Module A: Key Infomation Flashcards
The ‘Green World’.
On the island, characters are liberated from societal norms and the hierarchy of the noble world is subverted so that magic is the ruling power.
It is in this environment that the courtly problems including usurpation, imbalance, guilt, betrayal, and disharmony can be resolved.
How is the island in The Tempest depicted?
The use of the island as the setting, creates a small confined space for action to take place in. Due to Prospero’s motives, the play illustrates constant drama and events creating a dramatic, comedic and romantic performance.
Symbolism of The Tempest.
Refers not only to the physical storm but to the turbulent passions of the characters, passions which, like the storm, are magically transformed into the promise of peace with which the play ends. The tempest represents the political upheaval in the play.
Symbolism of Prospero’s cloaks and books.
Prospero’s cloak and books are the source of his power.
Many critics suggest that Prospero is the voice of Shakespeare as he retires from the theatre, the books might also represent the power of words and ideas.
Character analysis of Propsero: revenge.
Prospero is trapped in a metaphorical prison, through his desire to seek revenge over the usurping actions of his brother Antonio. His consuming desire for revenge imprisoned him, clouding his reason.
Character analysis of Propsero: power.
Shakespeare expresses Prospero’s power through his language of speaking in verse.
Prospero’s ‘books’ metaphorically represent the power of knowledge. The books reflect what an individual can achieve when they have access to knowledge.
Character analysis of Propsero: humanity.
The idea of humanity and mortality is heavily influenced by Jacobean Christian values. It was considered the responsibility of a good Christian to contemplate their own impending death so they would ensure they lived the best possible life on Earth.
Prospero neglects this responsibility, thus trades his humanity for magical powers.
However, Prospero eventually regains his humanity. His transformation from vengeful to forgiving shows his increasing humanity.
Character analysis of Miranda: Miranda as an asset.
The Jacobean ideal woman was pure, innocent, chaste, obedient, virginal.
She becomes, by default, the focus of male sexual attraction. Miranda is the object of Caliban’s and Stephano’s lust while Prospero is aware that Miranda is a ‘prize’.
Character analysis of Miranda: the ‘New World’.
Miranda, a virgin, represents ‘uncharted territory’ and her character embodies the ideas of exploration.
Setting: Fletcher Correctional Centre.
Fletcher Correctional on the most physical level is a prison. However it ironically becomes the place where Felix tackles and eventually becomes free from his mental and emotional burdens.
Despite its status as a prison, it becomes a place of creativity where he can thrive and ultimately a space that allows Felix to free himself of his own personal prison.
Character analysis of Felix: imprisonment:
Felix is a prisoner of his own guilt and grief and is ironically trapped in his own imagination.
Character analysis of Felix: reconciliation and forgiveness.
Atwood re-establishes the notion of forgiveness and reconciliation in Hag-seed, however, she does so through an internal transformation to convey changed societal values in the post-modern audience.
Character analysis of Anne-Marie: revisioning.
Atwood demonstrates a rejection of shallow tropes categorising women.
Unlike the feminine and innocent portrayal of Miranda, Anne-Marie is a strong female character that has a distinct voice and presence in the plot.
By reimagining the Tempest Miranda into Spirit Miranda and Anne-Marie, Atwood shows ways of exploring alternative perspectives as products of context and time.
