Antonio Flashcards
“What might…
“What might, worthy Sebastian, o, what might? – no more”. Antonio lures Sebastian by breaking off his sentence – the rhetorical figure of aposiopesis. Cunning as he allows Sebastian to think for himself, while allowing the speaker to test the ground without committing himself. The repetitive use of clauses further persuades though mock hesitation.
temperance was
• A2S1 firsrt part characterized by Antonio and sebastien feeble punning. Contrast their rhetoric here with later on. Indication of their characters. Sexual predatory mocking, “temperance was a delicate wench”.
in my false
“In my flase brother / Awak’d an evil nature” – Antonio, the “crime against nature”, broke the natural bond of family.
the ivy…
• “the Ivy which had hid my princely trunk, / and suck’d my verdure out on’t – thou attend’st not!/” – metaphor for Ivy suggests Prospero’s helplessness. Antonio “sucked” the power out of him. This metaphoric language enhances Prospero’s emotional anger and Antonio’s thirst for power.
but what of your consc…
• “but for your conscience?” “ay, sir, where lies that?” – Antonio uses malicious rhetoric devices. There is nothing in the dramatic presentation of Antonio that makes him attractive to the audience – never speaks directly to audience. His foul character is demonstrated through his view of the Island in contrast to the optimistic gonzalo: “the ground indeed is tawny”.
CRITIC on ultimate evil
•“ultimate evil is always represented in Shakespeare as the betrayal of the bonds of nature, usually in the form of kinship” – Sandra Clark.
to call brother
• “to call brother would even infect my mouth, I do forgive thy rankest fault” – this brotherly betrayal has “infected” Prospero with paranoia and vulnerability.
Machiavel character
• The Machiavel: a villainous stock character in Elizabethan and Jacobean drama. They are “practiced liars and cruel opportunists, who delight in their own manipulative evil” (Martin Gray).
