KS3 · English

Analysing a Shakespeare character across the play

Puck can turn into a stool, an apple or a horse. But watch how he talks the moment Oberon walks in.

English · Character across a play

Follow Puck through the play

Tap each moment in order. Each one gives you a different Puck.

Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream

Select a moment to read how Puck is presented there. The line joins the moments in the order they happen.

Moment 1 · Act 2, Scene 1 · Boasting to a fairy

What to notice

Puck's first conversation is with a fairy, who calls him both Robin Goodfellow and a puck. He tells her about practical jokes he has played, and they share one trick: Puck turns himself into something else, such as a horse, an apple or a stool. As a stool, he makes a wise old aunt fall on her bottom when she tries to sit.

Meaning

Puck is presented as irreverent, meaning disrespectful. His jokes involve mild physical harm or humiliation, and he finds them funny.

Moment 1 of 6: Act 2, Scene 1 · Boasting to a fairy. Puck's first conversation is with a fairy, who calls him both Robin Goodfellow and a puck. He tells her about practical jokes he has played, and they share one trick: Puck turns himself into something else, such as a horse, an apple or a stool. As a stool, he makes a wise old aunt fall on her bottom when she tries to sit.. meaning: Puck is presented as irreverent, meaning disrespectful. His jokes involve mild physical harm or humiliation, and he finds them funny.

Watch out: Resist summing Puck up in one word after one moment. By the end of this arc you should have at least three different words, and none of them is wrong.

Act 2, Scene 1 · Two conversations

Puck talking to the fairyvsPuck talking to Oberon

Shakespeare lets Puck change his attitude and dialogue depending on who he is talking to. Compare the two conversations row by row.

Focus

How much he says

Puck talking to the fairy

He speaks at length.

Puck talking to Oberon

He has only about three lines.

The insight

In the count this lesson uses, Oberon speaks 27 lines in their first dialogue and Puck 3. Counts can vary between editions. Oberon's almost complete domination of the dialogue suggests a power imbalance between them.

Kind of language

Puck talking to the fairy

Descriptive and crude.

Puck talking to Oberon

Much clearer and respectful.

Attitude to the people involved

Puck talking to the fairy

Shows little respect for the people he mocks.

Puck talking to Oberon

Respectful to his master.

What it suggests about Puck

Puck talking to the fairy

Irreverent: he enjoys the jokes.

Puck talking to Oberon

Cares about hierarchy: he knows who outranks him.

Reading Oberon and Puck

Method or inference?

Is each statement a language method, or an inference we make about a character?

Still to sort

Language method (0)

Something the writer does in the lines.

Where the line is: A method is something you could point to in how the lines are written, like a command or a contrast.

Inference (0)

A conclusion we reach about how a character behaves.

Where the line is: An inference is what you decide from the methods, such as imperious or sinister.

5 of 5 still to sort.

Mixing these up is one of the commonest slips in analysis. Sort each statement, then read why it belongs there.

Watch out: Even Oberon's request for the flower can be read two ways: as showing his power, or his desperation and reliance on something other than himself. There is no single reading.

Funny or cruel?

How cruel is Puck?

The claim

Puck is a cruel character.

Place each piece of evidence to load the balance. Mark the strong ones — they count double.

  1. His practical jokes involve mild physical harm or humiliation, and he finds them funny.

    Evidence 1: does it support or challenge the claim?

  2. He makes fun of the Rude Mechanicals and decides to cause chaos and confusion among them.

    Evidence 2: does it support or challenge the claim?

  3. In Elizabethan folklore a puck was a fairy, often a malicious one associated with the devil.

    Evidence 3: does it support or challenge the claim?

  4. His list of the things he can become can be played in a scary, more sinister tone.

    Evidence 4: does it support or challenge the claim?

  5. His mistake with Lysander is genuine: he was trying to carry out Oberon's order.

    Evidence 5: does it support or challenge the claim?

  6. He obeys Oberon without question and is respectful to Oberon and other high status characters.

    Evidence 6: does it support or challenge the claim?

  7. He is angry at a sleeper he takes for Demetrius for not being loving and caring.

    Evidence 7: does it support or challenge the claim?

  8. He helps Oberon restore order at the end of the play.

    Evidence 8: does it support or challenge the claim?

Predict, then check

Elizabethans believed everyone had a place in a God-given ranking called the Great Chain of Being. To question or disrupt it was a threat to society.

Titania is a fairy queen, so very high status. She falls in love with Bottom, a human who gets a donkey's head and can be placed near the bottom of the hierarchy. What does this pairing do to that ranking?

Your turn

Write about Puck across the play

Pick any two moments from the arc at the top of the lesson. Not sure where to begin? Ask: who is he talking to in each moment, and is he the same Puck?

Write a short paragraph (3 to 5 sentences) on how Puck is presented. Connect two moments from different acts. [5 marks]

0 words · your answer stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED

A quick recap of today's lesson.

Funny, obedient, cruel? Follow him through the acts and decide.

What you need to know

  • Puck is Oberon's servant and Oberon is king of the fairies, so Puck is close to power but answers to his master.
  • In Elizabethan folklore a puck was often a malicious fairy. Robin Goodfellow was mischievous but helped with housework.
  • Have a goTwo names, one fairy. Which sounds darker in folklore: puck or Robin Goodfellow?

    Puck.

    A puck was often malicious, while Robin Goodfellow was mischievous but also helped with housework.

  • Puck is irreverent, meaning disrespectful, but only towards particular characters, so "simply disrespectful" is not accurate.
  • His attitude and language change depending on who he is talking to, so keep asking: who is he talking to?
  • Have a goYour friend says "Puck jokes about everyone, even his boss." Oberon is about to walk in mid-joke. What do you predict Puck does?

    He stops the jokes and becomes respectful.

    His disrespect is aimed at particular characters, and his attitude changes with his listener. Oberon is his master.

  • A language method is something the writer does, like a command or a contrast. Imperious and sinister are inferences we make.
  • Have a goYour classmate announces, very confidently: "Sinister is a language method." Gently, what is wrong?

    Sinister is an inference we make, not something the writer does.

    A method is in how the lines are written, like a command. Sinister means threatening, a conclusion we reach as readers.

  • There is no single reading of the play. Dialogue can be interpreted in many ways, and performance changes how we see a character.
  • A monologue is one character's speech giving their thoughts, often straight to the audience. Puck has one in Act 2, Scene 2.
  • Connect moments from different parts of the play. Linking them shows something happens several times, not just once.
  • Context means information about Elizabethan society, attitudes and values. Use it to develop your ideas, wherever it helps in a paragraph.
  • Elizabethans believed everyone had a place in a God-given ranking, the Great Chain of Being. Questioning it threatened society.

The big picture

Puck is not simply a joker. He is irreverent with some characters and respectful to Oberon, a genuine blunderer as well as a deliberate trickster, and possibly sinister depending on how you read and perform him. To write well about him you track him across the acts, connect moments, keep language methods separate from inferences, and use Elizabethan context to develop your ideas.

Key points

1Track a character across the acts. One moment never sums them up.
2Puck changes with his listener: irreverent with some, respectful to Oberon.
3His mistake with Lysander is genuine, but transforming Bottom is Puck's own idea.
4Language methods are what the writer does; inferences are what we conclude.
5Context develops a reading when you weave it in, not when you bolt it on.

Worked example

Problem

Build one connected point about Puck as an obedient servant, using two moments from different parts of the play and a piece of context.

⚠ Watch out

Calling Puck "disrespectful" after one moment, then stopping. He is irreverent towards some characters and respectful to Oberon, so you have to track him across several moments.

🧠

Memory hook

Before you judge Puck, ask: who is he talking to?

✓

Check yourself

Without looking back, name two moments from different acts and say what each shows about Puck. Then say whether each of your words (such as obedient or sinister) is a language method or an inference.

Flashcards

(13)
What does irreverent mean?
Disrespectful. Puck is presented as irreverent: his practical jokes involve mild physical harm or humiliation and he finds them funny.
What does imperious mean?
Arrogant or dominant. It is an inference we make about a character, not a language method.
What does sinister mean?
Threatening or menacing. It is an inference we make, not a language method.
What is a monologue?
A speech by one character expressing their thoughts, often directly to the audience.
Who are the Rude Mechanicals?
Puck's phrase for the poor Athenian actors, referring to their day jobs as skilled manual labourers.
Who was Robin Goodfellow in Elizabethan folklore?
A mischievous fairy who also helped with housework, connected with practical jokes and helpfulness.
What did the word puck mean in Elizabethan folklore?
A fairy, often a malicious one associated with the devil.
What is a hierarchy?
A system in which people or things are ranked, with some at the top and others lower down.
What was the Great Chain of Being?
The ranking Elizabethans believed everyone had a place in, created by God. Questioning it was a threat to society.
What is the status quo?
The accepted standards and rules by which a community lives. Oberon and Puck restore it at the end of the play.
What is context?
Information about Elizabethan society, attitudes and values. Use it to develop your ideas, not as one sentence at the end.
Language method or inference: what is the difference?
A method is something the writer does, like a command or a contrast. An inference is what we conclude about a character, like imperious.
What is a Shakespearean comedy?
A play designed to make you laugh, often with misunderstandings and disorder, and ending in marriage.

Tap any card to flip it, or use Study as deck to go through them one at a time. In the full lesson these run as a spaced-repetition deck — you rate each card Hard, Good or Easy and the tricky ones keep coming back until they stick.

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