Act 5 Flashcards
“Which art but it a touch a feeling of their affections”-prospero
-prospero is moved to sympathy by Ariel and moved to be compassionate as if Ariel who is only ‘air’ can sympathise woth the men’s plight then prospero should feel even more moved
- Ariel is presented as Nobel in an anthropomorphic way
-while still being treated as another as decidedly non human
“The rarer action In virtue than in vengeance”
-prospero has reflected that he should be more sympathetic
-he admits he still feels hurt by their “high wrongs” but reasons that is more to act virtuously than vengeful
-use of the word ‘rare’ doesn’t just refer to infrequency by to value
- he observed Ariel acting with compassion and forgiveness towards other which is admirable and important part if being human
-prospero must be reminded of this fact and of how to use his power for good by Ariel a non human
“The rarer action In virtue than in vengeance”
-prospero has reflected that he should be more sympathetic
-he admits he still feels hurt by their “high wrongs” but reasons that is more to act virtuously than vengeful
-use of the word ‘rare’ doesn’t just refer to infrequency by to value
- he observed Ariel acting with compassion and forgiveness towards other which is admirable and important part if being human
-prospero must be reminded of this fact and of how to use his power for good by Ariel a non human
“Drown my book” “break my staff”
-he knows he must stop practicing magic in order to restore the natural order and balance of power both on the island and back in Italy
- speech takes on a further level of significance if we read prospero as representing Shakespeare
-as Shakespeare neared the end of his life perhaps he used prospers speech as a symbolic farewell to the theatre after a life time of creating “magic’ and illusion on stage
- analogy suggests that the while the power to create a drama is akin to a supernatural gift, it os not possible to last forever
-as even playwrights are mortal beings who’s ’little life” will inevitably come to a close
“O brave new world that has such people int”
-astonished and delighted by seeing so many people at once
-her joy reveals how naive she is as a result of growing up on the island
-after all some of the men she is meeting are selfish disloyal and cruel
“Rejoice” “ in a poor isle”
- his statement emphasises how the upheaval of the storm and magic of the island have resulted in a restoration of the natural order of things
Gonzalos speech
- emphasises the way in which characters have made instrumental use of the island
- Gonzalo describes all the ways in which the storm will resort and improve Italian courtly society
-without mentioning the impact of the island itself and it inhabitants( caliban and Ariel) - post colonial perspective- one that can see the faults n colonialism and ideas and logic the supporters colonial action
- allows us to identify a narrow selfish underside to gonazlos delclarations
“ this thing of darkness I acknowledge mine “ - prospero
-refers to caliban as this
-referring to him as non human “it” rather than man
-For us living through colonisation and the holocaust a modern audience would feel sympathy for caliban as we are aware of the prejudice
-however lost of evidence a Shakespearean audience would not have felt this way
- in many modern productions caliban and Ariel are presented as victims of colonisation for example in the 1970 mermaid theatre production
- in some productions caliban is presented as non human in William burtons 1854 production caliban is presented as a ‘savage’ who have a ‘half snarl’ , half hiss’
-this intrpretation of caliban confirms the impression that prospero believes caliban is is property that treats him as a child, pet and inanimate possession
