a standard five-paragraph essay
THE TEMPEST AND BEYOND
April 23, 2020
SOME HISTORICAL CONTEXT
As mentioned earlier, the first tentative attempts to colonize and explore the New World were a focus of great public curiosity in Shakespeare’s London.
Crossing the ocean was an enormously dangerous undertaking, impossible at certain times of the year, and complicated by an ongoing war between England and Spain as well as wars among native tribes in America.
If a colony was established, it required support and supplies from the mother country and, at best, these arrived every two years.
News of the success or failure of voyages was delayed by many months and eagerly awaited in London – Shakespeare capitalized on this fascination when he constructed his story of castaways on a magical island coming to grips with all the issues of the human struggle.
SOME HISTORICAL CONTEXT
A quick survey of early colonial efforts:
- 1585: Roanoke, the first English colony in America, was established in Virginia.
SOME HISTORICAL CONTEXT
A quick survey of early colonial efforts:
1585: Roanoke, the first English colony in America, was established in Virginia.
- 1587: a ship with people planning to colonize Chesapeake Bay stopped by Roanoke and found it utterly deserted. There was no hint of what had happened to the settlers, except for the word “Croatoan” carved on a fence.
SOME HISTORICAL CONTEXT
There was no hint of what had happened to the settlers, except for the word “Croatoan” carved on a fence.
This became the first, and most enduring mystery of the English presence in America and the cryptic inscription has been a magnet for strange conspiracy theories. Ambrose Bierce, the writer who vanished in Mexico dur- ing a Civil War in 1914, is said to have left “Croatoan” carved on his bedpost. Amelia Earhart, the aviator who vanished during a trans-Pacific flight in 1937, is said to have uttered “Croatoan” as her last radio message!
There were no graves to indicate the settlers’ fate. It is probable that they had become absorbed into the local Native population.
SOME HISTORICAL CONTEXT
There were no graves to indicate the settlers’ fate. It is probable that they had become absorbed into the local Native population.
Roanoke was on an island; there were various tribes in the area.
There are scattered anecdotal records of explorers during the next century coming across Native tribes, some of whose members had blue eyes.
One adventurer in the mid-1700s wrote of being taken prisoner by a Native tribe and fearing he would be put to death, when one of the Natives approached him and said in Welsh, “Don’t worry, you will not be harmed. You speak the same language some of my grandparents spoke.”
(Are you thinking what I am? Now that we have DNA technology, why not test some descendants of the local tribes and see if they have traces of British heritage? Mystery possibly solved.)
SOME HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Continuing our survey of early colonial efforts:
1585: Roanoke, the first English colony in America, was established in Virginia.
1587: a ship with people planning to colonize Chesapeake Bay stopped by Roanoke and found it utterly deserted. There was no hint of what had happened to the settlers, except for the word “Croatoan” carved on a fence.
- 1587: the settlers bound for Chesapeake were left off at Roanoke instead, to re-populate the settlement.
SOME HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Continuing our survey of early colonial efforts:
1585: Roanoke, the first English colony in America, was established in Virginia.
1587: a ship with people planning to colonize Chesapeake Bay stopped by Roanoke and found it utterly deserted. There was no hint of what had happened to the settlers, except for the word “Croatoan” carved on a fence.
1587: the settlers bound for Chesapeake were left off at Roanoke instead, to re-populate the settlement.
1590: when the next boat came by three years later, all of those settlers were gone.
Shakespeare’s contemporaries believed in witches, ghosts and magic – small wonder that the New World was acquiring a reputation as a dangerous, mystical place!
SOME HISTORICAL CONTEXT
The first (somewhat) successful colonial effort:
- 1607: Jamestown was established with 500 settlers.
SOME HISTORICAL CONTEXT
The first (somewhat) successful colonial effort:
1607: Jamestown was established with 500 settlers.
- 1609: When the next ship arrived two years later, only 60 of those 500 settlers were still alive. Life was tough in early America! Still, this was considered the beginning of the British Empire.
SOME HISTORICAL CONTEXT
The first (somewhat) successful colonial effort:
1607: Jamestown was established with 500 settlers.
1609: When the next ship arrived two years later, only 60 of those 500 settlers were still alive. Life was tough in early America! Still, this was considered the beginning of the British Empire.
One of the problems was the fact that the people put in charge of the colonies were chosen for their aristocratic rank, rather than for any knowledge of surviving in the wilderness. Little known historical fact: one of the reasons Jamestown did endure was that second voyage brought a team of several dozen tough Polish men who knew about life in the woods, and they got the settlement in shape! Such actual individuals as Michal Lowicki, Zbigniew Stelanski, Jan Mata, and Stanislaw Sadowski get virtually zero credit for their role in establishing the American colonies and the British Empire.
SOME HISTORICAL CONTEXT
One of the problems was the fact that the people put in charge of the colonies were chosen for their aristocratic rank, rather than for any knowledge of surviving in the wilderness.
With The Tempest and the material that comes after that, our study of The Human Struggle is moving toward the New World and the tremendous upheaval in rank and power shifts that came with that.
SOME HISTORICAL CONTEXT
One of the problems was the fact that the people put in charge of the colonies were chosen for their aristocratic rank, rather than for any knowledge of surviving in the wilderness.
With The Tempest and the material that comes after that, our study of The Human Struggle is moving toward the New World and the tremendous upheaval in rank and power shifts that came with that.
You get a hint of that in the first scene of The Tempest when, during a storm at sea, the Royals and Aristocrats come up from their cabin to give orders to the Captain and he basically tells them, “You’re not royal here – get out of the way and let me do my job!”
The first scene of a Shakespearean play is like the Introductory Para-graph in an essay, like a Thesis Statement letting us know what the play will be about. In this play, as soon as we get to the island, all the traditional power hierarchies are turned around.
And so! – on to The Tempest –
THE TEMPEST
Make sure you know the names: 3 major groups of characters:
ON THE ISLAND:
Prospero, former Duke of Milan, who was banished by his own brother and castaway her with his baby daughter and his thirst for magic
Miranda, his daughter, who has grown up here in seclusion and embodies innocence, knowing nothing of the world outside
Ariel, who is “but air—” a spirit who embodies inspiration and genius and does Prospero’s magic for him
Caliban, the spawn of a witch and a demon, he embodies corruption and the basest instincts (his name is a playful rearrangement of “cannibal”). Prospero forces Caliban to do physical labor for him while Ariel does magic – Prospero has to keep both of these under control, balancing genius with animal instinct.
THE TEMPEST
Make sure you know the names: 3 major groups of characters:
ON THE ISLAND: FROM MILAN:
Prospero Antonio, Prospero’s treacherous brother, who
Miranda made himself Duke in Prospero’s place.
Ariel Gonzago, a kind old advisor who made sure
Caliban Prospero at least had his magic books when
he was cast out to sea
THE TEMPEST
Make sure you know the names: 3 major groups of characters:
ON THE ISLAND: FROM MILAN: FROM NAPLES:
Prospero Antonio King Alonso, who had
Miranda Gonzago helped Antonio
Ariel overthrow Prospero
Caliban Sebastian, Alonso’s
brother
Ferdinand, Alonso’s
young son
Stephano, a servant
Trinculo, a servant
THE TEMPEST
Make sure you know the names: 3 major groups of characters:
ON THE ISLAND: FROM MILAN: FROM NAPLES:
Prospero Antonio King Alonso,
Miranda Gonzago Sebastian
Ariel Ferdinand
Caliban Stephano
Once on the island, all these power structures Trinculo begin shifting: Ferdinand, who was a Prince, finds himself enslaved by Prospero, and doesn’t mind because he loves Miranda; Sebastian, thinking his nephew has drowned, plots to kill his brother so that he can be King of Naples; Stephano and Trinculo join forces with Caliban planning to kill Prospero and start new kingdom on the island…and Prospero, after planning this for 12 years, finds he doesn’t really want revenge or magic after all – but is willing just to be human.
THE TEMPEST
Make sure you know the names: 3 major groups of characters:
ON THE ISLAND: FROM MILAN: FROM NAPLES:
Prospero Antonio King Alonso,
Miranda Gonzago Sebastian
Ariel Ferdinand
Caliban Stephano
So, all the plots unravel… Stephano and Trin- Trinculo culo drink too much and get excited trying on fancy clothes, and lose their chance to overthrow Prospero; Alonso, grieving that his son has drowned, finds him still alive and Sebastian’s plot is foiled; Prospero forgives them all and Miranda, who has never been curious before about life beyond the island, gazes at this shifty band of reprobates and exclaims, “How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, that has such people in it!”
THE TEMPEST
The forces Prospero has to balance: Ariel
Every production has to decide how to represent Ariel. He’s not a mischievous elf – he seems just to be pure possibility, that spark of the divine that is in humanity but disengaged from everyday life. He serves Prospero out of a sense of honor because Prospero rescued him from a witch’s spell – he doesn’t even seem to take delight in his skills except in the fact they will please Prospero and buy his freedom. He has watched Miranda grow up, but never refers to her and seems to have no interest… Prospero’s big turning point comes when Ariel (“which art but air”) feels a pang of sympathy for the rebels imprisoned in a magic grove – which shames Prospero into deciding he should sympathize and forgive. When Ariel is finally dismissed, he says nothing, just vanishes. It is interesting that this is Shakespeare’s last known play, after which he allowed his own genius to waft away, and returned to his home town to live quietly the rest of his life.
THE TEMPEST
The forces Prospero has to balance: Ariel
Various versions of Ariel from various productions:
I once saw a production with a listless, vacant Ariel who endlessly, compulsively performed card tricks he didn’t even care to look at. It was surprisingly compelling.
THE TEMPEST
The forces Prospero has to balance: Caliban
The script makes Caliban sound like a kind of sea monster – Trinculo and Stephano aren’t sure if he’s a person or a fish when they see him and, as with Ariel, it’s up to each production how they represent him.
He does seem to embody disowned human impulses, and Prospero treats him with stern disgust – Prospero’s final reference (“This thing of darkness I acknowledge mine –”) implies that all Caliban symbolizes must also be absorbed into the human experience.
Recently, it has become fashionable to make Caliban a symbol of the victims of colonialism – after all, it was his island that Prospero took over – but that can take on an unintended racist tone because Caliban is described so often as something nasty and sub-human. Like Ariel, Caliban at last goes free and the island is his again.
THE TEMPEST
Various versions of Caliban from various productions:
THE TEMPEST
Various versions of Caliban from various productions:
I saw a production where Caliban was played by two very acrobatic actors made to look like conjoined twins, roaring their lines in unison!
Great production! I wish I had it on video to show you!
THE TEMPEST
So – Prospero really does achieve magic, but when we meet him it has made him a complete control freak (he loves his daughter, but will conjure her into a deep sleep rather than simply telling her he needs some time alone) and we see him evolve to a forgiving human being ready to tolerate even his own mortality. Even his effort to manipulate Miranda and Ferdinand into a relationship is eclipsed by the fact that they fall genuinely in love.
Prospero discovers that Miranda and Ferdinand have bypassed him, while Ariel stares, puzzled by the spectacle of human love.
THE TEMPEST
If we were having this class in its usual format, I would spend most of this evening showing you parts of a film version (the one I mentioned in last week’s notes). If you haven’t looked at it, I urge you to watch now, as there will be a few questions about this specific production on next week’s quiz. Here is the link:
https ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsAlO994niA
If that doesn’t work, you can simply search “Taymor The Tempest” on YouTube (Julie Taymor was the director). We never have time in class for the whole film, so here is what I do:
Watch from the beginning to the point where Prospero (Prospera in this production!) is leading Miranda and Ferdinand along a ridge and says, “Come, follow – speak not for him” – then jump to the point (about 1:20:20) where we are moving toward the conclusion. You will miss a lot of Stephano and Trinculo’s lowbrow comedy, but that’s not our focus!
THE TEMPEST
“AND BEYOND” … THE READINGS
FOR NEXT WEEK
WILL TAKE US SOLIDLY INTO
THE NEW WORLD
AND SOME OF ITS EARLY WRITERS,
AS THEYCOPE WITH THE
HUMAN STRUGGLE ISSUES
OF THEIR TIMES