Magic And Theatre Flashcards
Introduction
In the opening moments of The Tempest, the audience is plunged into a chaos seemingly conjured by elemental fury- yet this tempest, far from being random or divine, is revealed to be a product of Prospero’s constructed illusion. From this moment, Shakespeare blurs the boundary between natural magic and dramatic artifice, inviting the audience to consider the relationship between illusion and truth.
While Prospero’s magic unquestionably allows him to manipulate, punish, and dominate others, Shakespeare’s presentation of that magic increasingly aligns it with art, imagination and theatrical spectacle. Magic is not just a metaphor for power- it becomes a mirror for the playwright’s imagination, an allegory for the creative process and a reflection on the limits of illusion and art. Therefore, its function is ultimately redemptive, didactic and meta-theatrical.
Written in 1611, the Tempest emerges from a Jacobean culture deeply concerned with occult philosophy, humanism and the legitimacy of power. Figures like John Dee, a reputed magician and scholar, likely informed the image of Prospero- a learned man wielding dangerous knowledge. Simultaneously, as the Tempest is believed to be shakespeare’s final solo-authored play, it reads as a reflexive meditation on the power and limitations of theatre itself.
1: Magic as didactic illusion- staging moral trials and exposing inner truths
Point
Shakespeare uses magic not merely to enchant, but to teach, provoke and expose- it stages ethical revelations by holding a mirror to human sin, pride and ambition. Magic thus functions not as arbitrary spectacle, but as a moral theatre that induces transformation through illusion
1: Magic as didactic illusion- staging moral trials and exposing inner truths
Close analysis
-In act 2.1, prospero magically puts Gonzalo and alonso to sleep while leaving Antonio and Sebastian awake, enabling the plotting of regicide. The illusion of safety is undercut by the exposure of corruption- magic here functions like a spotlight that isolates and reveals.
”my strong imagination sees a crown/ Dropping upon thy head” (Antonio) reflects the way in which ambition, once hidden, surfaces under magical orchestration. Magic is not coercive here; it is provocative, drawing out latent immortality
-in act 3.3, Prospero’s grand spectacle is staged through Ariel who appears as a harpy to the shipwrecked men. He declares ”you are three men of sin […] the powers, delaying, not forgetting, have/ Incensed the seas and shores, yea, all the creatures,/ Against your peace”. Here Ariel’s speech, authored by Prospero, draws on legal and religious rhetoric. Words like “sin”, “delaying” and “incensed” evoke divine justice, positioning the magic as a moral reckoning. The verb “have incensed” personifies nature as an active participant in moral judgement. The phrase “all the creatures” expands the illusion’s scope, suggesting that the entire natural world becomes part of Prospero’s moral theatre.
-the vanishing banquet deepens the illusion. The characters reach greedily for food, only for it to disappear- a direct reflection of their moral hollowness and insatiable appetite for power. Magic exposes character rather than conceals it.
1: Magic as didactic illusion- staging moral trials and exposing inner truths
Criticism
-E.M.W Tillyard argued that the play aligns with the Elizabethan World Picture, where natural disorder reflects moral disorder. Prospero’s magic, in this light, is a means of restoring cosmic order. Indeed, these illusions are not random acts of enlightenment- they are designed trials, echoing medieval morality plays where characters undergo symbolic temptations and judgements
-Ann Thompson claims Prospero’s morality plays are “artificial rituals or repentance” lacking genuine emotional spontaneity. While stages, the responses are authentic. Shakespeare shows that illusion does not falsify experience- it amplifies hidden truth
1: Magic as didactic illusion- staging moral trials and exposing inner truths
Context
Shakespeare was intimately familiar with the power of theatre to shape perception. Jacobean audiences, attuned to the interplay between artifice and truth, would recognise these illusions as meta-theatrical devices- magic becomes morality performed.
2: magic as artistic and meta-theatricl projection- prospero as playwright
Point
Prospero’s magic does not only control the play’s action- it creates it. His “art” becomes an extension of his imagination, aligning him with Shakespeare himself. Magic becomes not just a supernatural intervention, but a metaphor for theatrical invention, fantasy and self-reflection
2: magic as artistic and meta-theatricl projection- prospero as playwright
Close analysis
-in Act 4.1, Prospero stages a masque for Miranda and Ferdinand, summoning Ceres, Iris and Juno in a lush pageant celebrating marriage and fertility. ”these actors,/ As i foretold you were all spirits and / are melted into air; into thin air”. The repetition of “air” and the verb “melted” emphasise impermanence and ephemerality- hallmarks of both magic and theatre. ”the baseless fabric of this vision” suggests illusion is structurally insubstantial, yet emotionally and morally resonant. Like a play, it is built on nothing- yet it moves, teaches and transforms.
-the speech’s closing couplet ”we are such stuff/ as dreams are made on, and our little life/ is rounded with a sleep”. Extends this illusion to life itself. Magic becomes a way to reflect on the dreamlike, fragile, and transient nature of human existence, collapsing boundaries between fiction and reality, actor and audience.
-ariel is not just a magical sprite- he is Prospero’s stagehand, producing soundscapes ”the winds did sing it to me” spectacle and voice. Ariel is never seen performing, only described- a reminder that the effect matters more than the machinery, just as in theatre.
2: magic as artistic and meta-theatricl projection- prospero as playwright
Critics
-Jonathan Bate describes the Tempest as “shakespeare’s meditation on the redemptive power of the imagination” with prospero as a surrogate artist. Prospero create whole worlds, just as Shakespeare does. His illusions are not merely manipulations- they are imaginative acts with moral weight.
-Jan Kott argues that propsero is a totalitarian artist “the director of the theatre of cruelty”. ThoughProspero does exert total control, he is also haunted by the limitations of illusion, and the masque’s abrupt end reveals his awareness that art cannot sustain real life. Magic is powerful, but incomplete.
2: magic as artistic and meta-theatricl projection- prospero as playwright
Context
Renaissance magi like John Dee believed in “natural magic”- the idea that knowledge and imagination could align with divine will. Shakespeare builds on this: Prospero’s magic is intellectual, not demonic, aligning more with creativity than occultism.
3: the renunciation of magic- moral limits, mortality and the end of illusion
Point
The culmination of Prospero’s journey is not the perfection of magical power but its rejection. Shakespeare presents magic as something exhaustible and inadequate in the face of human morality, reconciliation and forgiveness. Magic ends when the human work begins.
3: the renunciation of magic- moral limits, mortality and the end of illusion
Close analysis
-in his renunciation speech in 5.1, Prospero reflects on his magical feats: ”Graves are my command/ Have waked their sleepers, oped and let’em forth/ by my so potent art”.the imagery here is violent and necromantic. Prospero recognises his magic is unnatural, even blasphemous. The power to ”bedim the noontide sun” or ”charm their ears” is framed not with pride, but with unease- this is a reckoning.
-”this rough magic/ i have abjure”. The adjective “rough” suggests magic’s dangerous rawness, its misalignment with the natural and moral order.
-”ill drown my book” and ”break my staff” strong, symbolic verbs of destruction. These objects are more than tools- they are emblems of identity, and destroying them is a symbolic suicide of the artistic self.
3: the renunciation of magic- moral limits, mortality and the end of illusion
Critics
-Stephen Orgel sees the renunciation as the moment Prospero recognises “the human must take precedence over the magical”. The rejection of art marks the return to society, morality and humility- a lesson not only for Prospero, but perhaps for Shakespeare himself.
-Marina Warner argues that magic becomes a “vehicle for self-knowledge and reconciliation”. The ultimate purpose of illusion is not domination but catharsis- it prepares both character and audience for a moral and emotional return to reality.
3: the renunciation of magic- moral limits, mortality and the end of illusion
Context
Many read this as Shakespeare’s own farewell to theatre. In the final epilogue, Prospero turns directly to the audience: ”now my charms are all o’erthrown/ and what strength i have’s mine own”. This breaking of the fourth wall, transforms magic into performance, confirming that all enchantment was an act of theatre- and now, like all performances, it ends.
Conclusio
Though magic begins as a spectacle of power, it evolves into a metaphor for theatre, imagination and illusion. Its moral function surpasses its capacity for control- it becomes a vehicle for truth, trial and transcendence. In the storm, banquet and masque, magic reveals the interior truths of others; in the renunciation, it reveals Prospero’s own. Shakespeare uses magic to stage not only theatrical illusions, but the illusion of mastery itself, only to renounce it for the deeper, flawed, and authentic experience of being human
Magic in the tempest is Shakespeare’s most theatrical creation. It shows how art can transform, but also how it must end. In relinquishing magic, Prospero and Shakespeare remind us that the highest power lies not in control, but in surrender- to forgiveness, to nature and to the limits of imagination.
