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Year 7

Exploring Prospero's power over Miranda in Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'

I can understand and consider the power dynamics between Prospero and Miranda in relation to contemporary patriarchal society.

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Year 7

Exploring Prospero's power over Miranda in Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'

I can understand and consider the power dynamics between Prospero and Miranda in relation to contemporary patriarchal society.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. In Shakespeare’s time, daughters were expected to obey their fathers.
  2. Prospero hides Miranda’s backstory from her which shows how controlling he is.
  3. Prospero intends for Ferdinand and Miranda to fall in love.
  4. While Miranda seems to disobey Prospero to fight for Ferdinand, she is actually unwittingly following Prospero’s plan.

Keywords

  • Power - Having power is having the ability to influence people or events.

  • Obedient - Being obedient means doing, or being willing to do, what someone tells you to do.

  • Subversive - Being subversive means actively going against an established system.

  • Patriarchal - A patriarchal society is one where men hold positions of authority and women are seen as inferior.

Common misconception

Students often think that women in Shakespeare's time always obeyed the male figures in their life.

There are many examples of women being disobedient and not following the rules of the male figures in their life.


To help you plan your year 7 english lesson on: Exploring Prospero's power over Miranda in Shakespeare's 'The Tempest', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

You could ask the students to act out the scenes and change Miranda's tone of voice to either show her being defiant or pleading with Prospero.
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Teacher tip
equipment-required

Equipment

You may want a copy of Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' for this lesson.

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Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
supervision-level

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

copyright

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), 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.
A patriarchal society is where men...
Correct answer: hold positions of authority
are powerless
are on equal footing with women
Q2.
In a patriarchal society, how do you think daughters are supposed to behave towards their fathers?
defiantly
Correct answer: obediently
subversively
Q3.
Being obedient means to...
tell people what to do
Correct answer: do or be willing to do what others tell you to
not do what other people tell you to
Q4.
In Shakespeare's time, which of the following traits were women expected to have?
Correct answer: beauty
defiance
power
Correct answer: meekness
Q5.
In Shakespeare's 'The Tempest', when Prospero is explaining their backstory to Miranda he continually asks her if she's paying attention. Which of the following does this suggest?
he's worried that he's not telling the story properly
Correct answer: he wants to make sure she's focused
Correct answer: he doesn't trust her to pay attention
he doesn't trust himself to stay focused
Q6.
In a patriarchal society, who do you think would stereotypically choose a daughter's husband?
Correct Answer: the father, her father, dad, her dad, a man

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
In Shakespeare's 'The Tempest', what relation is Prospero to Miranda?
Correct answer: her father
her uncle
no relation
Q2.
In Shakespeare's 'The Tempest', how does Prospero ensure that Miranda and Ferdinand meet?
He tells Ferdinand of the plan.
Correct answer: He tasks Ariel with leading Ferdinand to them.
He arranges it with Alonso.
Q3.
In Shakespeare's 'The Tempest', what does Prospero withhold from Miranda for twelve years?
his love
Correct answer: her backstory
her name
Q4.
In Shakespeare's 'The Tempest', why does Prospero decide to make things "uneasy" for Miranda and Ferdinand?
He doesn't like Ferdinand.
Correct answer: He wants to test their love.
He doesn't think Ferdinand is worthy of Miranda,
Q5.
In Shakespeare's 'The Tempest', how does Miranda react when Prospero declares Ferdinand a "traitor"?
Correct answer: She defends Ferdinand.
She agrees with her father.
She doesn't say anything.
Q6.
In Shakespeare's 'The Tempest', by defending Ferdinand to her father and defying his order to be silent, Miranda is being .
Correct Answer: subversive, Subversive, subversive., Subversive.