Lesson video

Hello and welcome to today's learning on The Mechanicals.

So you will need your trusted two pieces of equipment, your pen, and your paper.

Make sure you've got both of those for me please.

Absolute essentials.

Don't forget to close down any tabs, any notifications that you might have that might distract you from that perfect learning environment.

So when you've got that lovely quiet space and you're ready to learn, let's begin.

For our lesson on the mechanicals, we need to start by reminding ourselves of the features of a Shakespearean comedy.

So this is what we did in an earlier lesson, so this is revision and recapping, really useful for today.

So remind ourselves "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is a comedy.

And a Shakespearean comedy has the following key parts.

As I reveal these, see if you can remember them before they even come up.

Number one, a happy ending often a marriage.

Number two, a romantic plot.

Number three, a group of ridiculous characters and number four, confusion over who is who.

So we're going to test ourselves on these now.

So I am going to show you that screen again with some key words missing.

So you've got to pause your video now please and see if you can write down those four features of a Shakespearean comedy.

Off you go.

Well done then.

Let's see who managed to get a whole four at four, 100% on those.

So let's go through those again.

So "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is a comedy.

A Shakespearean comedy has the following key parts.

So you can say these with me if you'd like.

Number one, a happy ending often a marriage.

Number two, a romantic plot.

Number three, a group of ridiculous characters and number four, confusion over who is who.

Make sure you give yourself a nice big tick for each of those.

Hopefully you've got lots of those key words, if not all of them, because that's part of our revision reminder.

So today looking at the mechanicals we'll find out who they are shortly, we're going to look at particularly key part number three, a group of ridiculous characters.

And that group of ridiculous characters are the mechanicals.

So we're going to find out lots about those today.

So we're going to start off first of all, by learning who they actually are, the characters' names.

So the mechanicals are Quince, Snug, Bottom Flute, Snout, and Starveling.

And hopefully you should even notice by the names that the names themselves are a little bit silly, a little bit ridiculous.

So straight away we have an expectation over these characters, don't we, just from their names alone.

And by moving on to this idea of the mechanicals, what we then realise Shakespeare is doing is he is disrupting the narrative.

So Shakespeare disrupts the narrative.

And by that, I mean our storyline that we have running at the moment.

Our romantic plot, remember we looked at this storyline in accordance with this idea of a Shakespearean comedy, the romantic plot of Lysander and Hermia particularly, leading that romantic narrative.

But Shakespeare's disrupting this.

So we've got our love, kind of square almost, between Lysander, Hermia, Demetrius and Helena.

And this love square that we have running, that's got lots of arrows pointing in lots of different directions is quite serious and it's quite dramatic.

And part of the reason it's so serious is because there is a threat of death.

If Hermia doesn't obey her father Egeus and follow the Athenian law, she could be put to death.

She is expected to agree to marry Demetrius because that's what her father wishes for her.

So we've got quite a serious element to our narrative, our romantic plot and it's quite dramatic.

It's quite tense because we don't know what's going to happen next.

We know that Lysander has a plan, we know that Lysander and Hermia are going to flee to his aunt's house, which is outside of Athenian law, it's distant from Athens.

We know that Helena is going to betray her friend Hermia and tell Demetrius about her and Lysander's plan to flee.

So we've got all these questions we're asking at the moment.

What will happen to Hermia? Is Demetrius going to go after Hermia? Will Demetrius then love Helena? Will Hermia get killed? You've got all these questions running through our mind at the moment.

What does Shakespeare do? He completely changes the focus in the play.

He makes us wait, doesn't he? He makes us wait.

And he does that by introducing our ridiculous characters, our mechanicals, our group of actors who are going to in theory, put on a lovely production of a play.

But we use that phrasing quite loosely because actually they are quite ridiculous and we're going to learn a lot about them today and what kind of characters they are.

We have moved from a serious and dramatic narrative onto a ridiculous and quite comical set of characters, our mechanicals.

And as I said the mechanicals are going to plan, rehearse and perform a play.

That's what their role is within the within the story.

However, they are also adding that comical value to the text.

They're also going to break up that kind of tension that we have at the moment between our four lovers.

They're going to break that tension because Shakespeare's disrupting the narrative.

He's not giving us the information we want.

He's making us wait by interrupting it with these comedic comical characters that we're going to be introduced to.

And therefore, we are left with a concept of a play within a play.

So we have our overall play that we're studying, "A Midsummer Night's Dream", that's our main play.

And I have told you that we have our mechanicals introduced into that play.

And our mechanicals are going to plan, rehearse and perform a play called "Pyramus and Thisbe" "Pyramus and Thisbe" So we've got this concept of a play within a play.

And there will be some overlap between this play that they are performing and the overall play of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" that we have.

So a play within a play.

So there's going to be elements of "Pyramus and Thisbe" that we can link into "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

So this seriousness, this dramatic element that we have of the four lovers at the moment is going to be seen perhaps as more humorous with the way that the mechanicals play it in some of those themes that come through in "Pyramus and Thisbe".

So let's explain that further.

We're going to have to remind ourselves first of all, where this story of "Pyramus and Thisbe" has even come from.

So we're remembering back to previous learning now.

William Shakespeare.

He was well educated and learned about the ancient Greeks and Romans.

That sentence should be very, very familiar.

So pause your video now, please.

and write that down for me.

Off you go.

Well done.

If you wrote that, he was well educated and learnt about the ancient Greeks and Romans, because that becomes really relevant for our play "Pyramus and Thisbe".

So you will see on your screen, there is an image of Pyramus and Thisbe, an interpretation.

You will see this hint of our Cupid character in the background.

We know from the image, we can work with it as a love story.

But it doesn't seem to look like a love story with a very happy ending with the image that we're left with at the moment.

So let's have a look at just the basis of the story of "Pyramus and Thisbe".

And you'll notice there's certain key parts in bold, and they're in bold for reason.

Have a think why they might be in bold as we talk through.

So "Pyramus and Thisbe" has come from Ovid, who was a Roman poet who wrote "Metamorphoses".

So this story has come from a Roman poet and that's why we reminded ourselves about Shakespeare's education.

So this story "Pyramus and Thisbe" is something he's likely to have learnt about when he was at school.

"Pyramus and Thisbe" is a tragedy.

It's a tragedy and Shakespearean tragedies often end in death and sometimes even multiple deaths as well.

Look at our bold bullet points now.

So Pyramus and Thisbe, two lovers who are not allowed to marry.

Who might that remind us of that we've met so far in "A Midsummer Night's Dream"? Hopefully you're thinking, Ah! Hermia and Lysander.

Well done if you did.

Next bullet point, they elope.

Now elope is another word for the idea of running away.

So they eloped.

So Pyramus and Thisbe elope.

Who's choosing to elope in "A Midsummer Night's Dream"? Again, Ah! Hermia and Lysander.

So we can see there there's some similarities between our characters of Pyramus and Thisbe and our characters of Hermia and Lysander.

So Pyramus and Thisbe choose to elope, they choose to run away together so that they can actually be together.

They're not allowed to marry.

And it's the same for Hermia and Lysander, isn't it because Egeus wants his daughter Hermia to marry Demetrius because that's who he's chosen.

So Hermia and Lysander, who both love each other are not allowed to marry and be together because of Athenian law.

And that last bullet point, tragic end.

For Pyramus and Thisbe there's death at the end, they both die for the sake of love.

So our mechanicals in terms of our play within a play are actually performing a play that borrows or not so much borrows because obviously Ovid, Roman poet came first, but have some similarities to Hermia and Lysander's romantic plot in "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

The difference is however that we know that one of the key features of a Shakespearean comedy is that it has a happy ending, usually resulting in a marriage.

So Pyramus and Thisbe die at the end.

We know, by having looked at the idea of a Shakespearean comedy that Hermia and Lysander will not.

So we've got some ridiculous characters called the mechanicals, with their silly names, and those characters are performing a tragic play.

So you might already start to have your predictions over how that's going to turn out.

So we've literally got ridiculous characters trying to perform and act in a really serious play.

So we can see that that's probably not going to work out perfectly for them, is it? But we've got this as I said, this idea of a play within a play, and therefore Shakespeare can make some of the ideas of Hermia and Lysander's love story, their struggles, their strifes, their difficulties through our mechanicals perhaps seem a little more lighthearted than they would be without it.

And that idea will become more apparent when we come on to look later on in the play at when "Pyramus and Thisbe" by our mechanicals is actually performed.

Let's have a little recap then.

So question one, who originally wrote "Pyramus and Thisbe"? Number two, where did he come from? Number three, what type of play is it? Number four, how is it similar to "A Midsummer Night's Dream"? And how does it end? So I'd like you to pause your video and see if you can answer those questions in full sentences, now please.

Off you go.

Right, well done if you've managed to recall those facts of the information that we just looked at.

So really well done if you've managed to remember that and get those answers correct.

So let's have a look at what these answers might look like.

So number one, Ovid originally wrote "Pyramus and Thisbe" He came from Rome, he's a Roman poet.

Number three, it is a tragedy.

It's important to recognise that "Pyramus and Thisbe" is a tragedy and remember that "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is a comedy.

Number four, it is similar to "A Midsummer Night's Dream" because two lovers can not be together so they elope.

Remember elope is the idea of running away.

And number five, it ends with the deaths of Pyramus and Thisbe.

Some of you might have been showing off there and even commented on the fact that perhaps Hermia and Lysander won't be dying because they are in a comedy play, whereas Pyramus and Thisbe are in a tragedy.

So you might have noticed the difference or the contrast between those two different sets of characters as well.

So well done if you've got those answers correct.

Excellent work.

So we're going to look now Act 1, Scene 2.

And Act 1, Scene 2 is about our mechanicals, our group of actors.

And we're going to find that there a little bit silly and a little bit ridiculous.

We're going to read through some of this scene together.

So we've taken out some extracts from it so we can see the relationships between these characters and how they might come across to the audience.

So, "Is all our company here? You are best to call them generally, man by man according to the script.

Here is the scroll of every man's name, which is thought fit through all Athens, to play in our interlude before the Duke and Duchess, on his wedding-day at night.

First, good Peter Quince, say what the play treats on; then read the names of the actors; and so grow to a point.

Marry, our play is 'The most lamentable comedy and most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisbe'" So were introduced to two of our mechanicals, two of our players here.

We've got Quince and we've got Bottom.

We can see from the opening of this scene, that Quince is the man in charge.

"Is all our company here?" He's addressing the group of mechanicals.

Straight away, Bottom interferes.

"You were best to call them generally." You should do it like this, he's giving him advice, he's trying to take control, isn't he? And look what Quince says.

"Here is the scroll of every man's name, which is thought fit through all Athens." So he's saying that the scroll, his list of his mechanicals or characters in our mechanical group are thought fit through all Athens.

They are considered to be the best people to take part in the play.

That's possibly not entirely true, is it, because we've already seen just from Bottom's opening line there about him, you know I think you should do it this way, I think you should do it this way.

And already you can see that that group doesn't quite work together, does it? And then he says, "To play in our interlude before the Duke and Duchess, on his wedding-day at night." So actually they're going to perform their play at Theseus and Hippolyta's wedding.

That's when they're going to perform the play, the Duke and Duchess, the Duke of Athens and Hippolyta when she marries Theseus will become the Duchess of Athens.

Again, Bottom's interfering.

Quince, when he introduces his play, we know the play is called "Pyramus and Thisbe", that's what we've already learnt so that the play is call "Pyramus and Thisbe", but rather than calling it "Pyramus and Thisbe", Quince decides to say, "The most lamentable comedy and most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisbe." Doesn't make much sense, does it really? Because it's an, you know so there's the best comedy and it's got a most cruel death.

So does it, contradicts itself, doesn't it? It's supposed to be an amazing comedy it's supposed to make you laugh and have a really cruel death as well.

So it doesn't quite make sense.

We're already getting the sense of these characters are a little bit ridiculous and seem a little bit silly, don't they? So we're going to introduce now this idea of irony, because that fits in really nicely with what we've just been talking about.

So you can see a picture on the right hand side of your screen, which explicitly says, gives you an instruction, "No smoking on these premises." Look what the, under the arrow, the arrow is pointing to an awful lot of cigarette butts.

So it's quite ironic that the sign says no smoking, but actually the sign, the bucket that it's in, is being used as an ashtray.

That's ironic.

So let's look at a definition then.

The use of words that mean the opposite of what you really think, especially in order to be funny.

So the idea of the use of words that mean the opposite.

So that sign is saying "No smoking on these premises", but the fact there's lots of cigarette ends there suggest that perhaps the sign should be saying, "Yes, please smoke on these premises", doesn't it? So it's a bit funny because the sign says no smoking and what has everybody done? They've smoked there instead.

So let's look at the title of the play that Quince has just told us.

So the title of the play, "The most lamentable comedy and most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisbe", is ironic because comedies do not normally cause grief and upset over deaths.

You don't watch a comedy expecting to see lots of sadness and grief over deaths.

Doesn't make sense, does it? You don't expect to go to a comedy, watch lots of deaths and see loads of people really upset and crying and struggling that they've lost people.

So that's ironic.

Let's look at another section from our mechanical scene Act 1, Scene 2.

So before we do that however, we're going to just do some recap questions.

So very quick recap then.

Who are they going to perform the play for? Why is the title of the play ironic? And why might Quince's statement about the quality of actors chosen for the play be ironic? So put that bonus one in for number three.

So pause your video when you are ready, try and answer those questions in full sentences and then we're going to move on to our next extract.

Off you go, please.

Right, well done on those.

Let's look through at some possible options that you might have written.

So number one, they're going to perform the play for Theseus and Hippolyta at their wedding.

So the Duke and Duchess, you might have put instead but you can also put Theseus and Hippolyta.

Number two, the title of the play is ironic because comedies are not meant to about grief and upsetting deaths.

So that makes it ironic.

The third one remember was a bonus question.

It was to get you to think a little bit further.

Quince's statement about the quality of actors chosen for the play might be ironic because the actors seem quite ridiculous.

So he's saying these are the most amazing men in Athens that could possibly do this role, when in actual fact they're probably the least likely, the opposite is true.

They're probably the most useless people to actually take part in this play.

So well done, particularly if you picked up on number three there, because that was a little bit more challenging.

Well let's look at our next extract then from Act 1, Scene 2.

So Bottom, "A very good piece of work, I assure you, and the merry.

Now good Peter Quince, call forth your actors by the scroll.

Masters, spread yourselves.

Answer as I call you Nick Bottom, the weaver." Well at that point we've got Bottom who is actually instructing Quince what to do.

And he then says, "Ready.

Name what part I am for, and proceed.

You, Nick Bottom, are set down for Pyramus." So notice how Bottom, rather than just answering, he's then straight away, "Name what part am I for, and proceed." He's trying to take complete control of the situation, isn't he? He's trying to take complete control there, telling him what to do.

Quince is in charge.

Bottom just wants to own the stage, doesn't he? Then Quince says, "You, Nick Bottom, are set down for Pyramus.

What is Pyramus-a lover, or a tyrant?" A tyrant is a cruel leader.

So he's basically saying, am I lover, am I a good guy, or am I a bad guy.

"A lover that kills himself most gallantly for love." We learn that Bottom is going to take the lead role.

He's going to take the lead role in the play, but we'll find out shortly that that's not enough for Bottom, he wants more.

So we've got an example there in pink, "Call forth your actors by the scroll." He dominates, doesn't he, tries to take control of the situation.

And before poor Quince even has a chance to finish properly, Bottom is telling him, "Name what part I'm for, and proceed." He's interrupting before Quince even gets a chance to finish his sentences fully.

So thinking all the time what kind of character is Bottom.

What are we seeing through this scene? Look at the next bit.

Bottom says, "That will ask some tears in the true performing of it.

If I do it, let the audience look to their eyes.

I'll move storms; I will condole in some measure.

To the rest-yet my chief humour is for a tyrant.

I could play Ercles rarely, or a part to tear a cat in, to make all split." So it's like, well if I'm playing the lover, you know I've got, I've got to make some tears happen.

And if I do, you know let the audience look to their eyes, the audience are obviously going to react at my amazing acting skills.

I will move storms that will cry so much at my wonderful acting and I will condole in some measure.

He's so proud of what he can act like, you know.

I'll make storms happen, they'll be crying so much, they won't know what to do with themselves.

He's got such a high opinion of himself.

Such a high opinion.

So I will move storms. So there's this very much a sense of, and I've put the image of a star up deliberately because Bottom wants to be the star of the show.

He wants to lead the show, he wants to dominate it, he wants to have every part of it.

And there's very much a sense from him of self praise.

Wow, what an amazing actor I am.

There's no way the audience won't react to my amazing acting skills.

But he goes, "I could play Ercles." Bottom makes quite a few mistakes.

And actually when he says Ercles, he means Hercules.

And that's one of the many examples of where Bottom makes himself sound quite silly, quite ridiculous, because he said I could play this part, but actually he doesn't even know the name of the part that he's playing properly and he can't even say it properly either.

So he gets himself quite muddled up at times.

And it's those references to things such as Hercules because of what Shakespeare would have learnt at school, what would have been taught in the Elizabethan era, the audience would likely be familiar with.

So they pick up on these little jokes.

They pick up on these little subtle bits that Shakespeare's put in like Ercles to kind of make Bottom a bit of a laughing joke as a character, to make him seem even more ridiculous.

This would make the audience laugh that he's getting so muddled up.

You know I could do this, this, this and this, but actually I can't even say his name properly.

Let's look at another moment then.

So "Francis Flute, the bellows-mender.

Here, Peter Quince.

Flute, you must take Thisbe on you." And don't forget at this point, we would likely guess that the audience would be familiar with the story of "Pyramus and Thisbe".

So therefore, when Quince says, "Flute, you must take Thisbe on you", the audience are likely to know who Thisbe is.

Flute doesn't.

"What is Thisbe? A wandering knight? It is the lady that Pyramus must love." So Flute has just been told he has to play the part of a woman.

And it shows their lack of knowledge about the play.

So that's going to be quite humorous for the audience.

Flute then says, "Nay, faith, let me not, let not me play a woman.

I have a beard coming." So I can't play a woman, I've got a beard.

I've got a beard coming, I'm starting to grow my beard and therefore I can't play a woman.

"That's all one.

You shall play it in a mask, and you may speak as small as you will." He says well it doesn't matter just wear a mask and you must speak as lightly and softly like a woman as you can.

So he's being expected to put on a woman's voice as well.

Bottom though, can't have the fact that Flute and Quince are having a conversation and he's not involved.

"And I may hide my face, let me play Thisbe too.

I'll speak in a monstrous, little voice; 'Thisne, Thisne!'-'Ah, Pyramus, my lover dear! thy Thisbe dear! and lady dear!" He was actually putting on like a little bit of a voice there at that point, just to show that you know I can do this part as well.

Not only can I be a strong man, I can be a lover and I can cause tears but I can also put on the voice of a woman as well.

So there's almost that moment where you can kind of imagine Bottom on the stage, trying to perform a one man show where he's literally talking one way as Pyramus and then running to the other side of the stage and answer in a different voice as Thisbe.

It's quite a humorous image there.

But he wants to dominate completely.

But what we do have to remember is that actually women couldn't act in the Elizabethan era and that all the roles were played by men.

But it's the way that it's been played and set up with our mechanicals that makes it that bit more humorous.

And as we've said again, Bottom dominates.

"Let me play Thisbe too." I want to be Thisbe and Pyramus, I want to take both lead roles and not give anybody else a chance.

So Nick Bottom.

What have we learned then about Nick Bottom? We can see from the image what kind of character he his.

He's got his arm up in the air, you know trying to get the centre of attention.

So he dominates, he interrupts, he's full of self praise.

He praises himself up.

No one else has particularly said he's a good actor apart from Quince saying, you know we've got the best men to play these parts in our play.

But apart from that, no one's actually play, praised Bottom have they, apart from himself.

He confuses his words, he gets muddled up with what he's saying, Ercles and not Hercules.

And one other example of where he confuses his words is Quince wants the actors to rehearse in secret.

'cause if we don't rehearse in secret, everybody will want to be involved and they'll all see the play before it even is performed.

And Bottom says "We will meet and there we may rehearse most obscenely and courageously.

Take pains, be perfect; adieu." So we actually used the word "obscenely" and you can see with green box on your screen, he actually means unseen.

We may rehearse most unseen.

So we will rehearse in secret Quince like you've asked, but he says obscenely.

So the idea of something being rude or a little bit shocking as well.

So he gets his words completely muddled and therefore the meaning is lost.

We'll see more examples of where that happens later in the play as well.

We're going to have a look now at being able to write about Bottom's character.

So we're going to pause in a moment and sort of talk you through this first and then I'm going to ask you to produce your own piece of writing.

So I've got your key words on the left hand side of dominates, interrupts, self praise and confuses his words.

They're four of the key features that we learn about Bottom in Act 1, Scene 2.

So let's look at the pink row first.

So we've got dominates.

Bottom dominates the scene by.

See if you can finish off that sentence at the moment.

Interrupts.

Bottom constantly interrupts.

Who does he interrupt begins with a Q, the leader of our mechanicals, which shows the audience that.

Third one, self praise.

Bottom praises his own acting skills which is, that key word beginning with I that we introduced.

But be careful you can't use the word version that ends in a Y, you have to use the version that ends with an I-C.

So be really careful with that third one, which is I because.

And our last one, confuses his words.

Bottom confuses his words which makes him seem.

Think about how he comes across to the audience.

So when you're ready, pause your video please, and see if you can complete those four key sentences.

You can write more than one sentence for each one, but make sure you finish those sentences first of all.

Off you go, please.

All right, well done then.

Let's have a look at some of the possible options that you might have written.

So the first one.

Bottom dominates the scene by wanting to act every role.

Be careful of your spelling of role though, it's got single L and an E on the end when we're talking about a play.

He does not believe that anyone can act as well as him, which is quite comical.

And we can say it's comical perhaps because he doesn't seem that good an actor that we've seen so far, does he? Second one.

Bottom constantly interrupts Quince, remember that's his name, which shows the audience that he thinks he's a better leader and more capable but really he is less.

So he's less capable than Quince.

Quince seems to have more organisational skills than Bottom, but Bottom still wants to take over and be in charge.

The third one.

Bottom praises his own acting skills, which is irony or ironic because Shakespeare implies that his acting is actually not very good.

So that his acting is actually not very good.

So he praises his own skills, but actually the opposite of that is true.

Bottom confuses his words, which makes him seem like an even more incompetent and ridiculous actor than the audience first thought.

So if you're incompetent, you're not very good at something.

And ridiculous, that key word remember, that we take from our features of a Shakespearean comedy.

So the fact that he tries to dominate and doesn't seem great at that, but then gets his words muddled up as well, makes him seem even more incompetent and even more ridiculous.

So well done if you've got some of those key ideas into your sentences.

Really impressive.

So 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 learning on the mechanicals.

Huge well done, massive achievement again, loads of information covered and loads of learning done.

Really, really impressive.

Well done.

Enjoy the rest of your learning for today.

Thank you very much and take care.