mod. a: tempest Flashcards
memorise
garment
revenge + forgiveness, theatricality
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
bloody
revenge + forgiveness
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
* 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 notions
afeard
representation of the other
“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 of indigneous peoples being of less intellect
fish
representation of the other
“half-fish, half-man,”
derogatory description
* offers a different perspective - treatment of indigenous people
* represents eurocentric prejudicial stereotypes of bestial, inhumane view of indigenous peoples - undeserving of rights
* exposes tensions between colonised/coloniser - power imbalance
devils
representation of the other
“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
staff
revenge + forgiveness, theatricality
“I’ll break my staff… I’ll drown my book.”
symbolic reunciation, power of theatre + props,
* mirrors contextual progression towards Renaissance humanism -> prospero reaches an anagnorsis in the epilogue of the play
* frees himself through the forgiveness of others
* discernment of magic = loss of metafictive control over the narrative as the island’s playwright
* propsero as a mouthpiece to reconcile contextual tension between providential worldview - prioritises role of God and dimishes agency of man - evident in context of Christian Renaissance Humanism
virtue
revenge + forgiveness, theatricality
“virtue over vengeance;” “set him free”
- prospero’s emotional connection to the audience
- furthers christian doctrines of forgiveness and “virtue over vengeance”
- prospero asks audience to “set him free”
