| What cares these roarers for the name of king? To cabin: silence! Trouble us not! | Disruption of natural order and hierarchy during tempest. Themes of rightful authority. Rhetorical questions; imperatives. (What…not!) |
| A pox o’ your throat, you bawling, blasphemous, uncharitable dog! | Sebastian abuses boatswain – shows his cruel nature. (A…dog!) |
| The wills above be done! But I would fain die a dry death | Gonzalo contemplates drowning – reminded of guilt in Prospero’s death? Submission to higher powers. (The… death) |
| O, I have sufferedwith those that I saw suffer! | Miranda shows the virtue of compassion. Polyptoton. Exclamation (O… suffer!) |
| I have done nothing but in care of thee,Of thee, my dear one; thee, my daughter | Prospero presents himself of kind and living father. Miranda is very much foregrounded. Tricolon. (I… daughter) |
| The direful spectacle of the wrack, which touch’dThe very virtue of compassion in thee,I have with such provision in mine Art So safely ordered, that there is no soul -No, not so much perdition as an hairBetid to any creature in the vessel | Prospero reassures Miranda that his art and her compassion are working to the same goals. (The…vessel) |
| ‘Tis far off,And rather like a dream than an assurance | Miranda’s memories of her past life are dim. Fits the trope of dreaming. (‘Tis… assurance) |
| What seest thou elseIn the dark backward and abysm of time? | Prospero refers to the past – to everything he will explain that happened before their arrival on the island. (What….time?) |
| Thy father was the Duke of Milan, andA prince of power. | Prospero describes his past in manly and plosive terms. Third person (Thy… power) |
| Thy mother was a piece of virtue | Prospero describes his wife, implying what is important for women. (Thy…virtue) |
| I pray thee, mark me, that a brother shouldBe so perfidious! | Antonio is first introduced by Prospero, whose exclamation shows his incredulity at his treachery. (I… perfidious!) |
| To my state grew stranger, being transported And rapt in secret studies | Prospero clearly neglected his dukedom. Somewhat sinister sibilance. (To…studies) |
| Having both the keyOf officer and office, set all hearts i’ th’ stateTo what tunes pleased his ear; that now he wasThe ivy which had hid my princely trunk,And suck’d my verdure out on ‘t | Antonio’s betrayal is described. A confused mixture of metaphors? (Having… on’t) |
| Good wombs have borne bad sons | Comment about Miranda’s grandmother (Good…sons) |
| To cry to th’ sea that roar’d to us; to sighTo th’ winds, whose pity, sighing back again,Did us but loving wrong. | P and M banished on their boat. Communing with the elements. Emotive. Nature personified. The changeable emotions of the sean. (To… wrong.) |
| Our sea-sorrow | Prospero’s term for their ordeal. Part of a series of terms with this prefix (Our… ow) |
| Be’t to fly,To swim, to dive into the fire, to rideOn the curl’d clouds, to thy strong bidding taskAriel, and all his quality | Ariel suggests tasks he can perform, associating him with all the elements. Catalogue, with anaphora, and amplification (Be’t… quality) |
| The king’s son, Ferdinand, With hair up-staring | Ferdinand’s terror is described during the storm. (The…staring) |
| Whom I left cooling of the air with sighs,In an odd angle of the isle, and sitting,His arms in this sad knot | Ferdinand is described brooding on his own. Shows Ariel as an observer of human feelings. Transferred epithet (Whom…knot) |
| The time twixt six and nowMust by us both be spent most preciously | Prospero sets out the time scale for his schemes. Dramatic unity of time. (The… preciously) |
| Thou liest, malignant thing! | Prospero abuses Ariel. Punchy, brutal. Seeming objectification (thou…thing) |
| Thou wast a spirit too delicateTo act her earthy and abhorr’d commands | Ariel is of a different sphere, a different element, from Sycorax and her magic. Antithesis (Thou… commands) |
| This damn’d witch Sycorax,For mischiefs manifold, and sorceries terrible, | Prospero condemns Sycorax and her kind of magic. Alliteration. (This.. terrible) |
| If thou more murmur’st, I will rend an oak,And peg thee in his knotty entrails | Prospero’s threat to Ariel is no better than Sycorax. Personification adds an idea of violence and torment. (If… entrails) |
| Caliban, my slave | Prospero claims ownership and dominion over Caliban. (C…ave) |
| ‘Tis a villain, sir, I do not love to look on. | Miranda’s compassion only extends so far. Objectification of Caliban, and foregrounding of visual appearance. (‘Tis… on) |
| We cannot miss him: he does make our fire,Fetch in our wood, and serves in officesThat profit us. | Caliban’s exploitation by Prospero and Miranda. Highly selfish. Lots of first person pronouns. Tricolon (We… us) |
| Thou earth, thou! | Caliban is associated with baseness, and naturalness. Also with his mother. Exclamative address. (Thou…thou) |
| got by the devil himselfUpon thy wicked dam | Caliban’s parentage. In (a)religious terms. (got… dam) |
| to-night thou shalt have cramps,Side-stitches that shall pen thy breath up. | Prospero’s threats to Caliban – vindictive cruelty. Lots of hard Ts, hissing Ss. (to-night… up) |
| This island’s mine | Caliban lays claim to the island. Short, unarguable sentence. (This.. mine) |
| I lov’d thee, And show’d thee all the qualities o’ th’ isle. | The early days of Caliban’s contact with Prospero. Emotive, somewhat pitiful. Mirrors early contact with explorers and natives in the New World. (I… th’isle) |
| Whom stripes may move, not kindness! | Prospero juxtaposes violence and humanity, stressing that Caliban only merits the former. (Whom… kindness) |
| thou didst seek to violateThe honour of my child. | Caliban’s crime. Clash of belief systems, very western concept. Sexual excess. (thou…. child) |
| O ho, o ho! would’t had been done!… I had peopled elseThis isle with Calibans. | Caliban’s response to the crime of rape. Cruel levity – seems callous and unrepentant. Dynastic considerations. Repetition. (O… Calibans) |
| You taught me language, and my profit on’tIs, I know how to curse. | Caliban’s use of learning to speak – European knowledge, as a corrupting influence? (You… curse) |
| Full fadom five thy father lies;Of his bones are coral made;Those are pearls that were his eyes:Nothing of him that doth fade,But doth suffer a sea-changeInto something rich and strange. Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell. | Ariel sings of Alonso’s drowning. Haunting, mesmeric. Beautiful and magical and unreal – death portrayed as something magical, touching, hauntingly beautiful. Laced with sea-related words, mixed with a semantic field of death. (Full… knell) |
| The fringed curtains of thine eyes advance, And say what thou seest yond. | Dramatic and momentous terms in which Ferdinand is revealed to Miranda. A turning point. The setting up of his grand plan. A command. (The… yond) |
| What is ‘t? A spirit? | Miranda first assumes Ferdinand is not mortal. Short, breathless seeming questions (What… spirit?) |
| I might call him A thing divine, for nothing natural I ever saw so noble. | Miranda wonders as to Ferdinand’s human status. Is he mortal? A god? The idea that nobility shows itself in physical appearance. Antithesis. Hyperbole. (I… noble) |
| Most sure the goddessOn whom these airs attend! | Ferdinand mistakes Miranda for a divinity. Recollections of Aeneid. Actually endows her with much more power than she really has. (Most… attend!) |
| O, if a virgin, And your affection not gone forth, I’ll make youThe Queen of Naples. | Her virginal status is important. A precondition for Ferdinand marrying Miranda. (O… Naples) |
| This swift businessI must uneasy make, lest too light winningMake the prize light. | Aside: Prospero justifies his harsh treatment of Ferdinand. (This… light) |
| There’s nothing ill can dwell in such a temple. | Miranda expressly voices the connection she sees between appearance and character. Connotations of worship and devotion. (There’s… temple) |
| What! I say, My foot my tutor? | Prospero objectifies Miranda, and clearly conveys the power dynamic of their relationship. (or is it just an act?) Rhetorical question and exclamation. (What!… tutor?) |
| My spirits, as in a dream, are all bound up. | Ferdinand suffers from the dreamlike influence that is common to so many characters. Trope (My…. up) |
| Would I had never Married my daughter there! for coming thenceMy son is lost, and, in my rate, she too, Who is so far from Italy removedI ne’er again shall see her. | Alonso regrets the loss of both his children as he moves from political to personal priorities. Urgent exclamative subjunctive. Fatalistic (Would… her) |
| Sir, you may thank yourself for this great loss,That would not bless our Europe with your daughter, But rather loose her to an African | Sebastian tells Alonso that he is to blame. Racial considerations play a part. Antithesis between geographical locations? (Sir, … African) |
| The fair soul herselfWeigh’d between loathness and obedience | Claribel’s attitude to marriage. Racial considerations, and the woman’s position and lack of choice. Pointed use of fair? (The… obedience) |
| I’ th’ commonwealth I would by contraries Execute all things | Gonzalo’s plan for ruling the island. Very much based on Montaigne. Communal idyll. (I’… things) |
| Nature should bring forth,Of its own kind, all foison, all abundance, | Gonzalo envisages the ideal fertility that is so prevalent in the play. Asyndeton, anaphora, pleonasm (Nature… abundance) |
| I would with such perfection govern, sir,T’excel the Golden Age. | Classical reference, seems somewhat incongruous in this contemplation of uncivilised society. He can’t lose his cultured European background. (I… Age) |
| My strong imagination sees a crown Dropping upon thy head. | Antonio presents to Antonio the idea of kingship. Metaphor, an image that reappears from Caliban and Gonzalo later. Questions of rightful authority, divine right of kings? (My…. head) |
| Thou dost snore distinctly. There’s meaning in thy snores. | Sebastian begins to cotton on. His his speech deliberatively vague and cryptic? Trope of sleep, dreaming – but the ugly, mundane side. Can only see the external signs – not the dreams. Polyptoton. (Thou…snores) |
| She that from whom We were all sea-swallow’d, though some cast again, And that by destiny to perform an actWhereof what’s past is prologue; what to come,In yours and my discharge. | Ant describes Claribel and their voyage of destiny from her. Very theatrical imagery. The idea of rewriting future, as a playwright. (She… discharge) |
| As thou got’st Milan I’ll come by Naples. Draw thy sword: one strokeShall free thee from the tribute which thou payest,And I the King shall love thee. | The decisive moment; they prepare for the task. The real motivations for Antonio. Incongruous mention of love. Parallel sentence structure. Imperative. (As…. thee) |
| Lo, now, lo!Here comes a spirit of his, and to torment me | Caliban shows his conditioning to fear. Repetition. (Lo… me) |
| What have we here? a man or a fish? | Trinculo tries to make sense of Caliban. (What… fish?) |
| Were I but in England now… and had but this fish painted, not a holiday fool there but would give a piece of silver. | Trinculo clearly shows his intentions to exploit Caliban for financial gain. Reflects actualities of exploration. Cynicism – Shakespeare’s own thoughts? (Were… silver) |
| He’s a present for any emperor that ever trod on neat’s-leather. | Stephano is equally mercenary about Cal. (He’s… leather) |
| That’s a brave god, and bears celestial liquor: I will kneel to him. | Cal’s first response to Step: the confusion of the banal and the mystical. Immediate debasement of self (That’s…. him) |
| Out o’ the moon, I do assure thee: I was th’ man i’ th’ moon when time was. | The manipulation of Caliban’s innocence/credibility. Actually something settlers made natives believe. (Out… Was) |
| I’ll show thee every fertile inch o’ th’ island; and I will kiss thy foot: I prithee, be my god. | Caliban promises Stephano just what he did for Prospero. Bathos, juxtaposed with veneration (I’ll… God) |
| Trinculo, the King and all our company else being drown’d, we will inherit here. | Stephano assumes his own leadership of the island – even though he thinks he has no one to rule. Theme of rightful authority (Trinculo… here) |
| Admir’d Miranda!Indeed the top of admiration! WorthWhat’s dearest to the world! | Very hyperbolic praise of Miranda – a pun on her name. Superlatives. Also quite monetary terms. (admir’d…world!) |
| But you, O you, So perfect and so peerless, are createdOf every creature’s best. | Ferdinand’s praise of Miranda. Repetition of her name. Firm plosive alliteration. More hyperbole and superlative. (But… best.) |
| How features are abroadI am skilless of; but, by my modesty, The jewel in my dower, I would not wishAny companion in the world but you. | Miranda shows innocence modesty – but also somewhat contradicts this, by referring to herself and her modesty as treasure. She appears to have a surprising knowledge of what appeals to men. (How…you.) |
| For your sakeAm I this patient log-man. | Ferdinand submits to punishment for Miranda. Parallels (antithesis) between him and Caliban. (For…man) |
| I am your wife if you will marry me. | Miranda effectively proposes to Ferdinand. Lots of personal pronouns stress the close bond between them (I… me) |
| That a monster should be such a natural! | Trinculo’s derisory comment on Caliban’s intellect. Questions of nature/nurture – and comparison. Who is natural? Who is unnatural? Who is intelligent and who is idiotic? Is this hypocritical? (That… natural!) |
| I am subject to a tyrant, a sorcerer, that by his cunning hath cheated me of the island. | Caliban talks of his persecution by Prospero, and his rightful claim to the island. (I… island) |
| Thou mayst brain him,Having first seiz’d his books; or with a logBatter his skull, or paunch him with a stake,Or cut his wezand with a knife. | Caliban’s suggestions for Prospero’s annihilation. Very brutal and violent vocabulary. Emphasis on need to take books. Polysyndeton. (Thou… knife.) |
| She will become thy bed, I warrant,And bring thee forth brave brood. | Caliban suggests Miranda for Stephano’s consort. Objectification? (or not) Certainly dynastic concerns. Alliteration. (She… brood) |
| Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises,Sounds and sweet airs that give delight, and hurt not.Sometimes a thousand twangling instrumentsWill hum about mine ears; and sometime voices,That, if I then had wak’d after long sleep,Will make me sleep again; and then, in dreaming,The clouds methought would open, and show richesReady to drop upon me; that, when I wak’d,I cried to dream again. | Caliban’s beautiful speech, in verse. Changes our perception of the character. Poetic. Trope of dreaming, nature, treasures, music. (Be… again) |
| and the sea mocksOur frustrate search on land. | Alonso curses the sea, personifying it. Cannot find Ferdinand. (and… land) |
| Dance about it with gentle actions and salutations; and inviting the king, etc, to eat, they depart. | Stage direction – the spirits lay the table. Harmonious precursor to the antimasque. (Dance…depart) |
| Who, though they are of monstrous shape, yet, note,Their manners are more gentle, kind, than ofOur human generation you shall find Many, nay, almost any. | Gonzalo’s wisdom about the spirits who bring the feast. He recognises the failings of humanity, the potential for innate goodness of natural creatures. Doesn’t judge by appearance. (Who…any) |
| Ariel like a harpy; he claps his wings upon the table | Stage direction comparing Ariel to a Harpy. Dramatic gestures. (Ariel…table) |
| You are three men of sin, whom Destiny… The never-surfeited seaHath caused to belch up you | The beginning of Ariel’s warning speech. Very dramatic, grandiose. Metonymy. Brutal language. (You … you) |
| I have made you mad. | Stark, laconic five word sentence: Ariel’s effects on the courtiers’ minds. Alliteration? Power.(I… mad) |
| The elements,Of whom your swords are temper’d, may as wellWound the loud winds, or with bemock’d at stabsKill the still-closing waters, as diminishOne dowle that’s in my plume. | Simile expressing the pointlessness of trying to wound Ariel is compared to the elements. Man pitted against nature. (The….plume) |
| Exposed unto the sea, which hath requit it, Him and his innocent child | What Antonio did to Prospero, in the words of Ariel. The sea is personified as a force of judgment, justice, vengeance. Guilt/innocence. (Exposed…child) |
| O, it is monstrous, monstrous!Methought the billows spoke, and told me of it. | Alonso’s guilt-racked reaction to the reminder of his deed. Hearing accusation in the waves, in nature. Exclamation and repetition. (O…it) |
| The thunder, That deep and dreadful organ-pipe, pronounc’d The name of Prosper; it did bass my trespass.Therefor my son i’ th’ ooze lies bedded; andI’ll seek him deeper than e’er plummet sounded,And with him there lie mudded. | Alonso elaborates on his accusation by nature, all of which reminds him of his crime. Musical imagery, plays on words. Claims responsibility for Ferdinand’s death. Wishes to die with him. Hyperbole. Imagery and language stands in marked contrast to Ariel’s description of Alonso’s drowning. Dull, deadening Ds. (The… mudded) |
| Have given you a third of my own life | Prospero hands over Miranda, like a present. She only seems to exist as part of him. Personal pronouns. (Have… life) |
| My gift, and thine own acquisitionWorthily purchas’d, take my daughter | Miranda described by Prospero in very monetary terms; like a transaction between him and Ferdinand. She gets no say, despite being present. (my… daughter) |
| If thou dost break her virgin-knot beforeAll sanctimonious ceremonies may With full and holy rite be minister’d…Barren hate,Sour-ey’d disdain and discord shall bestrewThe union of your bed with weeds so loathly,That you shall hate it both. | Warnings to Ferdinand to maintain chastity. Very unpleasant semantic fields. Contrast of religious vocabulary and unpleasant words. D alliteration. (If…. minister’d… Barren… both) |
| Some vanity of mine art: it is my promise,And they expect it from me. | Prospero realises he must provide this for F and M. A more benign, trifling exhibition of his magic. (Some… me) |
| The white cold virgin snow upon my heartAbates the ardour of my liver. | Ferdinand swears he has no thoughts of intimacy with M. Very overly romantic image – referring to M’s hand on his heart? Bodily/spiritual. (The…liver) |
| Tell me, heavenly bow,If Venus or her son, as thou dost know,Do now attend the queen? | Ceres asks Iris if Venus is with Miranda. Classical religious symbolism / metonymy. Increases the spiritual, mystical atmosphere that pervades the play, mixing Christian, classical and pagan religious influences. Poetic/recessive style. (Tell… queen?) |
| Mars’s hot minion is return’d again;Her waspish headed son has broke his arrows,Swears he will shoot no more, but play with sparrows | The victory of the couple’s chastity over Cupid’s temptations. (Mars’s… sparrows) |
| Honour, riches, marriage-blessing,Long continuance, and increasing,Hourly joys be still upon you!Juno sings her blessings on you. | The conclusion of the goddess’ blessing – like a song, a hymn. Juno’s syndetic catalogue. Positive semantic field. (Honour… you) |
| Spring come to you at the farthestIn the very end of harvest!Scarcity and want shall shun you;Ceres’ blessing so is on you. | Ceres’ gives her blessing – fertility, abundance. Like the golden age. (Spring… you) |
| like the baseless fabric of this vision,The cloud-capp’d towers, the gorgeous palaces,The solemn temples, the great globe itself,Ye all which it inherit, shall dissolveAnd, like this insubstantial pageant faded,Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuffAs dreams are made on, and our little lifeIs rounded with a sleep. | Prospero’s famous speech about the ephemerality of everything. Semantic field of drama and theatre; dreams. Insubstantial, transitory. Rich and beautiful. Asyndeton. (like… sleep.) |
| A devil, a born devil, on whose natureNurture can never stick | Prospero condemns Caliban as incorrigable. Repetition and juxtaposition. (A… stick) |
| Let it alone, thou fool; it is but trash. | Caliban shows his wisdom. Becomes disparaging in his desperation to keep his companions focused on their goal. (Let… trash) |
| At this hourLies at my mercy all mine enemies: | Prospero relishes in the immense power he holds over his enemies. Signals the climax of the play, with its emphasis on grasping the moment. Alliteration. (At… enemies:) |
| That if you now beheld them, your affectionsWould become tender./Dost thou think so, spirit?/Mine would, sir, were I human. | Prospero and Ariel discuss their attitudes towards forgiveness and sympathy. The words on the line endings are all very significant – especially the last two, that create a telling contrast between spirit and human – and what it means to be human. (That… human.) |
| Hast thou, which art but air, a touch, a feelingOf their afflictions, and shall not myself,One of their kind, that relish all as sharply,Passion as they, be kindlier moved than thou art? | Prospero is deeply moved by Ariel’s capacity for pity. Very sensitive, emotional. Compassion is foregrounded. (Hast… art?) |
| Yet with my nobler reason ‘gainst my furyDo I take part: the rarer action isIn virtue than in vengeance | Prospero’s decision to forgive. His self-knowledge: building himself into a better person. Learning and improving, shown by comparisons. Juxtaposition with alliteration. (Yet… vengeance) |
| they shall be themselves. | Prospero says he will release the courtiers from their madness, foretelling Gonzalo’s lines about discovery, recognition. Raises questions about how much they (we?) can actually be changed – what counts as a ‘self?’ (they… themselves.) |
| I have bedimm’dThe noontide sun, call’d forth the mutinous winds,And ‘twixt the green sea and the azured vaultSet roaring war: to the dread rattling thunderHave I given fire and rifted Jove’s stout oakWith his own bolt | Prospero catalogues the things he has achieved with his magic. Very pagan, atavistic, druidy. Natural. Recalls the initial tempest – very violent terminology. Challenge to the gods. Recalls Medea and her sinister sorcery. (I… bolt) |
| graves at my commandHave waked their sleepers | Very sinister claim that Prospero makes about his magic. He have no evidence for this – but again, it’s like Medea. Extends the sleeping trope one step further. (graves… sleepers) |
| And deeper than did ever plummet soundI’ll drown my book. | Prospero’s abjuration of magic. Echoes Alonso’s wish to drown with his son – they are both resigning their old life to focus on their children, reconciliation. Returning his magic to the all-consuming sea. (And… book) |
| But this rough magicI here abjure | Prospero gives up magic. (But… abjure) |
| Merrily, merrily shall I live nowUnder the blossom that hangs on the bough. | Ariel looks forward to a future of freedom, in total harmony with nature. Peace. A guideline for us? (Merrily… bough) |
| I here could pluck his highness’ frown upon youAnd justify you traitors: at this timeI will tell no tales. | A veiled threat from Prospero to S and A, which keeps them in his thrall. Condescending? (I…. tales) |
| For you, most wicked sir, whom to call brotherWould even infect my mouth, I do forgiveThy rankest fault; | Prospero’s apparently rather grudging and reluctant forgiveness of Antonio – with much condemnation thrown in. Insults surround the word ‘forgive’ – do they drown it out? (For… fault.) |
| Yes, for a score of kingdoms you should wrangle,And I would call it, fair play. | Miranda’s reproach of Ferdinand – a telling comment about the nature of their forthcoming marriage? Is he going to be scheming like his father? Is she too innocent and deluded? (Yes… play) |
| Though the seas threaten, they are merciful;I have cursed them without cause. | Ferdinand refers to the sea and its part in their ordeals – which here are allowing a happy, fortuitous ending. (Though… cause) |
| How many goodly creatures are there here!How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,That has such people in’t!/ ‘Tis new to thee. | Miranda’s innocent, naïve reaction to the sight of people – actually somewhat worryingly ironic/inaccurate. Exclamations. Prospero’s cynical response allows the audience to share in his moment of doubt. (How.. thee.) |
| Is she the goddess that hath sever’d usAnd brought us thus together? | Like Ferdinand, Alonso also refers to Miranda as divine. He also attributes much more power to her than she actually has. (Is.. together?) |
| And on this couple drop a blessed crown! | Gonzalo wishes for more heavenly approbation for Ferdinand and Miranda. Divine right of kings. Religious. Reminds of us Antonio, and Caliban – how de we know that they deserve it? (And… crown!) |
| In one voyageDid Claribel her husband find at Tunis,And Ferdinand, her brother, found a wifeWhere he himself was lost, Prospero his dukedomIn a poor isle and all of us ourselvesWhen no man was his own. | Gonzalo’s summary of the voyage of discovery that all have undergone. Perhaps an overly optimistic appraisal of events? (In… own) |
| they strengthenFrom strange to stranger | Alonso comments on how bizarre everything is. Polyptoton of the word that dominates the final scene. (they… stranger) |
| O Setebos, these be brave spirits indeed!How fine my master is! I am afraidHe will chastise me. | Caliban admires the men he sees before him. Seems penitent, subdued. Exclamations, and apostrophe to his God. Reminding us of his otherness. (O.. me) |
| Will money buy ’em? | As ever, Sebastian sees Cal in monetary terms, as an object. (Will…’em?) |
| this thing of darkness IAcknowledge mine. | P claims ownership of C – and responsibility for how he is? Acknowledging a darker side to himself? (this… mine) |
| I’ll be wise hereafterAnd seek for grace. What a thrice-double assWas I, to take this drunkard for a godAnd worship this dull fool! | Cal resolves to live a better life, repenting his past stupidity. Exclamation. Ds. (I’ll…. fool!) |
| thence retire me to my Milan, whereEvery third thought shall be my grave. | Prospero’s future plans. Morbid reflections. Personal connection to Milan. (thence…grave.) |
| sail so expeditious that shall catchYour royal fleet far off. | A comment for James I on good sailing conditions? Prospero’s last act of magic. Atoning for the Tempest now all is peaceful. (sail… off) |
| then to the elementsBe free, and fare thou well! | P’s last words to Ariel – what he has so long desired. Release. (then… well!) |
| As you from crimes would pardon’d be,Let your indulgence set me free. | The last lines of the epilogue. P is in the position of Ariel, of Caliban. Does he deserve freedom? Appeal to empathy, to putting ourselves in his position – but could he do this? Do we have to learn like he has? Sounds somewhat like the Lord’s Prayer. Significant last word. (As… free.) |
| ‘Ban, ‘Ban, Cacaliban Has a new master: – get a new man.Freedom, high-day! high-day, freedom! freedom, high-day, freedom! | Caliban’s triumphant song. Urgent repetition, almost like he needs to believe in its truth, blocking out the facts. Chiasmus. (Ban… ..,) |
| a remembered world of unprofaned magic, a living nature, in which reality had not yet quite been separated from dream, nor waking from sleeping. | Leslie Fiedler: Caliban as the American Indian. The way Caliban longs for the world to be. ‘a…sleeping’ |
| not just of the substitution of one master for another but the annihilation of all authority and all culture, a world eternally without slaves and clowns | Leslie Fiedler: Caliban as the American Indian. Caliban’s political goals, his hopes for freedom. ‘not…clowns’ |
| When two worlds meet, he who has the magic has the power | Neil McGregor: Magic in the Time of Shakespeare, from Shakespeare’s Restless World. Power and magic. ‘When…power’ |
| BIRTH YOUTH QUEST TEMPTATION WITHDRAWAL FULFILLMENT | The six elements of Romance; Northrop Frye |
| ‘a kind of music in Caliban’s speech | Leslie Fiedler: Caliban as the American Indian. The tonality of Caliban’s speech. (a…speech) |
| the scum of the old world, promising themselves unaccustomed glory in the new | Leslie Fiedler: Caliban as the American Indian. Description of Trinc and Step. (the….new) |
| Miranda ‘herself might prove a victim of the play’s hierarchical values’ | L. J. Leininger: The Miranda Trap. Miranda falls prey to the values of the play. Miranda (‘herself…. values) |
| Miranda ‘is the foot in the family organisation of which Prospero is the head. Hers not to reason why, hers but to follow directions’ | L. J. Leininger: The Miranda Trap. Miranda’s position in the family. (Miranda ‘is… directions’) |
| the superiority of spirit over matter, or soul over body, was a commonplace: body existed to serve soul, to be, metaphorically, enslaved by soul’ | L.J. Leininger’s explanation of Caliban’s subservience to Prospero in the Christian-humanist tradition. (the… soul) |
| very solemn and very poetical; 1709 | Nicholas Rowe: a description of Prospero’s magic |
| The poet is a more powerful magician than his own Prospero; 1753 | Joseph Warton : Shakespeare’s power of enchantment |
| in some respects a noble being | Samuel Taylor Coleridge: a deeper inspection of Caliban’s character |
| childish and inefficient | Charles Lamb: disgust at overly spectacular productions |
| the heart of the play is not regeneration through suffering but the eternal conflict between order and chaos. 1968 | Rose Abdelnour Zimbardo: the plays key theme, key antithesis. |
| the play itself is an absolute symphony of sounds. 1935 | Caroline Spurgeon – the music of the play |
| twin threats of ‘lower-class disorder and upper-class ambition’ 1988 | Stephen Greenblatt: Prospero’s dangerous path to tread, between.. (political criticism) |
| on Prospero’s island the laws of the real world apply. 1965 | Jan Kott: (political critic) the characters are governed by the same forces and motives that exist in any society. |
| Aimé Césaire’s ‘Une Tempête’, 1969 | The retelling of the Tempest from Caliban’s perspective. |
| an honourable and indeed a sanctified activity | Frank Kermode: the contemporary praise of exploration |
| ‘the Romance Tradition’ or ‘forgiveness, patience and magic’ (away from the lived experience of colonised peoples). Encourages the reader to identify with the coloniser, not the colonised. | Ania Loomba, Seizing the Book: what much traditional criticism diverts our attention to |
| Dr Jonathan Miller, 1970 | The production showing the play as a story of colonial oppression |
| Prospero thinks of his island kingdom as a place to be subdued, hewed, trimmed and ordered | Leslie Fiedler – P’s view of the island. |
| trashy insignia of power | Leslie Fiedler – all Step and Trinc are interested in |
| Miranda demonstrates that she has fully internalised the patriarchal assumption that a woman’s main function is to provide a legitimate succession | Anne Thompson: the effects of the patriarchy on Miranda’s conception of women. |
| chastity and fertility | Anne Thompson: the pervasive themes of imagery. |
| Being Miranda might prove no unmixed blessing. | L. J. Leininger. A feeling of sympathy for Miranda – it’s not all good. |
| show complicity with those who appear to favour her while oppressing others | L. J. Leininger – Miranda’s tendency to sanction the mistreatment of others, because of her own vulnerable position in the hierarchy. |
| Prospero: God, Spirit, Soul, ImaginationCaliban: the Devil, Matter, Body, Earth, Lust | L. J. Leininger- what P and C can be seen as representing, allegorically. |
| 1667, by John Dryden and William Davenant as The Enchanted Island | The rewriting of the play, softening the rough and coarse aspects. |
| Peter Brooks, 1968: F & M have sex, Caliban rapes M | A modern production that steered clear of sentimentality. Some of the sexual tension it contained. |
| a terrible old man, almost as tyrannical and irascible as Lear at the opening of his play | David Wilson: not a sympathetic view of Prospero |
| in many ways, theatre about the theatre | Jan Frans van Dijkhuizen: summary of theatrical ness |
| It can also be related to the genre of the court masque on a structural level. In a sense, the play may be said to consist of a series of antimasques, resolved in the final act by Prospero’s regenerative powers | Jan Frans van Dijkhuizen: the play fitting in with the structure of antimasques/masques |
| Subverts the ideology of the court masque by resisting the easy solutions this genre offers | J. F. van Dijkhuizen: the play’s challenge to the court masque. |
| everyone gives the title of barbarism to everything that is not in use in his own country. | Michel de Montaigne: our highly subjective view of what constitutes civilisation. |
| neither is it reasonable that art should gain the preeminence of our great and powerful mother nature | Montaigne: art is not superior to nature; would Prospero agree? would Shakespeare? |
| we lose in order to recover something greater, we die in order to be reborn to a better life. | Robert Langbaum writes that Gonzalo’s speech sums up the philosophy of the genre of tragicomedy |
| Here in this island we arriv’d | All Prospero says about his early days on the island: totally omits to disclose the back stories of Caliban and Ariel: they are not deemed important, are occluded from ‘Prospero’s play’ (here…arriv’d) |
| uncritical willingness to identify Prospero’s voice as direct and reliable authorial statement. | Barker and Hulme think criticism has often failed to recognize the back stories, the subplots of Caliban and Ariel – this shows an: (uncritical…..statement) |
| the urgent need for action forces upon Prospero the hitherto repressed contradiction between his dual roles as usurped and usurper. | Barker and Hulme: a somewhat psychological reading, what Prospero has to grapple with when remembering Caliban’s ‘subplot’ at the end of the masque. |
| understanding begins to swell and the approaching tide will shortly fill the reasonable shore. | Prospero talks of the realization dawning on Alonso and Gonzalo – but could equally refer to himself, and Caliban to an extent. (understanding….shore) |
| concerning the status of human life in relation to nature, and the mercy of a providence which gives new life when the old is scarred by sin or lost in folly. | Frank Kermode’s perception of pastoral tragicomedy. Nature vs. humanity. Redemption, healing of faults. (concerning…folly) |
| All the infections that the sun sucks up From bogs, fens, flats, on Prosper fall | Caliban’s curse on Prospero, using very natural imagery. (All…fall) |
| the bestial man has no sense of right and wrong and therefore sees no differences between good and evil. His state is less guilty but more hopeless than those of incontinence and malice, since he cannot be improved | Aristotle: the natural man vs. the degenerate noble. Living in moral ignorance. (the…improved) |
| But one fiend at a time, I’ll fight their legions o’er | Antonio’s line after the antimasque. NOT showing remorse. (But…o’er) |
The Tempest Quotes
July 25, 2019