The Religion Essay Flashcards
Topic sentences
Image of biblical destruction and rife with revenge
Prospero as God of the island, attempting to punish others for their wrongdoings
Ends on a note of forgiveness, in which even Prospero is redeemed
Tempest as a baptism
“Fresher than before”
What does the storm represent
An image of biblical destruction,
Evocative of the god of the Old Testament
Symbolic of god acting through the elements
1st vs 2nd half
1st half = Old Testament, message of punishment
2nd half - New Testament, message of forgiveness
Gonzalo says “stand fast good fate”
Pagan religion, pre-christian,
In pagan religion, “fate” means no self determination/free will, and that god decides your fate
So maybe not a christian didactic play??
“False (…) evil nature”
Cain and Abel
First instance of FRATRICIDE in human history
A PRIMAL SIN
“Hell is empty and all the devils are here” - Ariel quoting Ferdinand
Image of suffering
Idea of Prospero as a kind of Satanic figure?
Image of darkness and sin
Miranda and Ferdinand refer to each other as “divine” and “makes this place paradise”
Allegorical reading in which Ferdinand and Miranda in this “brave new world” as Adam and Eve in their innocence, starting the world again
Conventional language of COURTLY DISCOURSE
“Ministers of fate” vs “three men of sin”
Paganism vs Christianity
Harpy also offers an interesting scheme: you have sinned so you need to repent and atone by losing your son
In a christian scene, once confessing sins, you have CONFESSION, ATONEMENT AND REDEMPTION:
“A clear life ensuing”
P offers them a way out which the Gods in Greek tragedy don’t
They expect death but they’ve been offered escape
Turning point?
Ferdinand on island like Eden vs “hell is empty and all the devils are here”
“Let me live here ever! / so rare a wonderful father and a wise/ makes this place paradise”
Like Adam and Eve, destined to leave, human nature
Shift from anger, fear to happiness and freedom
Act 5 - reunion scene
“This is that renowned Duke of Milan of who i had received a second life” - p gave f a second start
God like
Act 4
“At this hour lie at my mercy all mine enemies”
claims a literal power over life and death, engineers a metaphorical power over life and death throughout the play leading friends and families to believe that their loved ones have died
LITERARY CONTEXT: ALEXANDER POPE,”ESSAY ON CRITICISM”
“To err is human, to forgive divine”
Similar to
“That if you now beheld them, your affections would become tender (…) were I human”
According to this, he is learning to become human but also becomes divine through forgiveness?
Epilogue
“Mercy itself and frees all faults”
Feels more like a “prayer”, another plea for mercy to audience rather than god from religious lexicon
“My ending is despair (…) prayer (…) mercy (…) pardon’s (…) indulgence”
Direct echo to beginning “to prayers”
It is endemic
Conclusion
If you see this not just as a romance/tragicomedy and class it as a sophisticated elaboration of a medieval mystery / miracle play, you end up with a definite christian message:
“As you from crimes would pardon’s be, let your indulgence set me free”
Ariel 5.1
“The rarer action is in virtue than in forgiveness”
New Testament message: forgiveness not revenge
Return to idea of a tragicomedy
Reference to classical gods like “setebos”, “iris”, “juno” and “ceres”
Typical reference in Shakespearean drama
Hamlet says “angels and guardians of heaven defend us”
But later goes on to talk about fathers “Jove’s front”
In RENAISSANCE DRAMA it’s typical to have the lexicon of christian religion mixed with classical religion
The impossibility of a universal religious discourse because of the instability of religion in the society of the time
