1. Character analysis of Helena in A Midsummer Nights’ Dream
Year 8 Reading Assessment

2. Helena
Helena is a teenager. She may not yet feel comfortable with her woman’s body.
Hermia has been her best friend since she was a child.
She seems to have low self esteem and poor self image because she wants to look like Hermia so that Demetrius will love her.
Context – before the events of the play, Helena had ALREADY been betrothed to Demetrius before he broke up with her to pursue Hermia. This means that it would be expected for Helena and Demetrius to get married.
Helena is determined to be with Demetrius, whatever it takes.
However, when he does want to be with her – she thinks it’s a joke.
She doesn’t feel like people take her seriously and thinks that Demetrius, Lysander and Hermia are making fun of her.
It could be that Helena is unable to believe that anyone could truly love her after being rejected repeatedly by Demetrius.

3. P.E.E.L
Point
Evidence
Explain
Language

4. Language Analysis – why is it important?
Because it can make a huge difference to your pathway and your GCSE grade and lots of people miss it out.
So what do I have to do?
Secure – able to identify various features of the writer’s use of language and begin to explain them.
Exceeding - Able to comment, with some detail, on the effect of writer’s language choices.
Highest – able to show a full appreciation of how the language choices contribute to the overall effect on the reader.

5. PEEL
Your language analysis doesn’t always need to go on the end – but it’s a good reminder to add language analysis if you have finished your explanation without doing any!
Sometimes your language analysis will be more detailed and you will need a new paragraph.

6. POINT: Helena has low self esteem.
PEE Example Act 1 Scene 1
POINT: Helena has low self esteem.
EVIDENCE: she says to Hermia: ‘Teach me how you look’.
EXPLAIN: Helena wants to model herself on Hermia. This shows that she has low self esteem because …

7. How to do it?
Start by trying to identify the word classification. E.g. verb, noun, adjective, adverb, phrase. Starting your analysis like this is expected for a grade 5 or above at GCSE in English: Shakespeare chooses the noun phrase ‘hard-hearted adamant’ in Helena’s dialogue to Demetrius to show that … The noun ‘spaniel’ creates the image… We will complete these sentence starters on the board. You must analyse language like this throughout your essay.

8. The adjective ‘fair’ built into a P.E.E paragraph
P: In Act 1 Scene 1, Helena gets annoyed with Hermia for calling her beautiful: E: ‘Call you me fair? that fair again unsay. Demetrius loves your fair: O happy fair!’ E: The adjective ‘fair’ means beautiful; Hermia is paying Helena a compliment. However, Helena’s definition of the adjective ‘fair’ is different As far as Helena is concerned, she cannot be beautiful because Demetrius does not love her. Helena’s impression of her own appearance is built on the way that others see her. She compares herself with Hermia and assumes that Hermia must be more beautiful, simply because Demetrius thinks so. This shows that she has poor self image that can be easily knocked down if she is rejected by a man. Perhaps this is why she is so deeply affected when Demetrius repeatedly rejects her; it is confirmation to her that she is not ‘fair’ enough to be loved.

9. Assessment: Analysis of Helena in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’
In this assessment my target is to _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ ____________________________

10. Analysis of Helena in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ Introduction
Summarise the character of Helena in the play. Who is she in love with at the beginning? Who is her best friend? How does she behave?
Include some historical context that you have learned.
Examples:
The play is set in a patriarchal society, where men were in charge and women were expected to be obedient.
People believed in magic, magical creatures and spells

11. Look at your Act 1 Scene 1 extract
Who does Helena want to be like? Why does she want to be like her? What does this show you about Helena’s feelings towards Demetrius? What does it show about her self-esteem?
Remember to use P.E.E.L
Point: In Act 1 Scene 1, Helena wants to be like…
Evidence: For example …
Explain: This shows that …
Language: The adjective/noun/phrase ‘____’ suggests that …

12. Look at your Act 2 Scene 1 extract
Helena and Demetrius are in the woods. He is annoyed because she is following him. What does Helena call Demetrius when he rejects her? What language does she use to describe her loyalty to him? How do they both feel? P: E: L:

13. Look at your Act 3 Scene 2 extract
How is Helena feeling in Act 3 Scene 2?
Why does she feel this way?
What does she say to Demetrius when he tells her that he loves her?
Remember to use P.E.E.L

14. Conclusion - this is where you give your own opinion
What do you think about the character of Helena? What do you think about the way she is treated by the others? Too bossy? Determined? Does she deal with problems in a mature and sensible way?
Do you think it is right that she ended up marrying Demetrius?
Why / why not?

15. SECURE EXCEEDING HIGHEST
Support your ideas with evidence from the text.
Comment on Shakespeare’s language choices.
Begin to comment on the lives of women at the time that the play was written.
EXCEEDING
Use carefully chosen evidence from across the play.
Begin to use this evidence to discuss Shakespeare’s overall purpose – what impression do you get of Helena in each scene?
Read between the lines (infer meanings) to explore why Helena behaves in the way that she does. Show an awareness of how the character of Helena has changed throughout the play.
Explore the effect of Shakespeare’s language choices in detail.
Link historical context to Helena – why is it so important that Demetrius marries her? Why is Helena’s pursuit of Demetrius so unusual?
HIGHEST
Explore the development of Helena’s character and the motivations for her behaviour in detail.
E.g: Demetrius’ feelings towards Helena shape her self-esteem and impact on her self-confidence.
Embed quotations and begin to compare the language used in each scene and its effect.