prospero Flashcards
lived on the island
for 12 years with his daughter Miranda ,where he has became a powerful enchanter and the master of the spirit Ariel and the “monster” Caliban.
Prospero as author
Prospero’s power on the island is so complete that many critics compare him to an author of a play—just as an author controls the actions of the characters in a play, Prospero controls the actions of the people on the island.
” these our actors”
prosperos traits
Prospero is domineering, and expects gratitude and devotion from both his daughter and his servants.
usurped
“he was
The ivy which had hid my princely trunk”
playwright
“the great globe itself” - meaning the theatre
virtue
“The rarer action is
In virtue, than in vengeance.”
renouncing magic
“I’ll break my staff”
“I’ll drown my book”
restoration of his position
” I have my dukedom got
And pardoned the deceiver”
his magic cloak
Prospero’s magic cloak represents his ability to construct illusions. He takes it off when he decides to tell Miranda the truth about her past.
antonios power
To overthrow his brother, Antonio makes himself subservient to Alonso, trading one master for another. He gains no more power, but he does gain the title of duke.
ariel and Prospero
Prospero and Ariel have a complex relationship.
Prospero freed Ariel from imprisonment but then enslaved him himself. Prospero appears pleasant and kind to Ariel, until Ariel says he would prefer not to have a master. Then Prospero wields his power more harshly, and becomes friendly only when Ariel begs his pardon.
caliban and Prospero
Ariel is cheerful in his servitude, Caliban is bitter.
Prospero rescued Ariel from a worse imprisonment, while Caliban had been free and powerful.
Prospero first befriended Caliban, educated him, and then enslaved him
calibans freedom
The viewpoints of colonizer and colonized are shown
Miranda believes Caliban owes her a debt of gratitude for trying to civilize him. But Caliban sees himself as having been free, and insists he was better off without all the “elevating,” which resulted in him losing his autonomy.
Shakespeare’s farewell
“let your indulgence set me free”
civilising Caliban
“Caliban is lost without the civilising influence” of Prospero - Trevor R Griffiths
Prospero’s attraction to Caliban
“Caliban’s childish innocence first attracted Prospero… now childish lawlessness enrages him” - Meredith Skula
control
Prospero “is the controller, the manipulator” - Robert Wilson
action of the play
“The action of the play is Prospero’s discovery of an ethic of forgiveness” - Gregory Doran
passion
“Both sorceress and magician are driven by the same passion - anger” - De Grazia
Prospero’s art
Prospero’s art represented the world of civility and learning in contrast to the ‘natural’ black magic of Sycorax, anti-colonial revisions of the play challenged this rather abstract Eurocentric division between art and nature.
Dukedom
“my libary was dukedom large enough” - arrogant as he saw his magic as more important than fulfilling his responsibilities as duke of Milan
torture of Caliban
Tyrannical practice of torture: “thou shalt be pinch’d… each pinch more stinging than bees”
In the Tempest production directed by Julie Taymore, Prospera (Helen Mirren) presents this line in an embittered and threatening tone, which suggests tyrannical attributes.
quote about “fits”
“in these fits I leave them”.
becomes Tyrannical as Prospero may be suggesting they are in pain
blasphemy
Blasphemous in 17th Century England - disturbing the natural order
“graves at my command”
“books
for without them he is but a sot”
his “art”
he can take off his cloak which indicates that black magic hasn’t taken over him
Sycorax
a mute character as she dies before the action but Prospero presents her in a hellish and demonic way
“foul witch”
Prospero tells that Sycorax
had treated Ariel awfully by trapping him in a pine tree, yet he too threatens this - “peg thee in his knotty entrails”
prospero and sycorax
“the only difference between Prospero and Sycorax is one of gender” - Lillah Grindlay
sympathetic protrayal
Theatre Royal Haymarket, 2011 - “has a dignity and humanity that make the character more sympathetic than is usually the case” - Evening Standard
during the historical period of the Enlightenment
(around 100 years after the play was written)
Prospero’s studies and his attempts to civilise Caliban would have been seen as the most significant part of the play
in the Romantic Period
Prospero’s “attempts to restrain Caliban’s natural impulses” would have been frowned upon - Joanna Williams
Prospero as a usurper
although he considers himself “a victim of usurpation” - doesn’t see himself as “a usurper” - Joanna Williams
the Victorians
could have felt “sympathy” for Prospero at the end of the play as he has to claim Caliban as his property - Joanna Williams
in the post war era
critics hoped to make people aware of the “barbaric nature of colonialism” and the “consequences of racism” - Joanna Williams
thing of darkness
“thing of darkness I Acknowledge mine” - suggested that here Prospero could be taking responsibility for what has happened to Caliban or that he is taking responsibility for the dark side of his personality
alternative reading of lines
“stripes may move, not kindness” “human care” “thou didst seek to violate the honour of my child”
compassionate: stress the words “kindness” and “human care” - makes the statement that he tried to rape Miranda more poignant
heartless: “stripes”, “I have used thee”, “filth as thou art”
“O ho! Would’t had been done! (…) I had peopled else This isle with Calibans”
monstrous savage: amoral, unrepentant response
sympathetic: “peopled” - his island and it is right that he should populate it with his offspring
behaviour as a father
should Prospero be manipulative, possessive and unwilling to relinquish power or should he be sensible and a justifiably protective father
when he breaks his staff
does he relinquish power having exacted justice, or does his quiet authority in stance and tone imply that he is not losing his power, but merely transferring it from rough magic to dukedom
does he forgive antonio
, recognising that justice has been done or does harbour resentment, and effectively retain his power over his brother
humanist reading
looks at Prospero’s limitations within the play, his character flaws and how these make him interesting
