How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare Read Online Free Page A

play Shakespeare in Hollywood at Arena Stage, with Emily Donahoe as Puck and Casey Biggs as Oberon. (photo credit 5.3)
There sleeps Titania sometime of the night ,
Lulled in these flowers with dances and delight .
And there the snake throws her enameled skin ,
Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in .
And with the juice of this I’ll streak her eyes
And make her full of hateful fantasies .
    Ten lines. Seventy-five words. Verse. Meter. Imagery. Fairyland. Three famous characters. Quality time. Self-confidence. Time well spent.

CHAPTER 6
    Passage 2
Puck’s Announcement and the Story of A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Captain of our fairy band ,
Helena is here at hand ,
And the youth, mistook by me ,
Pleading for a lover’s fee .
Shall we their fond pageant see?
Lord, what fools these mortals be!
( A Midsummer Night’s Dream ,
Act III, Scene 2, lines 112–17)
    T he second passage that we’ll learn together is short, but it tells us a great deal about A Midsummer Night’s Dream and a great deal about Shakespeare. It is easier to learn than the first passage, and it should take you and your children about fifteen minutes. It is a particularly good passage for younger children because the speaker is Puck, everyone’s favorite mischief maker, and it ends with one of the great one-liners of all time:
Lord, what fools these mortals be!
    As before, you should start by sitting next to your child and looking at the Quotation Page together. Note: The word fee in this passage means “reward.” And a fond pageant is a “foolish spectacle.”
Captain of our fairy band ,
Helena is here at hand ,
And the youth, mistook by me ,
Pleading for a lover’s fee .
Shall we their fond pageant see?
Lord, what fools these mortals be!
    Begin by tackling the first two lines, using, as always, the techniques we discussed above: Use the Quotation Page, say the lines aloud, and repeat them.
Captain of our fairy band ,
Captain of our fairy band ,
Helena is here at hand ,
    ( Helena is pronounced “HEL-eh-na.”)
Helena is here at hand ,
Captain of our fairy band ,
Helena is here at hand ,
    Unlike the first passage, which had five beats per line,
∧ ∧ ∧ ∧ ∧
I know a BANK where the WILD THYME BLOWS .
    the lines of this passage have four beats each, and the rhythm is the same from line to line.
∧ (∧) ∧ ∧
CAP tain OF our FAIR y BAND ,
∧ (∧) ∧ ∧
HEL en A is HERE at HAND ,
    Four beats per line is a simpler tempo. It resembles a nursery rhyme, and it is easier to memorize. Shakespeare uses this meter only occasionally in his plays, for the lyrics of most of his songs and, more rarely, when he wants to say something in a ritualistic manner. For example, he uses this meter at the end of A Midsummer Night’s Dream , when Oberon and Robin say goodnight to the audience.
If we sha dows have of fen ded ,
Think but this and all is mend ed:
That you have but slumbered here
While these visions did appear.…
Give me your hands [clap for us], if we be friends ,
And Robin shall restore amends .
    Use the fact that there are only four beats in each line to make the passage into a game for your children, the way you would a nursery rhyme.
∧ (∧) ∧ ∧
CAP tain OF our FAIR y BAND ,
∧ (∧) ∧ ∧
HEL en A is HERE at HAND ,
    You should point out to your children that all three couplets are rhymed, which makes them easy to memorize.
Captain of our fairy BAND ,
Helena is here at HAND ,
And the youth, mistook by ME ,
Pleading for a lover’s FEE .
Shall we their fond pageant SEE?
Lord, what fools these mortals BE!

The Story of A Midsummer Night’s Dream
    A Midsummer Night’s Dream has four plots, all spinning along at the same time. The play is a miracle of dramatic architecture: Despite the constant crisscrossing of the plots, we’re never confused for an instant about what’s going on in the story.
    One of the plots (the Lovers’ Plot) revolves around two young women, Hermia and Helena, and the two young men with whom they’re in