Tempest Flashcards
Sean McEvoy. “Did not primarily write…
… with readers in mind.”
Sean McEvoy. It has to be assumed that, as many lower classes could afford tickets for the pit… “many…
… came along for the spectacle, the language being beyond their comprehension.”
Sean McEvoy. “Shakespeare would have had in mind…
… an actor who he actually knew.”
Sean McEvoy. “This patterning…
… helps the audience keep track of the sense of what they’re hearing.”
Sean McEvoy points out that Shakespeare’s language contains…
“Patterning in the language” “distinctive rhythms” “repetition of words”
Sean McEvoy. “Because most of the audience could not read…
… their ability to take in spoken language had to be more developed than ours.”
Shakespeare often writes in?
Blank verse (non-rhyming poetry)
Why do Ant. and Seb. speak heavily in verse in their scene when attempting to kill Alonso and Gonz.?
Emphasising that they are noble characters who are trying to up their status by usurping the king. Rely on civilisation.
What is a caesura?
A natural pause in a verse, or a full stop in the middle of a line. (realisation? emphasis?)
Sean McEvoy. (‘A Winter’s Tale’ Hermione -also passive) “For the future…
… to be better than the past in these plays. daughter’s must fall in love with other men’s sons.”
Sean McEvoy. “Chastity…
… is closely connected with saying little.”
Sean McEvoy. “This maiden…
… is virgin territory to be conquered.”
Sean McEvoy. “She is…
… sexually attractive to men of all classes.”
Sean McEvoy. “Prospero is…
… a usurper in Caliban’s kingdom just as much as Antonio is in Milan.”
Prospero: “If thou neglect’st…
or dost unwilling what I command, I’ll rack thee with old cramps.”
Alchemy
17th century= the golden age of alchemy. (Idea of suffering to come out on the other side- a transformation.) John Dee’s opinion. Science/chemical reference to P’s magic?
First performed? And under the reign of who?
First performed in 1611, under the reign of James I.
Island could be representative of?
Colonial expansion, Miranda, Brave new world, garden of Eden?
Inspiration- Jamestown colony context…
Jamestown colony had just been established in America, after colonists were shipwrecked there in 1609 by a hurricane. Settlers wanted to begin a new life there. Bermuda.
Prospero: “got by the devil himself.” - reference? meaning?
Sycorax was sexually promiscuous with Satan? Unconventional women who threatens the stability of a patriarchal society. Opposite to passive Miranda.
Ashley Riches
“Prospero systematically raises and disappoints their hopes.”
David Kinder and Juliet Harrison
“We have to accept that characters can be made to fit a number of interpretations.”
Dr. Roy Booth (Ariel)
“Ariel is not an evil spirit serving Prospero for his own ends, but has to be forced to serve.”
Mike Brett. “far away…
… from the restrictive social attitudes of her times.”
Mike Brett. “Miranda’s…
… relative autonomy is both admirable and unusual.”
Mike Brett. “He (P) is able…
… to use her sexual appeal as a bargaining tool to secure his and her future safety.”
Charles Moseley
“Harmony, perfection and stability is achieved through marriage.”
Dr Roy Booth (garments)
“Clothes were important to Elizabethans both as items valuable in themselves… and as indications of social status.”
End stopping?
Rhythm where the last word is the key image. Finality.
Why are rhyming couplets significant in The Tempest?
Shakespeare was using them less and less. P’s epilogue.
What does Prospero’s epilogue contain/project?
Rhyming couplets- finality/resolution- showing wisdom
ambiguity in what he is saying though
soliloquy- saying goodbye- voice box for Shakespeare?
iambic tetrameter- rounding it off
giving the audience the power to imagine what the future will hold. Power of imagination
Huge rhetorical statement.
AO2- “You mar our labour”
Monosyllabic. quick. staccato. frantic. disjointed language. prose. (contrasts with M’s verse in next scene) topsy-turvy power struggle. imperatives. equaliser of class.- audience= shocked? or applauding common man’s authority?
AO2- “We split, we split, we split!”
Repetition, panic, building to a climax, dramatic.
Prospero says more than Miranda…. AO2?
She’s learning from him. He’s got the power. She’s at the wrong end of the power dynamic. Age? Gender? He has the knowledge.
M and F’s first meeting, all based on looks in language… quotes for this
“of thine eye advance” “how it looks about” “I ever saw so noble” “this gallant which thou seest”
Gonzalo weighing up positive and negatives. Examples?
“woe” “miracle” “sorrow” “comfort”
Seb: “Twas a sweet marriage and we prosper well in our return.” ….. AO2?….
Sarcasm. Ironic use of the word ‘proser’.
Ant to Seb: “What a sleep were this for your advancement.” AO2?
Euphemism- sleep reminds us of death.
AO2- Ariel: “Shake off slumber and be aware.”
Imperatives. Implicit stage directions.
AO2- Seb: “We heard a hollow burst of bellowing.”
Dramatic irony. Alliteration. Imagery
AO2 -Caliban: “Do hiss me into madness.”
Soliloquy. In verse. Plosive’s- anger. Bitter he’s the victim.
AO2 Cal. to Steph: “I will kneel to him.”
Implicit stage directions. Thinks S is a god. Changing in who has authority over him.
AO2- Trinculo. “A very weak monster.”
Observer. Detached. Distancing self. Repetition of “monster”. Satirical. Mocking. Insulting.
Ferdinand weighing up positives and negatives to working for Miranda. Examples?
“painful” “delight” “harshness” “pleasures”
P. gives G. epithets such as…
“Good Gonzalo” “Holy Gonzalo” Contrast with other characters.
P to Alonso: “I embrace thy body.” AO2?
Implicit stage directions. Physically reunited.
Example of P’s power over Alonso. Alonso keeps asking questions- power of knowledge…
“But how should Prospero be living and be here?”
Alonso: “O heavens, that they were living both in Naples, the King and Queen there!” AO2…
Exclaiming again. Dramatic Irony.
Metaphor: M: “Nothing ill…
… can dwell in such a temple.”
Metaphor: Seb: “I am standing water.” Ant:…
… “I’ll teach you how to flow.”
Metaphor: P: “He was the ivy…
… which hid my princely trunk.”
Metaphor: G: “All torment…
… trouble, wonder and amazement inhabits here.” (Often speaks in verse- for majority. Likes to have the last word. Summarises.)
Simile: Antonio: “They’ll take suggestion…
… as a cat laps milk.”
Metaphor: F: “The very instant…
… I saw you did my heart fly to your service.”
Metaphor: Alonso: “You cram…
… these words into mine ears against the stomach of my senses.”
Metaphor: G: “It is foul…
… weather in us all.”
Metaphor: F: “The mistress…
… which I serves quickens what’s dead.”
Metaphor: P: “Then as my…
… gift and thine own acquisition worthily purchased, take my daughter.”
Metaphor: F: “Shall never…
… melt mine honour into lust.”
Metaphor: F: “The white…
… cold virgin snow upon my heart abates the ardour of my liver.”
