.
Q6.
In Act 3 of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', why does Puck want to watch the Athenian nobles in chaos?
Correct answer: He considers it a form of entertainment.
He knows he can wait for them to sort themselves out.
He deliberately created this chaos and feels proud watching it unfold.
Correct answer: He says it is a hobby of his to watch distress.
This is how he makes Oberon smile.

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
'A Midsummer Night's Dream' ends with a speech or piece of writing that comes at the end of a text and makes a comment on what has happened in the story. This is called an .
Correct Answer: epilogue
Q2.
In 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', how does Puck's epilogue in Act 5 break the fourth wall?
He acknowledges the play is offensive.
It ends the play.
It rhymes.
Correct answer: He acknowledges the existence of the audience.
It has quotations in it.
Q3.
'A Midsummer Night's Dream's' first audiences were Elizabethan. Why did some Elizabethans think the theatre was dangerous?
It breaks the fourth wall.
Correct answer: It saw large, and sometimes unruly crowds, gather.
Correct answer: Plays sometimes contained dangerous ideas.
Elizabeth I was against the theatre, so it was a treasonous act.
Correct answer: Some play's jokes were rude, immoral and ungodly.
Q4.
Elizabeth I was on the throne when 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' was first performed. She enjoyed the theatre, but also controlled it. What measures did she put in place so that the theatre was 'safe'?
She banned comedies which presented disorder.
Correct answer: She didn't allow theatres to be built inside the city of London.
She only allowed one theatre to be built in London.
She made every play have an apologetic epilogue.
Correct answer: She appointed a Master of Revels who could censor plays.
Q5.
In 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', Puck begins his epilogue, "If we shadows have , Think but this, and all is mended".
Correct Answer: offended
Q6.
'A Midsummer Night's Dream' ends with an epilogue from the character of Puck who apologises for any offence caused in the play, and asks those who are offended to think of the play as a " ".
Correct Answer: dream

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