The Tempest Flashcards
Act: 1
Scene : 1
-In the middle of a storm, coming from Africa is the king and his men. They escape the ship
-It starts in the middle of the action, foreshadowing
what will be shown later in the play, “in medias res”
-Introduces motif of master-slave
-No name, just titles “Master,” “King,” and “Prince.”
We learn :
Prospero was the Duke of Milan -> Antonio, conspired with Alonso, the King of Naples, to kill Prospero and gain Milan
“Good Gonzalo” helped escape
12 years ago
Prospero wishes to go back to Italy, and must set the quarrel between him and his brother
Themes of separation and reunion will define the action of the play, as characters are torn apart from each other before being happily reunited at the end.
Prospero occuses Caliban of being ungreatful, Caliban has speach about how they gave him everything, just to enslave him and ruin his life.
Prospero
Protagonist, father of Miranda
Prospero was duke of Milan (12 years ago), Antonio overthrew him
“Good Gonzalo” saved him
Strong and vengeful magician
Caliban
Servant.
Son of Sycorax, strong witch + native of island
Believes his island was stolen
Looks and speaks like monster sometimes, with REALLY eloquent language other times
Miranda
The daughter of Prospero
Never seen sexy men
Falls in love with ferdinand
She’s a ‘slave’ of the island. Loyal and loving towards father
Gonzolo
Old “good” Gonzalo
Talks about beauty of the island
Ariel
Sprit helper
Carries out virtually every task that Prospero needs accomplished in the play
Prospero helped from imprisompent
Ferdinand
Son of Alonso
Pure as Miranda
Love at first sight, does everything to win her over and father
Alonso
King of Naples + father of Ferdinand
Helped Antonio overthrow Prospero
Aware of the consequences from his actions
Thinks his son died because ‘sold daughter’ to african prince
Regrets what he did to Prospero after ‘the pain’
Antonio
Prospero’s brother
VERY power hungry but foolish
Wants to kill his king and gain control
Sebastian
Alonso’s brother
Cowardly and Agressive
Easy persuaded to kill his brother
Trinculo & Stephano
Trinculo : Clown
Stephano : Drunken butler
Comedic duo, show difference between power of people
Justice
Subjective justice - ever changing
Aerial - Prospero - Freedom
Caliban “the monster” - native americans
Prospero talks about his unjust Dukedome removal, then becomes ‘evil’
Justice is one sided or changed, but Prospero justice seems like justice for the viewers
The Tempest tells a fairly straightforward story involving an unjust act, the usurpation of Prospero’s throne by his brother, and Prospero’s quest to re-establish justice by restoring himself to power. However, the idea of justice that the play works toward seems highly subjective, since this idea represents the view of one character who controls the fate of all the other characters. Though Prospero presents himself as a victim of injustice working to right the wrongs that have been done to him, Prospero’s idea of justice and injustice is somewhat hypocritical—though he is furious with his brother for taking his power, he has no qualms about enslaving Ariel and Caliban in order to achieve his ends. At many moments throughout the play, Prospero’s sense of justice seems extremely one-sided and mainly involves what is good for Prospero. Moreover, because the play offers no notion of higher order or justice to supersede Prospero’s interpretation of events, the play is morally ambiguous. As the play progresses, however, it becomes more and more involved with the idea of creativity and art, and Prospero’s role begins to mirror more explicitly the role of an author creating a story around him. With this metaphor in mind, and especially if we accept Prospero as a surrogate for Shakespeare himself, Prospero’s sense of justice begins to seem, if not perfect, at least sympathetic. Moreover, the means he uses to achieve his idea of justice mirror the machinations of the artist, who also seeks to enable others to see his view of the world. Playwrights arrange their stories in such a way that their own idea of justice is imposed upon events. In The Tempest, the author is in the play, and the fact that he establishes his idea of justice and creates a happy ending for all the characters becomes a cause for celebration, not criticism. By using magic and tricks that echo the special effects and spectacles of the theater, Prospero gradually persuades the other characters and the audience of the rightness of his case. As he does so, the ambiguities surrounding his methods slowly resolve themselves. Prospero forgives his enemies, releases his slaves, and relinquishes his magic power, so that, at the end of the play, he is only an old man whose work has been responsible for all the audience’s pleasure. The establishment of Prospero’s idea of justice becomes less a commentary on justice in life than on the nature of morality in art. Happy endings are possible, Shakespeare seems to say, because the creativity of artists can create them, even if the moral values that establish the happy ending originate from nowhere but the imagination of the artist.
The Difficulty of Distinguishing “Men” from “Monsters”
Miranda sees Caliban and Prospero as men
Nature vs Nurture of Caliban
Caliban is monster with GREAT speaches
The Allure of Ruling a Colony
colonialism
Symbols
Chess :
- Capture the King
- The love birds play chess at the end
- Maneuvered people to gain dukedom
Books :
- His power
- Superiority
- Means to access justice
