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Year 8 - English

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

'A Midsummer Night's Dream'

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupils read and explore Shakespeare's comedy 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. They focus on the character Puck and the theme of the supernatural, and analyse their role and importance at different points in the play. Finally, they plan and write an essay about Puck and the supernatural.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to create a convincing interpretation of Puck's epilogue from Act 5 of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' through performance.

Key Notes

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

Vocabulary To Learn

  • 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 Mistakes To Avoid

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

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.

'A Midsummer Night's Dream' ends with an epilogue given by the character of Puck. Puck's epilogue breaks the fourth wall and offers to make "amends" for any offence caused by the play.

2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. '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.

3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.

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

More Lessons In This Unit

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