Act 5 Sc. 1

Question 2

‘I’ll break my staff…I’ll drown my book’

Answer 2

AO1/2: P’s anagnorisis/enlightenment - lang. of destruction = his rejection of otherworldly power and choice to live a more grounded human existence. - return to humanity!!!
Acceptance that pursuing vengeance through mystical powers is inherently fruitless and self-serving.
- Marks a pivotal moment in the play concerning P’s transition from an arguably corrupt reign as a divine figure to a flawed human and father.

Question 3

Miranda: ‘How many goodly creatures are there here! / How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world / That has such people in’t!’

Answer 3

AO1/2: curates this sense of awe and utter reverence for these figures. - reflective of her childlike innocence, she adheres to her diminutive status as a woman who is supposed to respect masc. authority.
‘goodly creatures’, ‘beauteous mankind’ - ability to see the good in all people, acts as a voice for redemption & forgiveness.

‘o brave new world’ - rhetoric of the coloniser

AO5:
Nuttal ironic as ‘looking at the worst of the world’ = from a fem. perspective this puts M on the same lvl as C as both are highly subjugated and naïve, conditioned into respecting their oppressors.

Question 4

‘thing of darkness I acknowledge mine’

Answer 4

AO1/2: Possessive acknowledgement of Caliban as “mine,” = Prospero highlights the uncomfortable truth that the consequences of colonial exploitation also reside within him.

• ‘I acknowledge mine’ = P’s recognition & acceptance that his corrupt rule as a coloniser is deeply intertwined with Caliban’s moral failings. = recognition that he has shaped this ‘born devil’ through his power lust
• “thing of darkness” implies primal, savage aspects of humanity. By claiming it as his own, Prospero acknowledges the duality within himself and humanity at large.

Arg. an admittance of P’s own failings and moral ambiguity which enables him to progress in line with the general theme of forgiveness and redemption.

Question 5

Significant A05 by Coleridge

Answer 5

Coleridge - Epilogue = words of XP - final goodbye to theatre as he soon retired

Question 6

‘my charms are all o’erthrown’

Answer 6

• refers to P. abandonment of his art & the actor themselves reaching the end of the play
• ‘charms’ - links back to this mystical quality of the isle, charm = potentially charisma, suggests illusion
• ‘overthrown’ - suggests weakness, perhaps P was not as great of a magus figure as previously believed

Question 7

SF of bondage: ‘I must be here confined by you’, ‘unless I be relieved…frees all faults’, ‘release me from my bands with the help of your good hands’

Answer 7

AO1/2:
‘confined….bands’ - imagery of being captive & bound, constraints = perhaps plays into the idea that the island is some sort of prison or punishment. - - pleading to the audience for reprieve & theological lang. = P. recognition of himself as a sinner
- P. pleads for forgiveness from God himself
Contrasts with the Freedom & liberty of ‘relieved….frees…release’ = the metaphor of vocal praise & applause as a freeing idea = Prospero needs constant reassurance of his power, he is just as performative as his brother as his ‘art’ is done just to glean respect and entertainment. - Prospero as unhinged?