Csec English b SAMPLE GUIDE

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(1)for CSEC. S. A. M. P. LE. ®. A Caribbean Examinations Council® Study Guide.

(2) CXC® STUDY GUIDES. S. A. M. P. LE. Developed exclusively with the Caribbean Examinations Council® for students following CSEC® programmes, this brand new series of Study Guides provides candidates with extra support to help them maximise their performance in their examinations.. Available in bookshops, for further information contact the Nelson Thornes International team on:. . T +44 (0) 1242 268 283 F +44 (0) 1242 268 311 @ [email protected].

(3) for CSEC. S. A. M. P. LE. ®. Joyce Jonas • Martin Jones • Mala Morton-Gittens. A Caribbean Examinations Council® Study Guide.

(4) Contents Introduction. 1. 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16. Themes 1 Themes 2 Point of view Structure of the narrative 1 Structure of the narrative 2 Language 1 Language 2 Irony Comparing the beginning and the end 1 2.16 Comparing the beginning and the end 2 2.17 Writing about prose – collect your evidence 1 2.18 Writing about prose – collect your evidence 2 Short stories 2.19 Short stories – parental love and children in need 2.20 Parental love and children coping with challenge 2.21 Children and racism 2.22 Between two cultures 2.23 Children learning important lessons Unit 2 Practice exam questions Unit 2 Practice exam questions. LE. Unit 1 Drama 1.1 Where did drama come from? 1.2 How to study drama 1.3 Plot, characters, conflict and themes Old Story Time 1.4 Old Story Time – the plot 1.5 Understanding the play 1.6 Dramatic devices 1 1.7 Dramatic devices 2 1.8 Dramatic devices 3 A Midsummer Night’s Dream 1.9 A Midsummer Night’s Dream – introduction 1.10 The main plot 1.11 The fairy sub-plot 1.12 The comic sub-plot 1.13 Conflict and themes 1.14 Dramatic devices 1.15 The language 1.16 The significance of the title The Lion and the Jewel 1.17 The Lion and the Jewel – the background 1.18 The plot 1.19 African cultural traditions 1.20 Contrasting characters as a dramatic device 1.21 Conflict and themes 1.22 Themes and irony 1.23 Comedy and the minor characters 1.24 Costumes, setting and props Julius Caesar 1.25 Julius Caesar – introduction 1.26 The plot and main character 1.27 The principal characters 1.28 Contrasting pairs of characters 1.29 Contrasting speeches 1.30 The supernatural, irony and suspense 1.31 Sound, language and imagery Unit 1 Practice exam questions. 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15. S. A. M. P. 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32. Unit 2 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6. Prose Features of prose Plot Setting Characterisation Dialogue Conflict. 34 36 38. 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76. Unit 3 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17. Poetry Understanding poetry Introduction to poetry The structure of the poem The sound of poetry 1 The sound of poetry 2 Poetry as pictures 1 Poetry as pictures 2 Additional poetic devices 1 Additional poetic devices 2 Analysing poems ‘A Contemplation Upon Flowers’ by Henry King ‘Orchids’ by Hazel Simmons-McDonald ‘A Stone’s Throw’ by Elma Mitchell ‘Ol’ Higue’ by Mark McWatt ‘This Is the Dark Time, My Love’ by Martin Carter ‘Theme for English B’ by Langston Hughes ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ by Wilfred Owen. 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98 100. 102 104 106 108 110 112 114 116 118 120 122 124 126 128 130 132 134 136 138 140 142 144 146 148. iii.

(5) Contents. 154. 156 158 160 162 164 166 168 170. Unit 4 Writing 4.1 Writing practice 4.2 Structuring a comparative essay 4.3 A sample essay comparing two poems 1 4.4 A sample essay comparing two poems 2 4.5 Introducing quotations and revision tips Prescribed texts. LE. 150 152. M A S iv. 172 174 176 178 180 182. Glossary. 184. Index. 186. Acknowledgements. 188. P. 3.18 ‘South’ by Kamau Brathwaite 3.19 ‘West Indies, USA’ by Stewart Brown 3.20 ‘Forgive My Guilt’ by Robert P. Tristram Coffin 3.21 ‘The Woman Speaks to the Man who Has Employed her Son’ by Lorna Goodison 3.22 ‘Le Loupgarou’ by Derek Walcott 3.23 ‘A Lesson for this Sunday’ by Derek Walcott 3.24 ‘Epitaph’ by Dennis Scott 3.25 Meanings below the surface 3.26 Thematic similarities among your CSEC poems 3.27 Two poems about Death – for comparison Unit 3 Practice exam questions.

(6) Introduction This Study Guide has been developed exclusively with the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC®) to be used as an additional resource by candidates, both in and out of school, following the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC®) programme.. At the beginning of each section, the Learning outcomes are clearly stated. You may find it helpful, as you come to the end of each section, to go back and ensure that you have covered and fully understood the material from that section. The margins and main text also contain engaging and useful Activities to help you engage with the different concepts and encourage you to form your own opinions on the texts you have chosen to read. You will also find some very useful Did you know? panels and Exam tips that have been provided for you in collaboration with CSEC examiners.. LE. It has been prepared by a team with expertise in the CSEC® syllabus, teaching and examination. The contents are designed to support learning by providing tools to help you achieve your best in CSEC English B, and the features included make it easier for you to master the key concepts and requirements of the syllabus. Do remember to refer to your syllabus for full guidance on the course requirements and examination format.. As you work through the different sections, you will acquire the skills you need in order to appreciate literature and write fluently about literary texts.. Inside this Study Guide is an interactive CD, which includes electronic activities to assist you in developing good examination techniques:. All the texts used for analysis or as examples of specific points are drawn from the list prescribed for the two syllabuses covering the entire period from 2012 to 2017.. M. P. • On Your Marks activities provide sample examination-style short-answer and essay-type questions, with example candidate answers and feedback from an examiner to show where answers could be improved. These activities will build your understanding, skill level and confidence in answering examination questions.. Key terms are in bold throughout the text. These are defined in the glossary at the end of the book.. S. A. This unique combination of focused syllabus content and interactive examination practice will provide you with invaluable support to help you reach your full potential in CSEC® English B.. Please note that one of the poetry questions and one of the short story questions on Paper 2 will invite you to write about two texts of your choice. Be careful to choose only texts that are on the syllabus you are studying. To guide you, we have listed the texts for each syllabus at the back of this Study Guide on pages 182–3.. 1.

(7) 1 Drama Where did drama come from?. LEARNING OUTCOMES In this section you will: • consider what drama is and where you can experience it • think about the origins and nature of formal and informal drama • look at the relevance of drama as a community experience and a rite of passage.. What is drama? Is drama only the plays that we study in school and see performed in the theatre? Or is it something broader than that? Think about it: sometimes there can be drama going on at the street corner or in your neighbour’s house. When you ‘borrow’ your big sister’s things without asking, you can be sure it will result in quite a bit of drama when she finds out! Yes, informal drama is all around us, isn’t it? In this study guide, though, we look at drama in the more formal sense – plays that are written for performance on stage.. LE. 1.1. The birth of drama. Have you ever thought when, how and why human beings first began performing to an audience? Consider the following suggestions:. Scenario 2. There has been no rain, and it’s time for planting, so the chief calls on the tribe’s shaman to discuss the problem. That night, as the moon rises, the wh ole tribe gathers and the shaman leads them in a re-enactment of their planting and reaping act ivities. The drums beat faster and faster to sim ulate the longed-for rai n pounding down on the dr y ground, and men an d women dance joyfully, miming the work they wi ll be doing to harvest the bumper crop they hope to be blessed with if the gods will only send rain.. A. M. P. ers arriving e a group of hunt in ag Im 1. io ar Scen they have rr ying the animal home, proudly ca e women and th ll te y want to he T ll. ki to ed ag man tacked, they stalked and at ely av br w ho n re child what do t fought back. So as be e th ly ce er fi how sit around out! And as they it t ac y he T ? do they eat, they ll of the roasted m the fire, bellies fu reliving ts, oi pl out their ex ab t as bo d an h laug ise each rill as they dramat the fear and the th s been born. ha a – and dram nt hu e th of t en mom. ACTIVITY. S. 1 Imagine you are putting on a play at school. • Make a list of all the people you will have to thank at the end of the performance: the playwright, the lighting crew ... Complete this list. • What will you need for the production? Think about costumes, props, scenery. Will you need dressmakers? Painters? Carpenters? • Who will you inform about the play, and how? • Will you need a treasurer, tickets and programmes? Create lists of all the things you will need to organise a performance. Drama as a community experience What do you expect from a play? The examples provided here suggest that we can expect community participation, action, sound, spectacle, suspense, and an emotion-filled storyline that reflects life as it is or life as we would like it to be.. 2.

(8) Drama as a rite of passage. DID YOU KNOW? The Mundan (the first haircut) ceremony in the Hindu religion is typically performed during the first three years of a child’s life. This takes place because hair from birth is associated with a past life, so the shaving signifies a new beginning. It is also said to stimulate growth.. P. LE. We all pass through major transitions in our lives. Birth, puberty, marriage, parenthood and death are some traditional examples, but you could add others: a child’s first day at school, graduation from college, moving from school to the work environment. Societies often have ceremonies to mark these events. Those rituals and ceremonies are what we mean by rites of passage.. M. In some religions the shaving of the head marks a rite of passage. S. A. We can think of a play as a rite of passage for the characters on stage – and sometimes for the audience, too. Just like the dance of the shaman, it depicts what life was like before and after a lifechanging experience. Before the rains, the tribe was sad and hungry, but after the rains came and the crops sprang up, they were joyful and thankful for their full bellies. In Old Story Time, Mama’s rite of passage – her life-changing experience – is the learning process that shows her how wrong-headed her racial prejudice was; she realises that her belief that ‘anything black nah good’ was illogical and destructive. Similarly, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the journey into the magical forest allows the Athenians to undergo a change of heart that leads them from near-tragedy to a happy, blessed life of love. Sidi choosing a husband in The Lion and the Jewel is, for her, and for the audience, a rite of passage; it reflects the choice that African nations make between embracing foreign culture or holding on to indigenous traditions and values. In contrast to these three plays, Julius Caesar ends not on a happy note, but in regret because lives have been lost and little achieved. Its tone is tragic rather than comic. Again, though, the cast and audience participate in a rite of passage – the coup that removes a ruler who is perceived to be an oppressor. We observe the struggles of a society that rises up in revolt, and goes through the horrors of civil war, and we find ourselves pondering the gains and the losses of that life-changing social upheaval.. ACTIVITY 2 Think about the rituals performed in your community: when a baby is born, when a couple get married, when someone joins a church, when someone graduates from college or when someone dies. • Which of these rituals have you experienced? • Did the ceremony create a sense of performance? • Did the ceremony reflect the emotions of the participants? • Did the ceremony provide a spectacle?. 3.

(9) How to study drama. LEARNING OUTCOMES In this section you will: • understand that studying a play involves using your imagination to visualise it in performance • discover that you are the audience • imagine you are the play’s director.. The important thing to remember when you are studying drama is that a play is designed to be performed – not only to be read. Your job, then, when you are reading the script (for that is what it is), is to recognise that you have a twin role: you are the director and also a member of the audience. You need to constantly use your imagination so that you have a mental image of what is happening on the stage – and it is you who will decide how and where the actors move, and how they speak. You will also discover that you respond emotionally to the action – just as you do when you are watching a movie. So put on your director’s cap, sit down in your director’s chair and let’s roll!. LE. 1.2. What are stage directions for?. S. A. M. P. To help you stage the play, the playwright supplies stage directions. These are usually printed in italics. They indicate how the stage should be set up (scenery) and how the characters should be dressed (costumes). They describe the stage furniture needed (props) and where the characters are to come on (enter) and go off (exit/exeunt). Finally, they indicate what kind of sound effects the play needs, and what lighting effects it requires – bright or dim, a spotlight on one particular individual or group, and so on.. Confusion ensues without proper direction. ACTIVITY 1 From a play you are studying, find examples of stage directions that guide: • the director • the actors • the stage crew.. 4. You will notice that in addition to instructions at the beginning of the play, there are stage directions throughout the play. Their purpose is to tell the actors when and how to move, and how to say their lines; they also guide the stage crew, the lighting crew and the sound crew to know when they must move the scenery or stage furniture, when they must change the lighting effects on the stage, and when they must create particular sound effects. It takes a whole team of people to produce a play – and the result is a community experience, not a private one like reading a novel. Scenery Notice the scenery that is used in the play and any changes in the setting. Are any contrasting experiences suggested? If so, how has that been achieved? As an example, think about the differences between the yard where Mama lives and the smart home that Len and Lois share in Old Story Time. The stately palace in Athens is very.

(10) different to the moonlit forest where Oberon and Titania rule in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. What effect do those changes in scene have on the audience? Costumes and props. Action and dialogue. M. P. There’s also the action and the dialogue to consider. You know what action is from the action-filled movies that you possibly enjoy. Some scenes in a play will have a great deal of action and others will be less energetic. Notice when the dialogue is full of rapid interchanges between characters, and when it slows down and the characters seem to be more reflective. ACTIVITY. Did you know that scenery and costumes can be realistic or symbolic? Go online and find images of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in performance. Has the director aimed for realism or symbolism? ACTIVITY 2 Think of two contrasting scenes in a play you are studying. Sketch the stage settings you imagine you will need to give to the cast and crew for direction.. LE. Both costumes and props have a great visual impact on the audience, so be aware of them at all times. Imagine that you are responsible for the props and costumes in a performance, and make a list of what is needed for each scene. We’ll need swords and wine flagons, senators’ robes and soldiers’ uniforms for Julius Caesar, for example. In Old Story Time we shall need a bottle of oil of deliverance, some red underwear, a bunch of flowers, and some odd clothing to disguise Len in, along with a chair for him to lift to threaten Mama with. Then there will be an ass’s head for poor Bottom and all the equipment for the ‘Pyramus and Phoebe’ play in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; and ill-fitting European clothes for Lakunle, and animal skins and hunting equipment for Baroka’s tent in The Lion and the Jewel. Think about how the props and the costumes communicate a world of information and emotion to the audience.. DID YOU KNOW?. A. 5 From your selected play, identify two scenes in which the characters move about quite a bit on the stage, maybe even coming to blows, and identify two scenes in which they talk quietly.. 3 Think of a production you have watched or participated in. How did the costumes, scenery and props evoke the setting of the play, and how was that altered between scenes to create a certain mood or sense of tension? 4 Select one scene from the play you are studying, and list or sketch the props and costumes needed. What effect do you want these to have on the audience?. S. a Why do you think the playwright alternates between action and reflective thought in this way? b Would it be better if every scene were ‘action-packed’?. Lighting and sound. Notice all the stage directions that indicate a change in the lighting or the need for a particular sound effect. A novel will not give you this direct experience that the theatre can provide.. Costumes. Props. Action. Scenery. Drama. Grouping. Dialogue. Sound. Lighting. Spectacle Be aware, then, of how the playwright exploits the resources of the stage – scenery, lighting and sound; costumes and props; action and grouping of the characters. All these devices produce what is called the ‘spectacle’ that theatre brings us.. 5.

(11) Plot, characters, conflict and themes. In this section you will:. As you study a play you discover that every character, conflict, twist in the plot, every feature of the props and setting, all the lighting, costumes and sound effects – every single aspect of the play contributes to the overall impact. All the devices point us to the themes and message that add to the purpose and energy of the play. It is your job to note the techniques that the playwright uses and to appreciate how, together, they create for the audience the total dramatic experience. Ma ing out the Mappi h storyli line. Every play has a storyline – this is the plot. Some plays have more than one plot, and each subplot is interwoven with the main plot, commenting on it in some way. You need to write a summary of the storyline of each plot. Notice how the main plot and the subplots are interconnected. You may find it helpful to draw a graph, or to map out the interrelated storylines.. Characters. M. • see how the key elements in a play work together • observe how characters are contrasted and can be in conflict with each other • notice how the conflicts point us to the themes of the play • become aware of how tension and suspense are created to sustain interest • notice the use of dramatic irony • understand that a play presents ideas or themes for the audience to consider.. A unified whole. LE. LEARNING OUTCOMES. P. 1.3. S. A. There can be no story without characters. These characters will have different personalities, conflicting opinions, opposing motives, values and attitudes. Notice what each character does and says, and pay attention to what other characters have to say about them. Bearing all these points in mind, and as part of your revision, you should write a short character study of each of the characters in the play you are studying.. DID YOU KNOW?. Jewellers sometimes put a thin layer of polished metal under a gemstone in order to give it more brilliance. The metal is called a foil. A contrasting character shows up the characteristics of the protagonist: he is a foil for the protagonist.. 6. Co Contrasti ing characters h Because people are different, there may be characters in your play that stand in contrast to each other: for example, a man of action and a philosopher, a political opportunist and a saintly churchman, a poor, uneducated mother of many children and a well-educated professional woman. The playwright often deliberately sets characters in pairs like this to make a point. Be aware of the contrasts between characters and the way they respond to life’s challenges. If you have, say, a very virtuous character, there may be a wicked character for contrast, making the virtuous character seem even more virtuous. We say that one character is a foil to the other..

(12) Different language ffor d Diff dif iffferent ch haracters Often, to make the characters more realistic, and to make the contrasts more striking, the playwright will use a type of language appropriate to each character. Be aware of the shifts in language and different types of imagery y that contrasting c aracters use. ch. Themes. Ho do we sense confli How flict? ?. The themes of a play are the main issues that are raised – usually the issues that cause the conflicts within and between the characters.. You come home from school and you sense that something is wrong: Mum is annoyed and your sister is sulking. How do you know there is tension? Sometimes you know there’s a problem from the actual words they are using, but sometimes you sense it in their body language, or in their tone of voice. Your friend seems particularly quiet and avoids company, so you sense that he is struggling with something – some conflict in his own mind. Expect the characters in a play to be experiencing conflicts, but remember that they may communicate that conflict to us by using a subtle tone of voice or by body language, as well as by open quarrelling or even fighting. As in real life, look in a performance for signs in the performance style and language used by the characters.. LE. The themes of each play are different, but the quickest way to identify them is to focus on the conflicts. What causes friction between characters? The cause of the friction will be one of the themes.. Conflict. P. In a play (as in real life) you can expect to come across conflicts and tensions. These conflicts are sometimes between two characters, sometimes between a character and society, and sometimes within the mind of the character. Read the text in the margin before doing the activity below. ACTIVITY. M. 1 Map the conflicts in two plays you have studied, showing which characters are opposed to each other, and why. • Are the conflicts the same in the two plays? • Are the themes the same?. A. The points of conflict will tell you the issues or themes that the play raises.. Irony. S. Often we plan for one thing or anticipate a particular outcome, and the opposite happens. That is irony. Sometimes we (the audience) know something that a character on the stage is unaware of, so we are able to smile (or maybe wince) at his lack of knowledge: this is an example of irony. Irony is often used in drama; make a note of the main examples of dramatic irony in your play.. KEY POINTS The issues that cause conflict among the characters will lead you to the themes of the play.. Suspense The playwright uses many devices to create tension in order to make the audience wonder how a situation will ever be resolved. This is called building suspense, and is a technique employed to create a sense of excitement and anticipation in the play. Observe and note how the playwright creates suspense by withholding information or by allowing things to descend into chaos and only presenting us and the characters with a solution at the very last moment.. ACTIVITY 2 Identify two points of conflict in another play you have studied. Say what themes and issues are raised through these conflicts.. 7.

(13) 1.4. Old Story Time – the plot. LEARNING OUTCOMES. Two plots are intertwined in Old Story Time, the main plot and the subplot.. In this section you will:. Len goes off to university, returning with a doctorate in Economics. He soon discovers that George (now running a scam housing scheme) has conned Mama out of her life savings. Len comes up with a two-fold plan: to expose George’s crooked dealings and bring him to justice, and to help his mother see that her prejudice in favour of light-skinned people is misguided.. M. 1 Create a timeline to map the story of the play as it unfolds on the stage. • Mark on your timeline the specific places where flashbacks take us to an earlier time. • Suggest why this device has been adopted at this particular moment.. The main plot traces Len’s exposure of the crooked dealings of George McFarlane. Len and George McFarlane attended the same school, but whereas Len comes from a poor, single-parent home, George is one of the privileged, light-skinned students, from a ‘good’ home. At school, George and his friends torment Len mercilessly because of his poverty, and because, prompted by Mama, he presumes to write a love letter to a fair-skinned girl, Miss Margaret, whom Mama would like Len to marry. George, who appears less able than Len, quickly gets a good position at the bank because of his colour.. LE. ACTIVITY. The main plot. P. • trace the way plots are interwoven in a play • consider the importance of flashback as a device • learn how to use diagrams to structure your study and revision.. A. His research unearths evidence to incriminate George, but there are obstacles: George is in a position to blackmail Lois, Len’s wife, because while they both worked at the bank he had discovered that she borrowed money from dormant accounts and sent it to support Len. In exchange for his silence, George had demanded sexual favours from her. Len’s reputation would be damaged if society knew that it was stolen money that had seen him through university.. S. 2 List the ways in which Mama demonstrates her love for Len. At what points do you disapprove of Mama’s conduct?. 3 What aspects of Ma’s conduct does Pa Ben disapprove of? Does this give us a clue regarding one of his functions in the play?. But Len, too, has cards up his sleeve. He has a dossier of evidence, and can show that George’s family members are also heavily involved in the scam and stand to benefit. He can bring the matter to the attention of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Len is not finished, though. Through a series of flashbacks to his schooldays, he shows Mama the cruelty of George and his friends, and Miss Margaret’s scornful rejection. But he is also able to let her know that Lois and her father stood by him, and that Lois took great risks for him – borrowing the money as she did. Convinced by the evidence, Mama angrily rejects George, and begs for Lois’s forgiveness.. The subplot The subplot traces Mama’s attempts to set obeah to work against Lois. Mama, a poor Jamaican huckster, has worked hard to educate her only child, Len. Her dream is for him to be a doctor and to. 8.

(14) marry a light-skinned girl – Miss Margaret – and she beats Len for consorting with black girls like Pearl, insisting that ‘anything black nuh good’. To Mama’s disgust, Len chooses to marry Lois, a black woman. Mama feels sure that Lois used obeah to win Len, and is persistently spiteful to her. Miss Aggy has trustingly put all her money into George’s housing scheme, and, when she learns that George has financial problems, she actually asks Len to bail him out – not knowing the hostility Len has for George. Len refuses to help, and gets so angry at Mama’s obtuseness that he threatens her physically. Sure now that Lois has messed up Len’s mind, Miss Aggy decides to visit the obeah woman and deal with Lois.. Trevor Rhone was born in Jamaica in 1940, and died there in 2009. He was educated at the Beckford and Smith High School (now St Jago High) and later at Rose Bruford College in Kent, UK. He is considered by many to be Jamaica’s greatest playwright. He founded ‘Theatre 77’, which performed at Kingston’s Barn theatre, and contributed to the rise of drama in Jamaica. His plays include Smile Orange, School’s Out, Two Can Play, and Old Story Time.. LE. Her action makes possible the funniest scene in the play, where Len, in an effort to protect Lois from the obeah, goes to Mother Rachael for advice, and returns home to carry out her instructions for keeping harm away from his wife. The scene with Len sprinkling oil of deliverance around and putting underwear on his head lifts the mood momentarily, before we plunge down again into the distressing details of George’s shameful treatment of his schoolmate.. DID YOU KNOW?. ACTIVITY. P. 4 List the props you would need for the scene where Len comes back from seeing Mother Rachael. Consider the following:. A. M. • Do you think this scene is funny? How is that comic effect achieved? • Why do you think Rhone chose to use comedy in this scene? • How does the comic tone affect the message?. S. The two plots come together at the end of the play. When Mama learns of George’s treatment of Len during their schooldays, she finally understands that she has been fooled by him, and has completely misjudged Lois. Suspense now mounts because the obeah, wrongly set in motion, will come back to bring harm to Mama herself. Leaving George to wonder how he will face the Director of Public Prosecutions, Len, Lois and Pa Ben form a circle around Mama, forgiving her in love and praying for her deliverance. As Mama’s frenzy gives way to calm, we suspect that all will be well. ACTIVITY. EXAM TIP. You may find it helpful to create visual diagrams of plays and novels that you are studying – especia lly for revision purposes. Fo r example you could mak ea timeline of both the mai n plot and the subplot, an d show where they interse ct and then come together at the end of the play. Or you can create diagram s showing the relationsh ips among characters. Som e plays and novels can be reduced to spider charts. Be creative and see what you can come up with!. 5 Consider what you know of obeah. Do you believe in it? 6 What is your opinion of people who practise obeah? 7 Do you know of anyone who has directly experienced the effects of obeah? 8 What significance does obeah have in your community?. 9.

(15) 1.5. Understanding the play. LEARNING OUTCOMES. Comparing the beginning and the end. In this section you will:. One way to discover the themes and message of a play is to compare the beginning and the end. The early scenes establish the crucial fact of Miss Aggy’s racial prejudice and her ambitions for Len to marry fair-skinned Miss Margaret. Pa Ben also reveals Len’s secret relationship with Lois, a dark-skinned girl. Mama suspects obeah when Len fails to write to her, but when she learns of Len’s marriage to Lois, she becomes convinced that obeah is at work and that Lois is the culprit.. LE. • learn how to detect the themes of a play • consider the use of a narrator in a play.. The end of the play reveals that fair-skinned George, whom Mama idolised, is a barefaced crook: he cruelly humiliated Len, blackmailed Lois and forced her into sexual relations with him, and lost all Mama’s savings in his housing scam. Lois, on the other hand, is shown to be loyal, caring, strong and forgiving. An important theme in the play is prejudice based on skin colour, and one key message is that personal integrity, not skin colour, is the measure of a person. The circle formed at the end of the play (in contrast to the hostilities and conflicts that we saw earlier) provides a visual statement to the effect that family togetherness, love and forgiveness are to be treasured (particularly in an oppressed community), since these strong ties can withstand any opposition.. M. 1 To what extent do you consider Mama’s behaviour and attitudes representative of the themes in the play? Provide examples of these.. P. ACTIVITY. Conflict. S. A. Another way to arrive at the main themes and overall message is to identify the major points of conflict. Len and Mama are at odds because of Len’s choice of girlfriend. Lois and Mama are at odds because Lois is black. Pa Ben and Mama disagree strongly over Mama’s rejection of Lois due to her skin colour. George and Len are pitted against each other because George has systematically fooled and exploited Mama, and Len wants to expose him and let Mama see what a crook he is. All of these conflicts are related to Mama’s blind prejudice – her thinking that ‘anything black nuh good’. As soon as Mama’s eyes are opened to the true situation, her prejudice falls away, and harmony with Lois, Len and Pa Ben is made possible. ACTIVITY 2 At what point in the play do we observe a change in Mama’s approach? 3 Explain what brought about that change. 4 How is this change evident in her actions, movements and words?. 10.

(16) Conflict also is present between George and Lois. George robs Mama of her money, but he robs Lois by using her body. We can see in George’s dealings with Mama and Lois a metaphor for the ‘rape’ of Caribbean people that occurred during colonial times. When Len is able to expose George’s wrong-doings, the conflict is resolved, with George being brought to justice. Len’s frank exposé of George’s disdain for Mama and Lois, and the freedom he brings them by showing them the truth, is a metaphor for the consciousness-raising that frees colonised people from the ‘mental slavery’ that can keep them bound. ACTIVITY. LE. 5 Make a spider diagram illustrating the various conflicts evident in Old Story Time. 6 Attempt to write down the sequence of events in the play in chronological order. Make a diagram showing the timeline as it occurs in the play, along with the flashbacks.. 7 What is achieved by the way Pa Ben disrupts this timeline with flashbacks?. M. The narrator. P. The message is clear: the coloniser cunningly worked on the minds of colonised people, trying to make them despise themselves; freedom from this brainwashing is the true ‘oil of deliverance’.. A very important dramatic device to consider in this play is the use of Pa Ben as narrator.. A. Through his dialogue Pa Ben supplies the storyline, dipping back into the past by the use of flashbacks whenever he chooses to give his audience a little more information.. S. His withholding and timely delivery of information make for suspense. For instance, it is quite late in the play that we learn of the Cassava Nova episode and of George’s earlier sexual advances on Lois and his blackmailing of her. The flashback technique creates suspense, leaving us wondering how everything will turn out. Since the flashbacks give us information that we lacked earlier, our experience is similar to Mama’s: our eyes are opened as new facts come to light. By having Pa Ben – one of the villagers, and a friend of Mama – tell the story, Rhone suggests that healing will come to people like Mama once she has a new perspective of herself and her society – a perspective quite different from the one that the coloniser gave her. Just as West Indian history as told by the coloniser has had to be rewritten from a Caribbean-centred point of view, so too Len’s personal story has to be retold. And who better to assist with the retelling than wise, gracious Pa Ben?. ACTIVITY. 8 Find examples of Pa Ben disagreeing: a with Mama b with Len. What is significant about Pa Ben’s point of view being heard at those moments?. DID YOU KNOW? We usually think of narration as a device of the novelist, but some playwrights choose to use a narrator to lead the audience through the events of the play. This is often done by means of soliloquy through which a character openly speaks to the audience. This technique helps the audience better understand the motivation of the character and to empathise with them.. ACTIVITY 9 Identify places in the play where suspense is created. What information had been withheld that made the suspense possible?. 11.

(17) Dramatic devices 1. LEARNING OUTCOMES In this section you will: • discover how contrasts among characters suggest the issues and themes of the play • think about the way objects or concepts can acquire symbolic force in a play.. Contrasting characters An important dramatic device is the use of contrast. Why does Rhone introduce Pearl into the play, for instance? Pearl, Len’s childhood girlfriend, is old before her time, dragged down with one pregnancy after another. Uneducated and impoverished, she dies young, leaving her children orphans. Her sad yet familiar life story stands in sharp contrast to that of Lois – the educated black woman who manages to escape the trap of poverty.. LE. 1.6. Using contast to explore themes George and Len. Both were educated at the same school, but whereas George uses his education and social standing to exploit the community, Len uses his learning to expose the oppressor and to lift up the oppressed.. M. Be prepared for exam questions that ask you to compare and contra st two characters, showin g how their behaviour an d attitudes are related to the play’s themes.. P. EXAM TIP. Lois and Margaret One represents Len’s choice and the other Mama’s choice. They make a contrasting pair: Margaret, with all the social privilege she has because of her complexion and connections, lacks integrity, and is concerned only with going up the social ladder and keeping people like Len down; whereas Lois loyally stands by Len, and struggles selflessly to look after her siblings and to help Len succeed.. S. A. Pa Ben and Miss Aggy Pa Ben’s attitude frequently stands in contrast to that of Miss Aggy. He disapproves of the frequent beatings Mama deals out to Len, her talk of obeah and her adulation of white folk. He knows of Len’s love for Lois, but never lets on to Mama. Whereas Mama insists that Lois is working obeah on Len, Pa Ben understands that evil is something that originates inside us, and he tells Len, ‘You is the one who need protection, from yourself’. His level-headed, big-hearted approach to people and life contrasts with the somewhat mean, suspicious and superstitious style of Miss Aggy.. ACTIVITY. 1 What opinion does each the following appear to have of obeah? • Mama • Len • Pa Ben • Trevor Rhone.. Miss Aggy and Lois There is a sharp contrast between these women of two different generations. While Miss Aggy’s generation was inclined to look up with respect to the fair-skinned members of society, Lois’s generation has learnt that a strong sense of community is what is needed, so that the rape and robbery, the exploitation and mental slavery that characterised colonialism, can be exposed and stopped.. Obeah as a symbol Caribbean people respond in different ways when the subject of obeah is mentioned. Even in this play, different opinions are expressed on this subject.. 12.

(18) For some people, obeah is mere superstition, for others it is dangerous and evil, and for others it is a very real way of connecting with unseen spiritual powers around us to protect us from evil or to bring punishment where it is deserved. ACTIVITY. LE. 2 Ask yourself these questions: • Does Rhone seem to suggest that Mama is doing right to use obeah against Lois? • What objections does Pa Ben raise when Len asks him to recommend someone who can counteract the power that Mama has let loose? • Does resorting to obeah solve problems or create problems in the play? • Does obeah help in bringing about punishment for George, a spirit of forgiveness in Lois, humility in Mama, and harmony in the family? • How are the problems of the family ultimately resolved?. P. Your answers to these questions will guide you to see how obeah is dealt with in the play.. S. A. M. You may find it helpful to think of obeah as a symbol – especially since there is so much talk in the play of deliverance from evil, and because the play ends with prayers for such deliverance. What is the evil that has caused all the friction in the family? Is it obeah? Is it Lois who has brought ‘evil’ into the family life of Mama and Len? Or is George the culprit? And where did Mama get the belief that ‘anything black nuh good’? Pa Ben points out the irony in Mama’s philosophy when he says to her, ‘The boy daddy was a black man. Is obeah you did obeah him?’ and later, ‘What’s so wrong if the boy just want to marry somebody who look like him own mother, eh?’ Is it perhaps the coloniser who has put a spell on her, as it were, a spell from which she needs to be delivered? Maybe Len is right: some ‘oil of deliverance’ is needed – but not the kind supplied by Mother Rachael. ACTIVITY. 3 Consider the following: • What are the views of Mama and Pa Ben with regard to the relationship between Len and Lois? • Compare the reaction of Mama and then of Pa Ben towards George. • What impact has Mama’s prejudice had on Len throughout his life? • In the light of your responses, say whether Mama or Pa Ben is more enlightened. • Bob Marley sings, ‘Emancipate yourself from mental slavery.’ What would that mean in Mama’s case?. EXAM TIP. To help with your revisi on, create a diagram with two timelines. One should show the chief events in the main plot, and the other the main events in the subplot. Show th e points at which the two lines intersect. Then create a second diagram, this time a spider diagram showin g the relationships (both positive and hostile) among the characters.. 13.

(19) Dramatic devices 2. In this section you will: • consider the use of irony • learn about effectiveness of costumes and scenery in communicating the message • understand the power of spectacle and action to delight and impress • discover the importance of props in revealing character and suggesting themes.. DID YOU KNOW?. There are many examples of irony in this play such as: • Mama trusts George McFarlane implicitly, yet he is exploiting her to the hilt. • Mama rejects Lois, yet Lois has consistently shown love for Len. • Mama wants Margaret for Len, yet Margaret was involved in humiliating him. • Mama asks Len to help solve George’s financial problems, yet George has treated Len shamefully. • Mama believes that without the charity of George’s father-in-law, Len would have been nowhere, but it is not Reverend Greaves, but Lois’s father, who helped Len. • Mama apologises to George that Len refuses to help him, when George should be apologising to both of them. • Mama is disappointed that Len is trained in economics and not medicine, yet it is his training in that field that eventually allows him to expose George’s activities, and to bring ‘healing’ to his own family. As you can see from this list, it is Mama’s actions and beliefs that make most of the irony possible.. M. In the early days of drama in Europe, Morality plays were popular, and characters were personifications of virtues and vices: Pride, Lust, Humility, Patience, etc. The vices would try to tempt the main protagonist, Everyman, to do wrong, while the virtues would try to inspire him to good behaviour. The tradition of giving characters a name that indicates their personality has endured. For instance, Henry Fielding depicts a good man called Allworthy and a schoolteacher called Thwackum, and Charles Dickens named his schoolteacher M’Choakumchild, and the sweet, loving heiress, Esther Summerson.. Irony. LE. LEARNING OUTCOMES. P. 1.7. S. A. More light-hearted irony surrounds the obeah scenes. It is sweetly ironic when Len, on the telephone to Mother Rachael, explains that, no, he is not the politician who came to visit her. It is ironic that after Len has made such a fool of himself with the disguise, the underwear on his head and his antics with the oil of deliverance, we learn that Mother Rachael was a fraud anyway!. KEY POINTS Props do more than create a realistic effect; they are very much a part of the action and character revelation.. 14. ACTIVITY 1 a What do you think is the significance of Pearl’s name? b Is there any irony in her having that name? 2 In what ways can Pearl be contrasted with Lois? In what ways can she be contrasted with Miss Margaret? Are these contrasts significant? 3 Novelists and playwrights often use names for their characters that tell you something about the character. Can you think of another play or novel where this device has been used?. Costumes and scenery The chief effect of costumes in this play is to create a visual contrast. The worn, shabby clothing of Mama, Pearl and Pa Ben contrasts.

(20) sharply with the smart, expensive clothing worn by McFarlane and Lois in the bank, and by Lois and Len now that they have both ‘made it’ in society. Similarly, the simple, rustic furniture of Mama’s home in the same yard as Pa Ben quickly becomes the furniture of Len’s city home when the cast follow the stage directions and ‘Change the house round’. The technique is interesting because the illusion of reality is broken completely: we see the stage being reset, and even listen to the chanting as the actors describe what is taking place. But although Rhone is inviting us to watch the strings on the puppets, as it were, the events in Pa Ben’s story still strike us as being very real indeed.. DID YOU KNOW? Every year, in rural Indian communities in Trinidad and Guyana, children re-enact episodes from the Ramayana. The performance is a delightful spectacle, with splendid costumes. The event is known as Ram Leela.. Spectacle and action. P. LE. When we read a novel we have to imagine the things that are described, but in a play they are put on stage before our eyes. This is what we call the spectacle. The entire play, of course, offers spectacle, but some scenes stand out for the energy of the action and the delight to be found in what we see. When Len returns from Mother Rachael, we are greatly amused by the spectacle of him in his ridiculous clothing, his antics with the candlesticks, the bush and the flowers, and the final touch of those red underwear on his head. His dancing and dodging around Lois bring the comedy to the uproarious level of slapstick.. ACTIVITY. M. The flashbacks, too, are opportunities for spectacle – the miming of the rich kids going to school in style, the Easter play with Len playing the donkey, and so on. Then there is the scene in which George makes advances on Lois in the bank, and the beautiful tableau at the end of the play when Mama is being prayed for by Pa Ben, Len and Lois.. DID YOU KNOW? In Jamaica, pantomime is still very much alive. Costume and posturing are very important, along with audience involvement. Elaborate costumes, music and dancing make pantomime a crowddrawing spectacle.. A. 4 Have you experienced a performance or event when you thought that the action of the performance created a spectacle? Think about events like Nativity plays, Mashramani, Crop-over, Carnival, and so on.. S. How was the spectacle achieved, and what was the purpose of the performance? Were music, dance and mime part of the performance?. Props. When Mama tears up the wedding photo, removing the picture of Lois, we see an aspect of her character and an example of her prejudice. When Len gives her the new dress, she eagerly holds it against herself, but then tosses it aside on learning that it was Lois who selected it. In the scene where Len sprinkles the oil of deliverance around his home, both his costume and the props he uses – the flowers, candles, bottles and underwear – help to produce a comical, almost farcical effect. And when the estate agent politely turns the plans the right way up for George’s benefit, we know that he simply has no knowledge of his business at all!. ACTIVITY 5 Make a list of the items of stage furniture that Rhone puts in the stage directions for his play. Note down the different uses to which he puts each item. Do you find he has been economical?. 15.

(21) Dramatic devices 3. LEARNING OUTCOMES In this section you will: • consider examples of the use of sound and lighting effects • see how characters are given the type of language appropriate to their social status • discover that the dramatist raises issues, but sometimes leaves the audience to resolve them.. Sound and lighting Spectacle and action are inseparable from sound and lighting. In the ‘Cassava Nova’ flashback, the audience hears a terrified shriek and then a spotlight picks out Len, staggering through the auditorium – his pants down and a bag over his head. The use of lighting and sound here are most effective in suggesting Len’s terror, his isolation and his shame. In stage terms we say that Rhone has broken down the ‘fourth wall’ in having one of the actors in the auditorium instead of on the stage. By removing the imaginary barrier that usually separates audience and actors, Rhone makes the audience see Len as one of themselves, rather than as someone apart from them. His humiliation and suffering become the humiliation and suffering of the entire community. ACTIVITY. LE. 1.8. • What does it tell the audience? • What did it suggest to you? • How was that then confirmed to you once you had seen a performance or read the play?. M. Actors refer to the front of the stage as the ‘fourth wall’ because they usually act as if there is a wall there – ignoring the audience.. P. 1 Do you think Old Story Time is a good title for the play? DID YOU KNOW?. In some plays, though, the characters speak directly to the audience (as Pa Ben does), and sometimes characters from the play actually perform their role in the auditorium (for example Len).. Sound and lighting is used cleverly in the final tableau, too. The stage directions indicate that, as her frenzy subsides, Mama sings ‘in the gentlest voice’, and the loving group is ‘bathed with a warm rich light’.. This technique of breaking down the fourth wall draws the audience in to the performance, so they feel that what is happening on the stage is part of their world.. Language. S. A. Notice, too, that Rhone uses the lights to indicate that the action is shifting from the present to a flashback. The strategy of having the characters ‘freeze’ achieves the same effect.. Rhone gives his characters a style of English that reflects their social status and educational background. Miss Aggie, Pa Ben and Pearl speak a vibrant Jamaican Creole, while George, Len and Lois speak Caribbean Standard English. The contrast between the two social levels is shown in their language as it is in their costumes. Examples of Caribbean Standard English. ACTIVITY 2 Think of places in Old Story Time where either sound or lighting is used effectively. What impact do they have on us?. 16. Len: ‘I appreciate your position. If you don’t get refinanced, chances are the bank will put this place up for auction and where would that leave you?’ George: ‘Place is completely changed. Packed now with a bunch o’riff-raff, scholarship-winners. Sacred walls, man, desecrated. I was there on Sports Day. My boy won the hundreds.’ Len: ‘Chip off the old block, eh?’.

(22) Examples of Jamaican Creole. DID YOU KNOW?. Pa Ben: ‘Buy penny oil, hapenny salt, an’ quattie bread for me. See the money here.’ Miss Aggie: ‘It hurts mi soul case to tell lie, but what else me can do? Me nuh want them to spread it around the district say him dash me ’way. Me just have to keep up the pretence.’. ACTIVITY 3 People in the Caribbean tend to use different levels of language for different situations: linguists call it ‘operating on a language continuum’.. P. Find more examples in the play of different levels of language being used, and suggest whether the language level is appropriate for the character and the situation.. Drama as debate. The hapenny that Pa Ben will spend on the salt is a halfpenny. So with the penny for the oil, the halfpenny for the salt and the quattie (penny and a half) for the bread, Pa Ben plans to spend three pence – not very much money at all!. LE. When do you use more formal English, and when do you use your broadest Creole?. In colonial times, Jamaican money was based on English pounds and pence. A quattie was the popular name for a small silver coin worth just a quarter of a sixpenny piece – so approximately a penny and a halfpenny.. M. In the play, a playwright can present diverging opinions on the theme he or she is exploring. The conflicts among the characters are usually dramatisations of the incompatibility between their different attitudes and values. These, of course, will provoke discussion. After seeing a performance of Old Story Time, the audience will certainly have a few things to discuss.. A. ACTIVITY. S. 4 Give your opinion on each of these conversation points, and see if you can add to the list. • Do you know of people who thought or still think like Mama? • Is there evidence of self-hatred in Mama’s dialogue and actions? • What mindset does Pa Ben have and how does this differ from Mama’s? • Do you think Mama is a good mother? • What is the purpose of having Pearl in the play? • Is Rhone fair to present all his fair-skinned characters as villains? Is he saying, ‘anything white nah good’? • Is it reasonable to compare the effects of colonisation to a kind of obeah, influencing the minds of colonised people?. • Do you think there are people like George and Len in Caribbean society today? • Len lifts a chair to strike his mother. What do you think this behaviour says about him? • Can Lois be excused for stealing money? Is Rhone condoning her behaviour? • What is achieved by having Pa Ben speak directly to the audience in the auditorium? • At what point do we observe a change in Mama’s approach, and what do you think triggered that change? • What is achieved by having the cast become an audience on stage? • Len’s courage and his determined efforts to bring the truth to light make possible the happy ending. What is the message here?. 17.

(23) A Midsummer Night’s Dream – introduction. In this section you will: • be introduced to Shakespeare’s work • think about the similarities between comedy and tragedy • examine the plots in the play.. DID YOU KNOW?. The shape of comedy and tragedy You may think of comedy and tragedy as being total opposites, but in fact they are surprisingly similar in structure. Both present a society in which something has gone wrong. Both trace the downward spiral of events that occurs because of this initial flaw. Tragedy threatens because of the foolishness or wickedness that sets the downward spiral in motion. The big difference is that in comedy, the light dawns soon enough for someone to put the brakes on and turn things around so that disaster is averted; in tragedy, though, the light dawns too late for anything to be done, and the action descends into utter disaster, while those involved can only look on and wring their hands in despair.. M. William Shakespeare (1564– 1616) is almost certainly the most famous of British playwrights, and although he lived 400 years ago, his plays still draw enthusiastic audiences. His 37 plays include tragedies, history plays, comedies and tragicomedies, and romances. You will probably also have come across some of the many sonnets (154 of them!) for which he is also famous.. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of Shakespeare’s well-known comedies. It was written some time between 1594 and 1596. Like all of Shakespeare’s comedies, its central theme is love and love’s complications.. LE. LEARNING OUTCOMES. P. 1.9. Intertwining plots. S. A. Shakespeare intertwines no fewer than four plots in A Midsummer Night’s Dream:. ACTIVITY. • the courtship of Theseus and Hippolyta • the courtship problems among the four Athenian lovers: Demetrius, Lysander, Hermia and Helena • the solving of a problem that has arisen between Oberon and Titania – King and Queen of the Fairies • the staging by some amateur actors of the play Pyramus and Thisbe as entertainment for the wedding.. 1 Think about the two settings: Athens and the forest. Make a larger copy of the following table. Athens. The forest. Add to your table a description of the scenes that take place in Athens, and those that take place in the forest then answer the following questions:. 18. • What differences do you detect between the kingdom of Theseus and Hippolyta and the kingdom of Oberon and Titania? • Describe the devices the writer has employed to shape your reaction to these scenes. • Does the opposition of these settings suggest waking and dreaming? • What else does it suggest?.

(24) The frame plot Theseus and Hippolyta are fighters. Hippolyta was Queen of the Amazons, and Theseus has taken her prisoner of war and now plans to marry her. They are dignified and regal. Their plans for their marriage and the actual marriage celebration form the frame around the other plots in this play.. 2 What does Shakespeare suggest by using the Theseus–Hippolyta romance to frame the main plot? 3 Compare the Hermia– Lysander relationship with the Helena–Demetrius relationship, and say, which of the two you consider more likely to stand the test of time.. LE. The main plot In this plot, two men and two women struggle to find the right partner. The four Athenians are aristocratic, but younger and less mature than Theseus and Hippolyta. Their talk is of friendship and rivalry and fighting, and the plot is about finding the right partner. We begin with both men in love with Hermia, while poor Helena is left out in the cold. Then the boys both fall for Helena, so that Hermia is left out. Eventually the four of them pair off successfully. You will notice that while the two girls are consistently in love with the same boy, the two boys are somewhat more inclined to transfer their affections.. ACTIVITY. P. The fairy subplot Oberon, Titania and their train – including Puck – are fairies, not humans. Oberon is annoyed because Titania is more interested in a little changeling boy she has adopted than she is in her husband, so he plays a trick to show her how blind and silly she is being. He makes her fall in love with an ass – and when she comes to herself, she sees that she was being foolish, so order and harmony are restored. But to play this trick, Oberon needs to borrow one individual from the other subplot.. M. ACTIVITY. 4 Imagine you are the director. Can you think of ways to make the fairies appear different from the mortals in the cast? Could the choice of actors such as children create that effect? How might they move around?. KEY POINTS. The central theme of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is love and love’s complications. In both comedy and tragedy, disaster looms because of some human flaw(s). In comedy, people see the light and come to their senses in time to change the course of events. In tragedy, people see the light too late to avert the disastrous consequences.. A. 5 What kind of music, lighting, scenery and props might also add to the impression of fairyland?. S. The comic subplot This plot involving the ‘mechanicals’ unfolds in the forest. Quince and his men rehearse the play they intend to stage for the upcoming wedding. Poor Bottom is magically spirited away from the rehearsal by Puck, and is transformed into the ass that Titania falls in love with. Happily he is restored to his normal self, and his experience lingers only as a wonderful dream might. On the big day, the play goes off well, and the couples are splendidly entertained before they go off to bed.. Titania and Bottom in the woods. 19.

(25) The main plot. In this section you will: • learn the names of the different phases in the development of a play • consider the relevance of setting.. KEY POINTS The main stages in a play are as follows: Exposition – Development – Crisis – Climax – Resolution. In any play we can expect to find these stages: • The exposition occurs in the opening scenes, letting the audience see the disorder and Expo Ex p siiti tion ion n confusion caused because of a human flaw in Deve De vellopm lopm p en ent nt one or more of the characters. • The development traces how this disorder and Crris C isiss isis confusion get worse until it reaches a head. • The crisis will result from some human flaw or Clim Cl imax imax x blind spot. • The climax occurs when matters have reached Reso Re sollu luti luti tio on o n their most problematic stage. • The resolution will come about in comedy when the flaw is corrected, or, in tragedy, when the flaw leads to disaster. In this play we begin with a hostile, quarrelsome, threatening atmosphere, with six unmarried individuals and talk of the need for submission and obedience. The play ends with harmony and three married couples. So it appears that the flaw relates to man/woman relationships. Resolution of the conflict occurs when each finds a marriage partner and agrees on who will be the dominant partner – in effect, who will ‘wear the pants’ in that relationship.. M. See if you can trace these stages in our discussion of the play.. The stages in a play. LE. LEARNING OUTCOMES. P. 1.10. S. A. Exposition In Act 1 Scene 1 we see many things that are wrong in Athens society and that these issues are threatening the happiness of all: • Duke Theseus is impatient to marry Hippolyta. • Demetrius used to love Helena, but is now infatuated with Hermia, Helena’s friend. • Hermia does not want Demetrius because she loves Lysander, who loves her in return. • Hermia’s father, Egeus, insists that Hermia must marry Demetrius, not Lysander. • Egeus threatens Hermia with death if she remains stubborn. • Egeus brings the matter before Duke Theseus, who decides that Hermia must obey her father, or else become a nun. • Hermia may not marry the man she loves, but faces punishment if she refuses to marry Demetrius. • Poor Helena remains in love with Demetrius, but her love is not returned.. ACTIVITY 1 This play is all about individuals learning to ‘see’ clearly. See how many references you can find in the play to eyes and seeing.. 20. The situation at the start of the play looks bad enough, but things are going to get worse. Development As a result of the above, the following events unfold: • Hermia and Lysander decide to elope. • Helena tells Demetrius about the elopement, and they both set off after the other pair..

(26) • In the forest where they hide, fairies are at work. Puck has instructions from Oberon, the King of the Fairies, to drop a magic potion into Demetrius’s eyes so that he will fall in love with Helena again. Trouble arises when Puck puts the drops in Lysander’s eyes instead, making Lysander fall in love with Helena and reject Hermia. • Back in Athens, both the men who were in love with Hermia are now in love with Helena. • While this is tragic for Hermia, Helena is also miserable because she believes the men are just pretending and cruelly teasing her.. Plot development in the play: Helena. Hermia. Demetrius. Lysander. = Both men love Hermia. Crisis Before long, this is the situation: • Helena and Hermia, who were once bosom friends, are now set up to become enemies. • Hermia is dismayed that her dear Lysander is saying hateful things to her. • Helena is dismayed that all three of the others seem to be making a cruel joke at her expense.. After Puck’s mischief:. Climax Tension rises and the outcome manifests itself in two challenging events: • The two women progress to scratching and slapping each other while trading insults. • Lysander and Demetrius, rivals for Helena, draw swords to fight it out.. At the end of the play:. P. LE. Helena. A. M. Resolution After leading the two on a wild goose chase for a while, Puck finally gets his instructions right. He causes the men to fall asleep, drops the magic potion into Demetrius’s eyes, and gives Lysander the antidote to the magic drops that had made him forsake his Hermia. Both men wake up in love with the right woman. Demetrius loves Helena and is loved in return; Lysander loves Hermia and is loved in return.. Demetrius. Hermia. Lysander. = Both men love Helena. Helena. Hermia. Demetrius. Lysander. = The couples are paired correctly Outcome: Order is finally achieved when each of the female character’s love is reciprocated.. S. Now that the men are able to see properly, a happy ending is possible. The older Athenians find the young people in the forest, and settle for three weddings instead of just one. We are invited to the palace, where music and dancing suggest the harmony that now prevails as: • Theseus marries Hippolyta • Lysander marries Hermia • Demetrius marries Helena • the happy couples go off to bed and fairies shower blessings throughout the palace.. Settings The four plots move between two different locations – Theseus’s palace in Athens and a forest beyond the city where Oberon and Titania reign. Events in the palace occur mainly in the daytime and focus on the actions and conflicts of mortals, while events in the forest occur mainly during the hours of darkness, and here, while mortals sleep and dream, the fairies go about their business.. ACTIVITY 2 Think of how the play reflects a rite of passage. The lovers move from Athens into the forest, go through a learning process and then return to Athens. How have they been changed by that time in the forest? 3 Does the power of the forest suggest anything about the importance of dreams?. 21.

(27) The fairy subplot. In this section you will: • learn how the main plot and subplot are interconnected • consider how the actions of characters in the subplot are used to reflect the conflicts experienced in the main plot.. ACTIVITY. Oberon’s way of dealing with his wayward wife is to use the magic eye potion brought by Puck. He puts them in Titania’s eyes as she sleeps, and then arranges that when she wakes she will fall in love with Bottom, whose head has been transformed, by Puck, into the head of an ass. Titania does indeed fall in love with the monstrous fellow, and when Oberon applies the antidote, she is shocked to see the kind of person she had become infatuated with. She is relieved when he is sent back to his colleagues – with his own head in place! Through the little drama that Oberon staged for her, she is cured. By the end of the play, she willingly hands over the little boy and is sweetly submissive once again to Oberon. Together they move to bring blessing and joy to the three married couples. Tragedy in the fairy world, too, has been averted, and a happy conclusion reached.. M. 1 Find examples in the play that illustrate the impact the fairies have on the world of the humans.. Disorder in human society has now been dealt with, but there is disorder in the fairy kingdom too. Titania, the Queen of the Fairies, refuses to hand over to Oberon, her husband, a little changeling boy she has adopted and with whom she is quite infatuated. The disorder is evident in that instead of enjoying her husband’s love, she prefers to focus her affection on the little boy. The confusion in the fairy world has repercussions, we are told, in the world of humans.. LE. LEARNING OUTCOMES. P. 1.11. Parallels between the two plots. A. The important object that the two plots have in common is the magic eye potion. It signifies being cured of a blind spot and being made to see clearly what is true. Demetrius has discovered that he was in love with Helena all along, and that his infatuation with Hermia was just that: infatuation. Titania sees that as Queen of the Fairies, she must have a partner who is her equal, and that is Oberon, King of the Fairies. The little changeling boy is not her social equal – and nor is Bottom. Poor Bottom – even without his ass’s head he is quite clumsy and gauche in the presence of royalty!. DID YOU KNOW?. S. The word gauche means ‘awkward’ and is also the French word for ‘left’. In the past, if you happened to be right-handed, the actions of the left-handed may have appeared awkward, or gauche. The Romans also felt that there was something sinister about a left-handed man, as he might shake your hand with his right hand (indicating that he is not holding a weapon), only to pull out a dagger with his left hand. In fact, the Latin word for ‘left’ is sinister.. 22. ACTIVITY 2 Both Titania and Hermia are in trouble because they are not submissive. Hippolyta is Queen of the Amazons – a tribe of strong, warlike women. • What do you think the play suggests about women being submissive to men? • What is your own opinion on the subject?. Puck’s role The agent who gets the job done is Puck and it is his actions that bring together all four of the plots. He provides the magic potion for.

(28) Demetrius and Titania, he transforms Bottom, and at the end of the play, he sweeps the evil out of Theseus’s palace. Love, in other words, seems to be something magical that is orchestrated for us by the fairies. ACTIVITY 5 At what points does the play veer close to tragedy? How is the tragic outcome avoided on each occasion? 6 Create a diagram of the four plotlines, showing how the four are intertwined. For example, Bottom becomes part of the Oberon–Titania plot, and Puck becomes part of the plot with the four Athenians.. ACTIVITY 3 Find examples of Puck’s cynicism and look for other aspects of his character. Are you surprised that he could choreograph the lovers’ unions and yet be so sceptical about love? 4 Why do you think Shakespeare has portrayed him like this?. LE. 7 What does your diagram tell you about the role of Puck and the role of Bottom in the play?. The potion as symbol. Oberon and Titania, King and Queen of the Fairies. A. M. P. In the play, Puck brings the juice for the magic potion from a flower that he and Oberon know of. The eyedrops are literally instilled into the eyes of Demetrius, Lysander (by mistake) and Titania. But is there a symbolic meaning for the magic drops? Isn’t it the case that, properly applied, the drops help someone who was blind and foolish to ‘see’ clearly, and to change? Titania sees what a fool she was to fall in love with Bottom – and, by extension, to be infatuated with a little changeling. Helena has been consistently true and faithful to Demetrius, so he too has been blind not to see how lucky he is to have her. The potion, then, is perhaps a symbol of seeing truly, of self-knowledge, perception and insight.. Egeus. S. Egeus could do with some of those magic eye-drops to see more clearly, don’t you think? What kind of father is he to wish his daughter dead? When the older generation meet up with the loving couples – still dazed from their experiences – the Duke wisely decides to take matters no further. It seems that he too can see more clearly now and he refuses to let Egeus insist on punishing Hermia. What can we conclude from that? Could we say that sometimes people are magically changed, but sometimes they remain meanspirited and nasty, and society just has to deal with them as best it can? Shakespeare was wise enough to know that some individuals refuse to see their faults and change their ways. ACTIVITY 8 Find evidence from Helena’s speech and behaviour that she is a worthy wife for Demetrius. Say whether you think Demetrius deserves her.. EXAM TIP. To help with revision, create two diagrams: on e to show the inter weavin g of the four plot-lines, and the other to show th e conflicts between pairs of characters.. 23.

(29) The comic subplot. In this section you will:. • the conflict is caused by someone’s foolish blindness • the blindness is cured by Puck’s trickery and magic. As the Athenians reflect on the events of the night – the fighting and sadness, the quarrelling and unkind words – it all seems like a bad dream. What is true is the wonderful love they have found.. The comic role of the subplot. We now need to look at the plot involving Quince and his band of amateur actors – the ‘mechanicals’, as the play calls them. What are the functions of this plot? • One of the first functions is that of supplying poor Bottom as the ass in Oberon’s little comedy. Puck draws Bottom away from the other actors while they are rehearsing and transforms his head into an ass’s head, causing his friends to run away in fear. Bottom puts on a brave face, and shortly afterwards has the experience of his life: he finds himself being courted by Titania, Queen of the Fairies. • Scenes featuring the mechanicals also provide immense scope for comedy, since Bottom and his friends are uneducated, and make many silly comments as they discuss their play. Bottom’s clumsy behaviour and speech when he is in the presence of royalty is also amusing, as are Titania’s protestations that she finds Bottom so desirable and his voice so musical. The hilarious contrast between the mechanicals and the courtly and aristocratic characters suggests that people should keep to their place in society and not aspire to rise above their ‘station’. • The mechanicals are amusing personalities. For example Bottom is so eager to act that he wants to play all the parts, and does some comic overacting to show how competent he is. Flute is unwilling to play the lady because he has a beard coming, and Snug, the joiner, is so simpleminded that the only part he can play is the lion – who only has to roar. Quince tries to be patient, but is quite challenged by these uneducated but enthusiastic men. Their language, too, is entertaining, with their persistent misuse of difficult words. • The actual staging of the play Pyramus and Thisbe provokes laughter from both the Athenians and the larger audience. Although it is officially a tragedy, the mechanicals manage to draw laughter by their mishandling of the lines, mispronunciation of words, ridiculous costumes and efforts to reassure the audience that no harm has been done. Bottom rising from the dead to explain that he has not really committed suicide is one such example.. S. A. M. • observe the importance of the subplot involving the mechanicals, and how it relates to the rest of the play • understand the different types of comedy • observe how Shakespeare made sure that each type of person in his audience would find something delightful in the play • discover how Shakespeare sometimes used his plays to discuss the role of drama in society.. We have seen how the plot involving Oberon and Titania develops another angle on the same theme as the plot involving the Athenian lovers. In both plots:. LE. LEARNING OUTCOMES. P. 1.12. 24.

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