The Tempest By Willian Shakespeare Learning Objectives In

The Tempest By Willian Shakespeare

Learning Objectives In this presentation you will …. . ü Become familiar with the principal characters of the play ü Gain an overview of the plot of first act ü Develop a basic understanding of the relationship between Prospero and Ariel, and between Prospero and Caliban ü Consider themes of punishment, revenge and power

The Tempest n n n Last play solely written by him (1610) First Folio (1623) Comedy/Romance

• The Tempest is generally regarded as Shakespeare’s last play, first performed in 1611 for King James I. • Scholars attribute the immediate source of the play to the 1609 shipwreck of an English ship in Bermuda and travelers’ reports about the island the ordeal of the mariners. Z

The period in which it was written, the seventeenth century age of exploration, the circumstances of its performance at court, and the context of the playwright’s writing career suggest immediately some of its rich themes and ambiguities.

The play can be read as Shakespeare’s commentary on European exploration of new lands. Prospero lands on an island with a native inhabitant, Caliban, a being he considers savage and uncivilized. He teaches this “native” his language and customs, but this nurturing does not affect the creature’s nature, at least from Prospero’s point of view.

But Prospero does not drive Caliban away, rather he enslaves him, forcing him to do work he considers beneath himself and his noble daughter. As modern readers, sensitive to the legacy of colonialism, we need to ask if Shakespeare sees this as the right order; what are his views of imperialism and colonialism? What are our twentieth century reactions to the depiction of the relationship between the master and slave, shown in this play

The theme of Utopianism is linked to the explorations of new lands. Europeans were intrigued with the possibilities presented for new beginnings in these “new” lands

ACT I, SCENE I The play begins on the deck of a ship at sea in the middle of a violent tempest. Amid loud sounds of thunder and flashes of lightning, The sailors fight to bring down the sails in order to control the ship. The passengers, Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio, and Ferdinand, come on Deck to see what is happening, but the sailors complain that they interfere with their work and make more noise than the storm. Soon all Appears lost as the ship breaks apart. The passengers and crew believe they are about to drown

• The play begins when King Alonso of Naples and his entourage sail home for Italy after attending his daughter's wedding in Africa. • Prospero and Miranda live in a cave on the island which is also inhabited by Ariel, a sprite who carries out the bidding of Prospero, and the ugly, half human Caliban. • Various plots against the main characters fail thanks to the magic of Prospero. The play ends with all the plotters repenting the Tempest is calmed.

Act One, Scene Two introduces us to the protagonist, Prospero, and his daughter, Miranda

Prospero has raised the tempest to bring his enemies within his grasp. Can you predict what his revenge will be? CHARACTER Antonio, Prospero’s brother Alonso, King of Naples CRIME Usurped Prospero as Duke of Milan Aided Antonio against Prospero Sebastian, Alonso’s brother Stephano, a drunken servant Plans to kill Alonso and become King Plans to kill Prospero and rule the island

Prospero and Ariel is a spirit whom Prospero has bound as his servant. Acting on his master’s instructions, he has created the tempest and brought the ship safely ashore

ACT I, SCENE II The scene changes to the island where Miranda and Prospero have viewed the plight of the storm-tossed ship through Prospero’s magic powers. Removing his magical robe, Prospero tells Miranda the history of her birth and her true place and value. He describes how he and Miranda, then not quite three years old, were forced to board a rotting ship and put sea to suffer certain death.

ACT I, SCENE II The conspiracy to take over Prospero’s power and station was the work of his brother who plotted with the King of Naples, Prospero’s enemy. Now “by accident most strange, ” all these men have been brought close to the island where Prospero and Miranda have been shipwrecked for the last twelve years. Through magic and the spirit Ariel who is required to do his bidding, Prospero created the storm and chaos among the sailors and passengers so that they would be separated and believe the others drowned. However, Prospero has protected them all from harm and hidden the ship under a charm.

• When Ariel appears reluctant to continue to serve Prospero, he reminds the spirit of its imprisonment by the witch • Sycorax and Caliban, her child, until Prospero worked his magic. (Ariel’s gender is unspecified. ) Besides, Prospero promises complete freedom in just two days time if Ariel carries out his designs.

Prospero and Caliban The son of a witch who was exiled to the island, Caliban is another of Prospero’s servants. What does Prospero’s Greeting to Caliban tell you about their relationship ?

• Prospero awakens Miranda and they visit Caliban, “the slave, ” who carries wood, makes fire, and serves their basic needs. • Caliban curses Prospero, his master, for usurping his rightful rule of the island, and Prospero vows to punish Caliban for these insults and his continued insolent behavior. Prospero recalls how when he attempted to befriend Caliban and teach him language and manners, Caliban tried to “violate the honor” of Miranda

Meanwhile Ariel’s song and music has lured Ferdinand near to Prospero and Miranda is immediately impressed by Ferdinand’s good looks, and he is equally smitten by her beauty, calling her a “goddess. ” Prospero lets the audience know through the vehicle of asides that this attraction is exactly what he had Planned and hoped for, and he only acts disapproving in order to make their bond even stronger. Miranda pleads with her father to spare Ferdinand while Prospero demands his subservience.

ACT 2 SCENE 1 King Alonso has landed on the island, with his brothers Sebastian and Antonio, noblemen Adrian and Francisco, and the councilor Gonzalo tries to console Alonso upon their good fortune of surviving the shipwreck but Alonso is grieved a) Because his son Ferdinand is missing and presumed dead, but because b) He was returning from his daughter's wedding in Africa, and fears he will never see her again because of the distance.

Ariel then enters, playing “solemn music n n n Ariel's magic makes the party fall asleep, with the exception of Antonio and Sebastian. A strange seriousness, of Ariel's doing, falls upon Antonio and Sebastian. Antonio begins to concoct a plan to get his brother the kingship, which will be much easier if Ferdinand, the current heir, really is dead; and since Alonso's daughter is very far away in Tunis, Sebastian might be able to inherit the crown with only two murders, those of Alonso and Gonzalo.

n n n Sebastian begins to warm to the idea, especially after Antonio tells him that usurping Prospero’s dukedom was the best move he ever made. Sebastian wonders aloud whether he will be afflicted by conscience, but Antonio dismisses this out of hand. Sebastian is at last convinced, and the two men draw their swords. Sebastian, however, seems to have second thoughts at the last moment and stops. While he and Antonio confer, Ariel enters with music, singing in Gonzalo’s ear that a conspiracy is under way and that he should “Awake, awake!” (II. i. 301).

Gonzalo wakes and shouts “Preserve the King!” His exclamation wakes everyone else (II. i. 303). Sebastian quickly concocts a story about hearing a loud noise that caused him and Antonio to draw their swords. Gonzalo is obviously suspicious But does not challenge the lords. The group continues its search for Ferdinand.

Important Lines n n Adrian finds it to be of “subtle, tender, and delicate temperance, ” where “the air breathes upon us. . . most sweetly” (II. i. 42– 47). Gonzalo says that the grass is “lush and lusty” and “green” (II. i. 53– 54). Antonio and Sebastian, however, cynical to the last, refuse to let these descriptions rest in the audience’s mind. They say that the air smells “as ’twere perfumed by a fen” (II. i. 49), meaning a swamp, and that the ground “indeed is tawny” (II. i. 55), or brown. (Gonzalo tries to console the king over the loss of his son, saying that his "hint of woe is common, " and speaking about all the people who share his "theme of woe“.

Themes of Political Legitimacy • Act 2 returns to themes of political legitimacy, source of power, and usurpation that arose in the first act. • While Prospero firmly believed that the only legitimate power was the power that came from one's knowledge and hard work, Antonio believes that the power he usurped from his brother is legitimate, because he deserved it more and had the skill to wrestle it away. .

• • "Look how well my garments sit upon me, much feater than before, " Antonio brags to Sebastian; Antonio's lack of remorse over his crime, and his arrogant claim that his power is just because he uses it better, foreshadow a confrontation with his brother Prospero, and an eventual fall from this illgained power. However, Ariel's involvement in this conspiracy shows it to be part of Prospero's plan; Ariel makes all but Antonio and Sebastian go to sleep, and then causes conspiratorial seriousness to settle on them as well. The situation is created as part of Prospero's project, to reinforce his idea of his brothers as villains, and act as Prospero "foresees through his art" that they will.

Racism The most important literary elements in the second scene are probably those that are used to refer to Caliban. Upon finding Caliban lying on the ground, Trinculo calls him a "dead Indian"; indeed, in Elizabethan times, natives were brought back to England from foreign lands, and their captors could earn a great deal of money exhibiting them in London. Trinculo's speech is significant because he describes Caliban as a "fish, " and a "strange beast, " showing his Western contempt and lack of understanding of a person with a different skin color than his own. Stephano assumes that Caliban is a "mooncalf, " or a monstrosity, the term alluding to a folk tale of the time.