Tempest/Hag Essay

Question 1

Intro

Answer 1

Composers use the ideas and storylines of their predecessors in order to create texts which can “speak” to each other over time. Thus, the derivatives of texts, such as Shakespeare’s 1611 tragicomedy, The Tempest, through more modern reappropriations, such as Atwood’s 2016 novel, Hag-Seed, create metafictional worlds which reflect similar concerns despite their disparate contextual frameworks.

despite writing in prose fiction MA reflects Shakesperean influence through her exploration of meta theatricality in the play enacted in her novel. Through this she enables a
potent examination of climbing the social hierarchy enabled by all consuming power and the changing roles of women, particularly given her strongly feminist perspective.

Atwood recontextualises to enhance understanding
conservative and religious to modern/secular

composers have the poetic license to tell their version of a story

Question 2

Body 1 Topic Sentence

Answer 2

The storyline of The Tempest is firmly entrenched in the notion of the effects of utilising a position of power to climb the social hierarchy and Atwood likewise explores a revenge plot which is enabled only through the intermingling of the real with the unreal through the elements of theatre.

Question 3

Body 1 Content

Answer 3

1. The dramatic irony present in The Tempest through the stage directions when Prospero says “Hast thou, spirit, performed to point the tempest// That I bade thee?”, all events on the island are being staged by the “director”, Prospero, using the instrument of this power, represented by Ariel.
2. This directly resonates with the directorial power demonstrated by Felix through the accumulative listing of, “His Ariel, he’d decided, would be played by a transvestite on stilts…His Caliban would be a scabby street person - black or maybe Native”, where Felix is influencing the events of his own story by utilising the power and control he has to blend the real with the unreal through the adoption of his role as a director, his instrument of power being his ability to interpret the original play and its characters according to his context.
3. Prospero’s exertion of power over the only characters which he can command on the island, Ariel and Caliban, and his later orchestration of the events for the shipwrecked cast, reflect his innermost desire to reclaim his Dukedom and an authoritative position on the social hierarchy. However, due to contextual differences in which Atwood’s audience does not believe in the prevalence of magic, Felix’s power is reflected through language and his more modern interpretation of the text.

composers have the poetic license to tell their version of a story - heightens TC. however, the difference in the execution of this reflects the divergent contexts.

Question 4

Body 2 Topic Sentence

Answer 4

The Tempest is a play saturated with the effects of all-consuming power and Atwood similarly draws from this to create a reappropriated version which enables deeper textual conversations, and consequently displays universal concepts that can transcend contexts and forms.

Question 5

Body 2 Content

Answer 5

1. In The Tempest, Prospero’s hamartia revealed through the self-reflexive tone of “being transported/And rapt in secret studies”, demonstrates that although his magic has precipitated unmitigated power, it has also blinded him to his real obligations as the Duke of Milan, resulting in his unceremonious removal from this exalted position.
2. This aligns with Felix who is also consumed and blinded by his seemingly untouchable position of reverence as the Artistic Director of the Makeshiweg Festival. The string of allusions and the condescending tone employed by Felix when informed that there is a problem, “Did Lear have to take off all his clothes? Or it might be a drycleaning bill…Macbeth’s gore-drenched head flung too vigorously”, demonstrates his blindness as he is incapable of foreseeing the usurpation by Tony as his perception of himself has skewed the reality of his role.

Question 6

Body 3 Topic Sentence

Answer 6

The conversation between these texts occurs powerfully through the female characters, Miranda in The Tempest and Anne-Marie in Hag-Seed, as this is the area of greatest contextual divergence, particularly when explored through the lens of feminism, which is so pivotal to an understanding of Atwood’s contemporary concerns.

Question 7

Body 3 Content

Answer 7

1. Shakespeare’s characterisation of a naive Miranda is displayed in her initial meeting with Ferdinand when she states “If the ill spirit have so fair a house,/ Good things will strive to dwell with’t”, revealing her superficial and materialistic concept of love.
2. Contrastingly, Atwood’s character Anne-Marie who plays Miranda in the play, is more aware of the machinations of men, and thus her cynicism is reflected in her accusing tone in the rhetorical question, “You think I’ll fall in love with him, right?’ says Anne-Marie. “‘You think I’m that easy?’ She clenches her jaw”. Anne-Marie is directly challenging the naivety demonstrated by Miranda through her instantaneous infatuation with Ferdinand by suggesting that, as a more modern woman, she’s more experienced and aware of worldly matters.
3. The passivity with which Miranda is introduced relegate her to the position of a female suitably cowed by her all-powerful father, as evidenced by her continual reference to him as “Sir”, and sexually intimidated by the monstrous Caliban.
4. This contrasts markedly with Felix’s decision to introduce Anne-Marie to the Fletcher Correctional Centre players through a Youtube clip in which “she throws her lithe partner to the ground…and pulls his head back in a chokehold” and in which “the muscles in her sinewy arms are clearly visible” again reflects his directorial prerogative, but also the power attributed to her as a woman of the modern context.

Question 8

Conclusion

Answer 8

The beauty of reading a text like Hag-Seed lies in the ability to explore the ways in which it is speaking, across time and different contexts to its originally inspired text, The Tempest. Atwood achieves this through not only her integration of metatheatrical elements in order to reflect the play format despite writing in prose, but also to reflect the themes of power and the roles of women which were being explored by Shakespeare, but which remain equally relevant in today’s society. The conversation which has been forged between these texts is exciting and challenging for the audience and thus it must be said, let the dialogue live on.