mod. a: tempest

Question 1

garment

revenge + forgiveness, theatricality

Answer 1

Tis time, I should inform thee farther. Lend thy hand,/And pluck my magic garment from me

stage directions
* role as a director and his desire for revenge is predominantly established
* garment acts as a motif as the investment of Prospero’s charm
* utilises performance as a vehicle to enact his revenge on his brother
* utilisation of magic enhances his authority and superiority over the rest of the characters and his rule of the island -> nursing his need for vengeance ->creating disorder in the Great Chain of Being -> refuting Jacobean values of predetermination

Question 2

bloody

revenge + forgiveness

Answer 2

A mark so bloody on the business; but/With colours fairer painted their foul ends.

grotesque, bloody, predatory imagery
* strict moral conventions surrounding revenge from a Christian perspective is reflected in the grotesque imagery
* contrast with colour refers to the deceit committed, similar to that of cosmetics -> alludes to the usurpation Prospero was a victim of
* “bloody” imagery provides a physical representation on the betrayal felt by Prospero which he enacts through theatrical notiona
* mirroring the contextual progression towards Renaissance humanism -> Prospero reaches an anagnorisis in the denouement of the play -> freeing himself through the forgiveness of others -> supporting the Christian need for compassion

Question 3

frown

revenge

Answer 3

Not a frown further. Go release them, Ariel:/My charms I’ll break, their senses I’ll restore.

alliteration, syntax, parallel construction
* enhances the authenticity of Prospero’s decision aligned with Elizabethan and Jacobean notions
* romantic language and parallel construction of Shakespeare’s context provides an extended metaphor for Propsero’s power over the people that wronged him -> his rule of the island
* Prospero’s desertment of his power shows the depth of humanist values in the play, especially evident in “virtue over vengeance.”
* relinquishes his magic -> restores the Great Chain of Being -> frames the concept of justice as Shakespeare intended

Question 4

afeard

representation of the other

Answer 4

“Be not afeard… I cried to dream again.”

characterisation of caliban - evocative verse, dream and oral imagery
* Shakespeare potentially makes a critical comment on the growing colonialism –> awards Caliban education and articulation
* contradicts Caliban’s perceived state by Europeans
* emotive language –> refutes prejudicial stereotypes

Question 5

fish

representation of the other

Answer 5

“half-fish, half-man,”

derogatory description
* offers a different perspective - treatment of indigenous people

Question 6

devils

representation of the other

Answer 6

“How est bad, Thou hadst said well… have worse than devils,”

propsero as a mouthpiece, comparison of caliban to those who wronged him
* higher level and respect to those of high morality
* sin of usurpation and betrayal