Lesson video

Hello, and welcome to this lesson about love in conflict.

Make sure that you have your pen and your paper at hand because that's the equipment you'll need for today's lesson.

Take a moment to clear away any distractions you might have, any tabs you might have open, any notifications, anything that might distract you from that perfect learning environment.

So when you've got that lovely quiet space, let's begin.

-today by looking at Egeus' conflict, and remind ourselves of the argument, the conflict, that he has with his daughter, Hermia.

So remember, Egeus is very, very angry, he's "full of vexation," was the word that we looked at in our last lesson together.

And he is particularly angry and in conflict with his daughter, Hermia.

So he's in conflict with his daughter, Hermia, because she is refusing to marry the man that Egeus has chosen.

Remember, Egeus has chosen Demetrius as Hermia's future husband, however, Hermia has chosen Lysander.

With that image as well, we can see Hermia and Lysander longingly holding other, wanting to be together.

But remember, Egeus doesn't only blame Hermia, he also blames Lysander, and he particularly blames Lysander for causing Hermia's disobedience, for stopping Hermia from obeying him, by manipulating Hermia, by tricking her, by sending her love poetry, by buying her gifts, by professing his love for her so many times that he tricked her into loving him.

And as a result of Egeus' conflict, his vexation, his anger, with his daughter, Hermia, and her beloved Lysander, he chooses to go to Theseus, and he chooses to appeal to Theseus to resolve the conflict that he has with his daughter.

And he hopes that Theseus will follow the law of Athens-- which it's his job to do, because he's the duke-- that he will follow the law of Athens and therefore Hermia will be so scared that she will give in to her father and do what she's asked, because of the threat of death.

However, we know that this conflict doesn't get resolved.

Theseus does support Egeus, as did Athenian society, because it was a patriarchal society, as would the Elizabethan audience, the people watching the play in Shakespeare's time.

All those groups of people supporting Theseus, and Egeus, however, Hermia still chooses to not obey her father.

She still refuses to marry the man that he has chosen for her, Demetrius.

So Egeus is in this huge state of conflict.

Let's remind ourselves of Egeus' words.

So he says, "Be it so she will not here before your grace "Consent to marry with Demetrius, "I beg the ancient privilege of Athens: "As she is mine I may dispose of her;" I may get rid of her, "Which shall be either to this gentleman "Or to her death, according to our law." So remember, as his daughter, Hermia should follow her father's instructions.

If she doesn't, then he may dispose of her, he may get rid of her, like a piece of rubbish.

Dispose of her.

Either she chooses to marry Demetrius, or she dies, that is the choice that she has been given at this stage.

So Egeus has his conflicts, with his daughter, with Lysander, who he goes to Theseus to try and solve that conflict, but we have to also think about how Hermia is now in this state of conflict, we have to think about Hermia's conflict and Lysander's conflict, and that's what we're going to look at later today.

So, I would you in a moment to pause your video to complete your task.

So the question posed to you is, "Why is Egeus so 'full of vexation'?" See if you can get those exact words, "full of vexation," that quotation, into your answer, into your explanation.

Now I've given you some key bullet points there to include, so I've asked you to include the name Demetrius, Lysander, Hermia, and Theseus, those four characters' names.

I've also put in the word "disobedience." Remember, "disobedience," "disobey," doesn't do what she's told.

And then that quotation, "she is mine, "I may dispose of her." So see if you can get all that information into your answer for me, please, so pause your video when you're ready to begin, off you go.

Right, well done on that, so that was part of our revision for our previous lesson, reminding ourselves of why Egeus is so full of vexation.

So we're going to think a little bit more now about Theseus' reaction, so how Theseus reacts to Egeus' complaint about his daughter.

Theseus says, "What say you, Hermia? Be advis'd, fair maid.

"To you your father should be as a god; "One that compos'd your beauties, yea, and one "To whom you are but as a form in wax "By him imprinted, and within his power "To leave the figure, or disfigure it.

"Demetrius is a worthy gentleman." So Theseus, we can see here, is advising Hermia.

He literally says, "Be advis'd, fair maid," "Listen to my advice." Theseus, remember, is the voice of law.

It is his job, his job, his duty, to carry out and maintain the rules and order in Athens, he maintains order in Athens.

So let's have a look at these three key things that are involved, and in a different colour.

-a little bit.

So he talks about the idea of God, "To you your father should be as a god." So think about what he's saying at that point.

He's thinking about this idea of Hermia seeing her father as someone that she should worship, someone that she should look up to, to see him as a god, to see him this higher being, this important person in her life that she should obey and follow his wishes.

Now second one: "You are but as a form in wax by him imprinted," so "you are but as a form in wax." If you think of wax, almost like a kind of Play Dough or plasticine, something that you can mould and shape and manipulate to do what you want with.

If you've ever actually played around with cold wax before, cold wax, you can actually mould and shape, it works exactly like plasticine.

So, "you are but as a form in wax by him imprinted," so he has created you, that he can mould you, and shape you, and change you in the way that he wants to.

So, "in wax by him imprinted," he chooses the shape, the design, everything about you, and he has the power to do that because he is your father.

So, Hermia is being told by Theseus she should allow herself to be manipulated, moulded, and changed into the version or idea of a person that her father wants her to be.

And in that last one, "within his power to leave the figure or disfigure it." That sounds a little bit sinister, doesn't it, that idea of being able to disfigure somebody, to change the way they look, to change the way they look, and it has negative connotations, it's a negative idea is to be disfigured, to be changed by somebody.

So it's a little bit sinister.

So his power, as a father, he can leave her, he can leave her at her will, he can tell her what to do, or he can completely disfigure, completely control her, change her, into exactly what he wants her to be, and there's something a little bit almost sinister there, that element of patriarchy, that he can change her, manipulate her, because he should be seen like her god.

So let's have a pause, then, to think about Theseus' reaction.

We're going to have a look at some questions, we're going to talk through the ideas that we might put in this questions, and then you'll have an opportunity to pause your video and write down your answers.

So number one, "Does Theseus support Egeus or Hermia?" So hopefully you've got a picture of whether Theseus is going to support the father, in ancient Athens, or whether he's going to support the woman.

And I've put the letter P there, and a gap, because there is a key term that we've used so far today, and in previous lessons, to talk about the idea of a society that is controlled and ruled by men, so see if you can remember that word beginning with P, and get that into your answer for number one.

So we're going to go through all these first, and then take your time to pause.

So number two, "How should Hermia view her father?" So, "how should Hermia view her father," and I've put the letter G for our key word at that point.

So think about that key quotation that we just looked at, the first quotation, that key word, where Hermia is expected to worship her father and see him like a.

So see if we can remember that key word.

Number three, "Why might Theseus use the image of 'wax'?" So remember, he talked about wax, as I said, when you get cold wax, you can squeeze it, shape it, mould it, like Play Dough, like plasticine, like clay.

So think about those two key words that were on the bullet points on the previous slide, one began with an M, and one began with a C, so think about what Theseus tells Hermia that she should allow Egeus to do.

And number four, "What does Theseus say Egeus "has the 'power' to do?" And, one of those was he has the power to "leave the figure or," and we've got a key word beginning with D, can you remember that one, we said that was a little bit sinister as well.

So I'd like you to take this moment to pause the video and see if you can write down those four answers, in full sentences, and really challenge yourself to use those key words that are in pink, those start letter key words.

Off you go.

Right, let's have a look at those answers together then.

So, "Theseus' Reaction." So number one, "Theseus supports Egeus "because there is patriarchy in ancient Athens," so that key word that I wanted you to get in there was "patriarchy," "patriarchy." Number two, "Hermia should view her father as a 'God.

'" That was our key word beginning with G, "god." And some of you might've even gone further with that answer and mentioned possibly the idea of worship, as well.

Number three, "Theseus might use the image of 'wax' "to suggest that Hermia should allow herself "to be molded"--there's our key word beginning with M-- "and changed"--there's our key word beginning with C-- "into whatever Egeus wishes." So he can mould her, change her, shape her, in whatever form he wants to, like you would with a piece of plasticine, you start off with a strip of plasticine and you turn it into whatever you want to, because you're in control, like Egeus is of Hermia.

And number four, "Egeus has the 'power' to leave Hermia "or 'disfigure' her which is controlling "and quite sinister," that idea of disfiguring, to change her, to hurt her, it implies hurt or harm, doesn't it? So, put an image on your screen now.

You'll see it looks a bit of a untidy path to take, but there are, if you look, there's the place where you start at the bottom of the image, so you can go backwards, you can carry on walking and go forwards, up the steps, or you can go up a little way and turn left, or you can go up a little way and turn right.

And this picture represents how Hermia and Lysander are feeling at this point in the play.

Because if you remember, Egeus has his complaint about Hermia, his daughter, he complains about Lysander having manipulated her, he goes to Theseus, and Theseus tells Hermia that she has very few options.

So we can imagine Hermia and Lysander at the bottom of this staircase, they can either choose to go backwards, forwards, left, or right, they're left with four options.

So let's have a look at what these four options might be, the route that they will choose to take.

So "Hermia and Lysander's Dilemma." So they can choose the option of, "Hermia must marry Demetrius," that's one option.

So Hermia must marry Demetrius, that's one option.

We know they don't like that option, so they're unlikely to take that path.

Number two, "Hermia goes to a nunnery." So she vows for her whole life to never have any contact with men, at all, and chooses to serve God.

She doesn't want to take that path.

Or, Hermia can stay in exactly the position she's in at the moment, and she's killed.

So she can choose death, because that's what will happen due to Athenian law.

So there are three options at the moment.

Poor Hermia, hasn't got many choices, and none of those options are ones that she wants to or is willing to take, she doesn't want to marry Demetrius, she doesn't want to go to a nunnery, and she certainly doesn't want to be killed.

So, we have option number four, which is a different path, where Lysander has a plan, and that's what we're going to look at later today, Lysander's solution to his dilemma.

His dilemma with Hermia, how they're going to solve the situation, the conflict, that they're in at the moment, because their love is in a state of conflict, isn't it, because she either marries Demetrius, goes to a nunnery, or is killed.

So there has to be an alternative plan, and that's what Lysander is going to come up with.

So, take a moment to pause your video, please, and can you list down the four options for Hermia and Lysander? Off you go.

Well done if you put-- Number one, "Hermia must marry Demetrius"-- don't worry if they're not in the same order.

Number two, "Hermia goes to a nunnery." Number three, "Hermia is killed." Or number four, "Lysander has a plan," which is yet to be revealed to us.

So at the moment we are at in the play, we only realise that Hermia has three options.

So we have a distraught Hermia at this point, a distraught Hermia, because she has been told to either marry Demetrius, go to a nunnery, or be killed, so we can understand how she is incredibly distraught.

She doesn't know what to do with herself, she can't see a solution to the problem.

So, everybody in the scene exits, apart from Lysander and Hermia.

So all the other characters are exited, so it's just Lysander and Hermia having a conversation between themselves.

So we can hear what they really want to say, not what they're trying to say to impress anybody else or to defend themselves, but what they're truly saying to each other as a couple.

Lysander says, "How now, my love? "Why is your cheek so pale? "How chance the roses there do fade so fast?" We could say he's using some clichés of love at this point, and a cliché is something that's kind of overused.

So when we think about love, one of the most common images we come up with is the idea of a rose.

When it comes to Valentine's Day, to give a red rose is the cliché of Valentine's Day, it's what is expected, what's associated with it, and it's done over and over again.

So Lysander actually asks you, "How are you, my love, "how are you, Hermia? "Why is your cheek so pale, "why have you lost all the colour from your cheek, "all the glow, all the warmth?" And that's why I put that image of the rose, the pale rose, on the right-hand side of your screen, that's slightly withered, slightly starting to die, starting to wither.

He says, "How chance the roses there do fade so fast?" So when we think of a rose most commonly, we think of a red rose, probably most commonly to do with love.

And he's saying that this redness, this kind of pinky-redness that we get in our cheeks that shows we're full of life, we're happy, is pale in Hermia, her cheeks are pale.

So we can see from that that Lysander realises that Hermia is distraught.

She's struggling, she's lost all the life, the happiness, the enthusiasm, and the colour from her cheeks, and he compares those to the idea of a rose, a cliché of love.

Hermia then says, "Belike for want of rain, "which I could well beteem them "from the tempest of mine eyes." So she talks about the fact that her cheeks want rain, they need rain, and that's why the color's gone from these roses, they haven't been fed with water, and that tells us how upset she is, because she says, "beteem them from the tempest "of mine eyes," "the tempest of my eyes." And a tempest is a storm, a really violent and aggressive storm.

And I've put an image there of pouring rain on your right-hand side of your screen.

So she's not talking just a little bit of water, she's talking about torrential, storm-like rain.

Because that's how distraught she is, how much she's struggling inside.

So when we're thinking of conflict, this is kind of the inner conflict, perhaps, of Hermia, that she's struggling with what to do, with her three options.

She is absolutely distraught.

Just even putting yourself in her position just for a split second, nobody would want to be in that position.

To be forced to marry somebody they don't love, to be forced to go to the nunnery and never experience a relationship with a man, and thirdly, to risk death.

It's no wonder she wants these torrential tears to pour down her cheeks, because she can't cope, she's distraught, she's beside herself.

And this is before, remember, Lysander has come up with any hint of a plan.

But Lysander gives her some advice, as well, before he even comes up with his plan, he gives her some advice.

And you'll see on the right-hand side of your screen that there's a picture of river rafting, white river rafting, and you'll see that the river looks quite aggressive almost, doesn't it? And it's certainly not a smooth, tranquil surface of water, is it? The river is quite forceful, and that's the point of rafting, it's the idea it's a bit of a dangerous sport, for fun.

The idea of being able to navigate down a rough river.

And that's the basis of Lysander's advice, it's the basis of his advice.

Because he says, "Ay me! For aught that I could ever read, "Could ever hear by tale or history, "The course of true love never did run smooth.

"But either if it was different in blood." So our key quotation is highlighted for you in pink, "the course of true love never did run smooth." This is one of the most famous lines of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." It's a saying that we still use today, "the course of true love never did run smooth." And actually, quite a lot of sayings, quite a lot of words and phrases that we use today actually come from Shakespeare.

People just don't realise that they come from Shakespeare.

But this is one of the most famous lines in the whole of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "the course of true love never did run smooth." And that image of the river, the idea that this course of love never runs perfectly, never runs smoothly, just like the river rafting that you can see in that image.

And we're going to learn a new word to associate with our saying, notice how much so far I've called it a saying, a saying that we use.

But actually, if we're using the correct terminology, we'll introduce our word "proverb." "Proverb." And a proverb is "a short sentence which is often quoted "as advice or truth," that's why I put the image of the candle there, that idea of being enlightened, to learn something, to learn a truth, or some advice that we can take upon ourselves.

So "a short sentence which is often quoted "as advice or truth." So we can say Lysander uses the proverb, "the course of true love never did run smooth." So let's look at Lysander's proverb in a little bit more detail.

"The course of true love never did run smooth." I'm going to say that again, and I would like you to say it with me this time.

Three, two, one, go.

"The course of true love never did run smooth." Thank you, well done.

So we're going to now break that down into three parts, you'll notice I've highlighted the word "course," the phrase "true love," and the phrase "never did run smooth." So let's look at "course," first of all.

So he's talking about the course of love, like a path, or a journey, or a riverbed.

The idea of a course, the journey that it takes.

And if we think about it, this idea of a river, this natural force, then perhaps we could even suggest that Lysander is talking about how the love between himself and Hermia is natural, it's just like nature, it's meant to be, this course, this journey.

And actually, this journey is a natural journey, it's not common that love runs perfectly, and their journey is no different to anybody else's.

Let's look at the next phrase.

"True love," he doesn't just say, "the course of love," it's "the course of true love." And he's using this proverb to describe his relationship with Hermia, and the fact that it's true love can suggest that it's real, it's not a fake love, it's not just love that you'd read about, this is a real love, it's genuine, it's pure.

They've got a pure, real, and genuine love between them, it's not fake, they haven't had to be in love, they've not been forced to be in love, they have chosen it and it's pure, it's real.

And our last phrase, which takes us back to that key image of the river rafting again, "never did run smooth." That's the reality of love, that's what love is really like.

A relationship never runs perfect.

You might read about love stories, you might watch films about love stories, but they never run perfectly, there's always some kind of obstacle in the way, whether that be someone or something that stops this journey of love running perfectly, just like a river.

And if you think of that image of river rafting, if there's a branch, if there's a leaf, if there's a log, if there's another person, if there's a rock of some kind, if there's an animal in the way, lots of different obstacles, and you can't always see that they're there on the surface, but when you're river rafting and you bump your boat into something, then you know it's there.

So these things that happen in love that make it not run perfectly aren't always things that we can see are there, they're not always obvious to us, but they potentially are hiding, so we think things might run perfect, but actually that's just an illusion, because the reality is very different.

You think of a riverbed, the chances of it being a perfectly smooth riverbed with no stones, no leaves, no animals, no nothing in the way, is near impossible, as is the course of true love, it's never possible that it will run perfectly smoothly without any problems at all.

But there's this sense of hope that Lysander's proverb gives towards Hermia, "the course of true love never did run smooth." So they're not the first people to struggle, and they won't be the last people to struggle.

But there's this sense of hope from Lysander that his relationship with Hermia has potential to recover, and that it will get better, there's that sense of hope.

Other people have had it before, no love runs perfectly, ours isn't going to be any different.

So there's a comfort in Lysander's words, and a sense of reality for Hermia in her distraught state.

Let's look at Lysander's view on love, then, so he talks about this proverb, "the course of true love never did run smooth," and then he starts to talk about his view upon love.

He says, "Or, if there were a sympathy in choice, "War, death, or sickness did ley siege to it, "Making it momentany as a sound, "Swift as a shadow, short as any dream, "Brief as the lightning in the collied night "That, in a spleen, unfolds both heaven and earth, "And, ere a man hath power to say, 'Behold!' "The jaws of darkness do devour it up: "So quick bright things come to confusion." So this is Lysander's view on love.

So he gives his advice to Hermia, he tries to comfort Hermia, and they then debate a little bit about how other people have struggles in love as well.

And what Lysander tells us in this speech upon love where he says, "if there is sympathy in choice," even if it seems like there are not obstacles in the way, even love itself can last a really short time, so even if two people who want to be together have no obstacles, they don't have obstacles of age, of wealth, of status, or anything else, it doesn't necessarily mean that love is going to stay.

So he, again, it's this sense of him trying to comfort Hermia, to make her understand that actually love is not this perfect thing that runs its perfect course, like this unreal, perfect riverbed that's never going to happen.

And if we look at the phrases highlighted in pink, there's lots of examples of how he uses images to show how brief love can be.

"Momentany as a sound," so it can be as brief as a sound.

It could be as brief as a knock, for example.

"Swift as a shadow," if you think how quickly a shadow can move, just from a simple step that you take and your shadow can have a completely different direction.

"Short as any dream," we can't control our dreams. So "short as any dream," a dream can start and stop in a matter of a second.

Or "brief as the lightning in the collied night," "collied" is to do with the idea of cold and being something intensely dark.

So the idea of a really dark black sky, and as brief as lightning.

We think of lightning, it comes in a matter of seconds and it disappears again.

So there's four images there of how he is emphasising to us how brief love can be, so even if all the circumstances of love are perfect, it still doesn't mean that the course of true love with run smoothly, because even love itself can be brief, love doesn't always last.

So even if his situation with Hermia was accepted by Egeus, even, it still doesn't mean that it would run perfectly.

He also uses the image, "ere a man hath power to say, "Behold!' "The jaws of darkness do devour it up." He says, even in the time that someone has to say "behold," that even then, darkness can eat up-- like a mouth closing upon the word-- can eat up the word "behold." So it's another example, again, of the briefness of love, and that's why I've given you the image "Speed of Light," that momentary flash of light that completely disappears, almost like the flash of a camera.

You see it and then it's gone, and that's how quick Lysander says love can stop.

It can be just momentary, momentary, last just for a split second, and then it disappears.

And he even says at the end, "So quick bright things come to confusion," so, so quick can these bright things just suddenly become something very, very different.

So we now need to look at Lysander's plan.

So he has explained to Hermia how difficult love is, how the course of true love never did run smooth.

But he has a plan, let's look at Lysander's plan.

He says, "A good persuasion, therefore, hear me, Hermia.

"I have a widow aunt, a dowager "Of great revenue, and she hath no child.

"From Athens is her house remote seven leagues, "And she respects me as her only son.

"There, gentle Hermia, may I marry thee, "And to that place the sharp Athenian law "Cannot pursue us." So I've picked out some key phrases out of that speech of Lysander's.

That he's got a widow aunt, so that means he's got an aunt whose husband is no longer alive, so she's an aunt that lives on her own.

She's seven leagues away, so she's a long distance away from Athens, a league is about a mile and a half, so she's a long distance away from Athens.

And he says, "there may I marry thee." So if they are outside of Athens, he will be able to marry Hermia there, because, he says, "the sharp"-- the idea of it being harsh or cruel-- "Athenian law"--the law that says that she must obey her father, not the fact that they can't marry, be careful, it's the fact that her father has told her she must marry someone else, and that's what she must do.

And he says, "the sharp Athenian law cannot pursue us," it cannot follow us there.

If they are outside of Athens, they do not have to follow Athenian law, and that's why Lysander's plan, therefore, is to run away.

Let's carry on reading.

He then says, "If thou lovest me then, "Steal forth thy father's house tomorrow night; "And in the wood, a league without the town " " , "There I will stay for thee." So he literally puts it to her, "If you love me, "then run away from your father's house tomorrow night," and that's the situation that he gives her.

If you love me, then you will run away from your father's house, and I will meet you in the woods, and I will wait there for you, so he's going to wait for Hermia to arrive, so he says, "Run away tomorrow," because we know Hermia has been given a limited amount of time from Theseus to make her decision.

So they can't wait for their plan for very long, we know that Theseus' wedding is four days away to Hippolyta, and he has given her less time than that to make her decision.

So she has to move quickly, so Lysander's plan is quick, and it's happening tomorrow night, and he says he will meet her in the woods there.

On your screen, you will find yourself five questions, there are five questions, all based upon Lysander's plan, I'd like you to pause your video, and write out your full-sentence answers, please, off you go.

Well done, let's have a look at what the answers were.

So, remember, you might've phrased yours differently, but there are key points to the answers we do need to make sure we are including.

So number one, "Lysander has an aunt who can help," so we need to remember that it was his aunt.

Number two, "She views Lysander like a son," and that's particularly-- Views him like a son, therefore, she would do anything for him, so she will be willing to help him.

Number three, "She lives seven leagues from Athens," so she lives far enough away, remember, to not come under Athenian law.

Number four, "Hermia and Lysander can marry there "because it is not under Athenian law." And number five, "Hermia needs to run away "and meet Lysander there," and remember he said, "If you love me then you will do it, "then you will run away and meet me there," and she will know exactly where to go.

If you'd like to, please ask your parent or carer to share your work on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, tagging @OakNational and #LearnwithOak.

So that brings us to the end of today's lesson on love in conflict.

Thank you very much for working so incredibly hard, you should be really proud of what you've managed to achieve today.

So take care, and enjoy the rest of your learning.