Critical quotes Flashcards
Neil Bowen on Caliban
Points to the contrast between the ‘tender wonder of Caliban’s words and the brutal language Prospero uses against him’
George Norton
On Trinculo and Stephano… showing that ‘even the lowliest of us look for someone to beat down on’
Malcom Hebron on Prospero’s magic
Prospero’s ‘magic has distanced him fro real human behaviour, and he has to renounce it to return from a world of illusion and manipulation’
Neil Bowen on the play generally
Claims that the play presents an ‘ambiguous picture of colonialism and of the position of women in society’
Neil Bowen on Gonzalo’s speech
‘this utopian vision is juxtaposed with the cut throat opportunism of Sebastian and Antonio’
Malcom Hebron on Prospero’s intention
His aim is to ‘bring his enemies to realise their evil actions’
Virginia and Alden Vaughan on Prospero
‘One’s reaction to Prospero inevitably determines one’s response to the entire play’ (link to his final soliloquy, and whether we interpret his character as honourably cleansing characters of their corruption, or selfishly devising a plot to regain his dukedom)
Talks about the ‘underlying motive’ behind Prospero urgently marrying off Miranda as being his ‘incestuous feelings’ for her (contest against, saying that its not incestuous but just paternal - she’s all he’s ever known)
Describes Prospero’s stance throughout the play as ‘authoritarian’ (support with master-slave dynamics, but contest against with his move away from tyranny as the play progresses)
Virginia and Alden Vaughan on narrative
‘Prospero also seeks to monopolise the narrative’
Virginia and Alden Vaughan on Miranda
Describes her as, at times, an ‘assertive young woman’ (support with her attitude towards Caliban as well as breaching of her father’s rules, but contest against with her willingness to accept his one-sided narrative and immediate submission to Ferdinand)
Virginia and Alden Vaughan on Ariel
possesses ‘independent thoughts and feelings’ despite being ‘non-human’
he ‘should not be seen simply as the ‘virtue’ to Caliban’s ‘vice’, but as a complex character’ (support with his initial questioning of Prospero’s authority and then the moral guidance he gives Prospero)
Virginia and Alden Vaughan on Caliban
Caliban is ‘essentially human, even while representing humankind’s most bestial qualities’ (support with savagery and curses in earlier scenes, but contest against with his sensitivity and appreciation for beauty - in a way, Caliban represents humankind’s best qualities, and those which the ‘civilised’ seemingly lack
Talks about Caliban’s willingness to serve ‘King’ Stephano as a symptom of his ‘ingrained dependency’ (agree but also could contest with ways in which Trinculo is actually a more kind and less tyrannical leader than Prospero)
Virginia and Alden Vaughan on the masque
‘the songs of Ceres and Juno celebrate chaste love, a temperature union that eschew extremes of passion’
Neil Bowen on Prospero’s leadership
At the end of the play, Prospero ‘gives up his role of magus and dedicates himself to conscientious government’
