A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Lesson 4: Love
 Learning Objective
• To consider the theme of ‘love’ within A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Success Criteria
• To explain what is meant by theme.
• To relate themes to characters within the play.
• To explore themes through analysis of the author’s language.
Think, Pair, Share
Do you believe in love at first sight?

Are there different types of love?

 What is Love?
Is it a source of happiness or of misery?

Compile a table recording the different types of love on display in A Midsummer Night’s
Dream. The first one has been done for you…

Type of love Example Result

Paternal Egeus wanting the best for Hermia Conflict
Romantic
 Who Said That?
(And more importantly, what did they mean?)
Write the quotes in your book, followed by the source (e.g. Act 1, Sc 1.1) and your
interpretation of what they mean. As well as testing your comprehension skills, this also tests
your ability to scan-read and cite a quotation (all of which are very useful exam skills).

Hippolyta, I wooed thee with This man hath

my sword, And won thy love
doing thee injuries; But I will
wed thee in another key, With
pomp, with triumph, and with
revelling.
bewitched the
bosom of my child. Love looks not with the
eyes, but with the mind;
And therefore is wing’d
Cupid painted blind.

I mean that my heart unto yours is

knit, So that but one heart we can
Ay me! For aught that I could
make of it: Two bosoms interchained
ever read, Could ever hear by tale
with an oath, So then two bosoms
or history, The course of true love
and a single troth.
never did run smooth.
 Boxing Ring Debate
In the red corner: In the blue corner:
Love is wonderful! Love stinks!

The Judges:
Is it possible to judge love?
What criteria could we use to assess the winner?
 And The Winner Is…?
It’s up to you to make up your own mind; love is a very personal thing.

To finish, write a couplet that expresses your opinion on love.

e.g. My love couplet: “Love is like a dream come true, I’m in love, I dream of you”