Write the date, title and objective in your exercise books. I never knew true beauty til this night Objective: TBAT understand how women were treated in Shakespeare’s Britain, examine how Juliet’s character is presented and know how to write about character analytically. GCSE English: Controlled Assessment

Our main task this lesson will be to decide: Is Juliet the real hero and most positive character in the play? In order to do this there will be three steps: a) Look at the conditions facing women in Shakespeare’s era. b) Reflect on how Juliet may differ from these expectations. c) Look at some of her key quotes. Our Final Outcome

The answer is… Decide upon and write down three questions that this could be the answer to! Task:

Even though there was an unmarried woman on the throne in Elizabethan England, the roles of women in society were very limited. The Elizabethans had very clear expectations of men and women, and in general men were expected to be the breadwinners and women to be housewives and mothers. On average, a woman gave birth to a child every two years, but as a lot of babies and children died from sickness, families were not always large. The men were considered to be the leaders and women their inferiors. Women were regarded as "the weaker sex", not just in terms of physical strength, but emotionally too. It was believed that women always needed someone to look after them. If they were married, their husband was expected to look after them. If they were single, then their father, brother or another male relative was expected to take care of them. Women were not allowed to enter the professions i.e law, medicine, politics, but they could work in domestic service as cooks, maids etc. Women were allowed to write works of literature, providing the subject was suitable for women: mainly translations or religious works. Women were not allowed to act on the public stage or write for the public stage. However, men were expected to take care of their wives and make sure she they had everything they needed, and most importantly to love her and be a good father to any children they had. Women in Shakespeare’s Britain

As you can see, life in Shakespeare’s Britain was very different; especially for women! In order to understand how the audience would react to Juliet, it is very important that we understand how women were treated and expected to behave. Using this information, we are going to be answering the following questions in detail. 1)What was life like for women during Shakespeare’s Britain? 2)Are there any details within this that you find particularly shocking or surprising? 3)How is life different for modern women?

Juliet: Key Quotations To Romeo, when they first kiss: You kiss by the book. I’ll no longer be a Capulet. ‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy. Talking about her wedding night: Learn me how to lose a winning match. In order to develop a more in- depth understanding of how Shakespeare presents the character of Juliet, we are going to look at some of the examples where she asserts herself and shows her strength of mind. There are three quotations below. After we have discussed these statements, copy each one into your book and explain how it is an example of a confident and mature young lady.

Juliet: Key Quotations The audience also get an insight into Juliet’s character through what other characters say about her. We are now going to look at a few examples – copy each one into your books and, in your own words, explain what you think these people are saying about Juliet. When he first sees her at the Capulet ball, Romeo says: She is a snowy dove trooping with crows. When Juliet refuses to marry Paris, Lady Capulet says: I would the fool were married to her grave At the end of the play, Montague finds Juliet with Romeo and, says: There shall be no figure at such rate be set As that of true and faithful Juliet

As we can see, on a number of occasions Juliet behaves in a way that would have been considered different and even dangerous for women. Stereotypical Not stereotypical Now that we have established what life was like for women when the play was written, we need to reflect on how Juliet is presented. Which aspects of her character could be seen as stereotypical (how people expect her to behave) and which break the mould? Who wears the trousers? With this in mind, how do we think the audience would react to her: a) In Shakespeare’s time? b) In the modern world?

Juliet; the real character Section 1 Think of 5 words that describe Juliet For each word: Explain why it describes her Give at least one example from the play Section 2 Choose 3 quotations that tell us something about Juliet and writ PEE paragraphs P: say what the quote tells us about Juliet E: Write out the quotation E: Explain why it tells us this about her Section 3: Do you think Juliet is the real hero? Explain why. Explain in what ways she is a typical woman of her time and in what ways she is different.

The answer is… Using the knowledge we have gained this lesson, think of three new questions this could be the answer to. Task: Plenary