gonzalo Flashcards
an object of ridicule
Gonzalo makes the best of every situation, while others seem to tire of his unfailingly positive attitude. Though he is an object of Antonio and Sebastian’s ridicule, he always maintains his dignity.
utopian society
“No occupation, all men idle, all;
And women, too”
his generosity
The pair survived only through the generosity of Gonzalo, an advisor to Alonso, who provided them with necessities like fresh water, clothing, blankets, and food, as well as Prospero’s beloved books.
perseptive
only Gonzalo detects the strangeness of the shipwreck and the island.
Gonzalo’s observes that it is strange how fresh their clothing seems
caretaker
Gonzalo fears what all three will do in their frenzied states of mind, and he orders the other courtiers to follow them and make sure none of them do anything too reckless.
Prospero calls him
“the good old lord, Gonzalo,”
uniting
he observes that this voyage has united people with each other and with their true selves.
“when no man was his own”
his utopian vision
closely reflects lines from Montaigne’s ‘Des Cannibales’
shows the importance Shakespeare’s contemporaries placed on matters of social organisation
Gonzalo’s description
of an ideal republic in Act II is a satire on the prevailing systems of governance
island as a utopia
Gonzalo suggests a selfless society that would live in tune with nature - “abundance, to feed my innocent people”
Shakespeare gets the audience to think about their own society
an attempt at utopia
“no sovereignty” but Sebastian says “he would be king on’t” - harder to achieve a utopia that talking would make it seem
his utopia speech
Rebecca Agar suggests that Shakespeare uses this to make the audience think about their own society
Shakespeare’s message through Gonzalo
suggests that as long as humans thirst for individual power, a utopian world will always be out of reach - Rebecca Agar
social organisation
Richard Adams asserts that his utopian vision is a powerful reminder to us of the importance placed by Shakespeare’s contemporaries on matters of social organisation
David Norbrook
says how Gonzalo’s speech would have been taken seriously by at least some of the audience, following the failed experiment of some colonists in Massachusetts
