Honors English 10

The Tempest
 The Tempest in context
The Tempest alludes to the shipwreck
of the Sea Venture on Bermuda
(1609), which resulted in the crew
and passengers spending nine
months in Bermuda, during which
time one faction attempted mutiny.
 History
Tempest was probably written in the later part of 1610 or
1611; it was acted before King James on Nov. 1, 1611.

The plot of the play appears to be wholly Shakespeare's

invention; he used no direct historical sources.

In May 1609, nine ships carrying 500 colonists set sail from
England to reinforce the settlers at the colony of Jamestown
in the New World, in what is now Virginia.

In a storm, the ships were driven to the Bermudas, where a

number of the travelers were stranded for nearly a year.
 History
Shakespeare almost certainly knew of the controversy
surrounding the ownership of Virginia.
Some argued that the natives settled in Virgina owned
the land, and that European settlers had no right to take
it from them.
The Tempest gives both sides of the controversy.
Shakespeare makes Caliban's claim to the island
plausible, but also shows him as depraved; and the
"colonists" have among them good men along with
drunkards and murderers.
 Themes
The Tempest addresses all of the usual themes found in
Shakesperian comedies:
guilt and repentance;
the finding of the lost; forgiveness;
the renewal of the world;
and the benevolence of unseen powers.

ALSO: characters in the play have symbolic value, and

that many of their actions are related to the idea of
control.
 Theme
The Tempest concerns itself with those human achievements
that result from control of the imagination, producing works
of art which have at their strongest a power of
transfiguration, a fresh revelation of the wonder of creation.

The power of imagination is emphasized by its relationship

to memory.

Shakespeare returns to illusion vs. reality. He is performing a

balancing act of opposites, and he uses the spectacle and the
illusions to heighten the tensions between them
 Theme
The romance element of the play, as a whole, is
countered by the moral seriousness of the play.

There is a balancing of desire against virtue, lust against

love, and discipline against passion--in all things, not
just for the lovers
 Character
Prospero
Magical, wonderful ruler of all.
He has been exiled on the island with his daughter,
Miranda
He is partly dependent on Fortune, and partly master of
it
He is human, but has superhuman powers and is the
“controlling agent” of the play. He creates a sense of
mystery and awe.
 Character
Miranda
Prospero’s young, beautiful naïve daughter
She is the perfect audience for her father: Open Minded,
willing to be impressed, full of wonder,
She is eager to believe in all that she meets.
Her innocence is full of pathos --- is she not as beautiful
as she appears.
Her innocence, but mature wisdom are both part of the
truth and create a harmony that doubles the effect of
each.
 Caliban
He is the symbol of all that is wrong with Colonialism

Used as a tool to show contrasts:

Childish, yet gruesome
Emotional, yet aloof and outcast
Savage yet traditional
He is measured for art and civilization
Also a stark contrast from Ferdinand, who swears he will
not let lust overcome his honor.
 Shakespeare’s Method
He balances comic and serious and creates analogies
which are unified through similar ideas
“Delicate” used for Ariel, weather and air
“Earthy” for Caliban
Confusion between waking and sleep
The Play moves from storm to calm; through
punishments and restorations of faith
But the overriding metaphor is CHANGE
 Change
All is changed or transformed.
Ariel speaks of it and has physical transformation
The maturity and loss of innocence that is shown
through Miranda
Caliban, reveals this thread by the fact that he CAN’T
change, yet words like “dissolve”, “fade” and “blend” are
common.
Shakespeare uses all of this transition of things side by
side to show with simpler feeling that man’s life is an
illusion or a dream….
 Summary of Intro
Prospero is often seen identified as Shakespeare as
A harassed overworked person of import
One who is constantly aware of how much “time” is left
A man who sees that all that he thought was real and
good can change with Fate’s whim

The play asks us to consider what we know to be true

about our lives, through character, through love and
lust, through moral exploration and through the politics
of change.
Post-Colonial Theory & The
Tempest
During the 15th Century until the 19th Century (1400s-
1800s) Europe began its first colonial wave.
The earth was being “discovered” and there were myths
about the “cannibals” of the Carribean, and distant
utopias
Post-Colonial Theory & The
Tempest
With Caliban, Shakespeare may be offering an in-depth
discussion into the morality of colonialism.

Caliban is also shown as one of the most natural

characters in the play, being very much in touch with the
natural world
Post-Colonial Theory & The
Tempest
This new way of looking at the text explored the effect
of the coloniser (Prospero) on the colonised (Ariel and
Caliban).

Ariel is generally viewed by scholars as the good

servant, in comparison with the conniving Caliban—a
view which Shakespeare's audience may well have
shared.
Post-colonial theory in The
Tempest
Aspects of colonialism:

Europeans’ appropriation of and exploitation of

foreign territories

Europeans’ subordination of indigenous

populations (such as the different treatment of
Caliban and Ariel)

Europeans’ claims that they are colonizing to bring

Christianity and civilization (Prospero’s taking credit
for the fact that he has taught Caliban how to speak
and the fact that he has liberated Ariel)
Post-colonial theory in The
Tempest
Caliban has been ensalved, as was the case of native
people being "colonized" by conquering nations.

He does not realize that his own choice of leader could

be just as destructive.

Post-colonial Africa is dealing with this still, having

ousted nations of Europe only to find themselves in
civil war…. Comfort exceeds freedom.
 Colonizing Caliban
More important than the emphasis on the way in which
Caliban seems to others more monster than man, is the
way Act I dramatizes the initial encounter between an
almost completely isolated, “primitive” culture and a
foreign, “civilized” one.