"The Tempest" (comment)
Comment:
The Tempest was one of the riddles of my life until i discovered that it was about"Populism" .... and Prospero the mastermind who has magical powers ( in the Jordan Peterson's world view he is a high flyer in the "hierarchy of competence") is keeping a sort of peace which benefits his group of people . On the contrary Caliban represents the group of people who have been living on the Island and "settled" and don t want any changes .... while Prospero represents "the energetic new people" who want a good life for everyone ....
The Tempest was one of the riddles of my life until i discovered that it was about"Populism" .... and Prospero the mastermind who has magical powers ( in the Jordan Peterson's world view he is a high flyer in the "hierarchy of competence") is keeping a sort of peace which benefits his group of people . On the contrary Caliban represents the group of people who have been living on the Island and "settled" and don t want any changes .... while Prospero represents "the energetic new people" who want a good life for everyone ....
The Tempest
The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that Shakespeare wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, the rest of the story is set on a remote island, where the sorcerer Prospero, a complex and contradictory character, lives with his daughter Miranda, and his two servants—Caliban, a savage monster figure, and Ariel, an airy spirit. The play contains music and songs that evoke the spirit of enchantment on the island. It explores many themes including magic, betrayal, revenge, and family. In act four, a wedding masque serves as a play-within-the play, and contributes spectacle, allegory, and elevated language. Though The Tempest is listed in the First Folio as the first of Shakespeare's comedies, it deals with both tragic and comic themes, and modern criticism has created a category of romance for this and others of Shakespeare's late plays. The Tempest has been put to varied interpretations—from those that see it as a fable of art and creation, with Prospero representing Shakespeare, and Prospero's renunciation of magic signaling Shakespeare's farewell to the stage, to interpretations that consider it an allegory of Europeans colonizing foreign lands.
Contents
Characters[edit]
- Prospero – the rightful Duke of Milan
- Miranda – daughter to Prospero
- Ariel – a spirit in service to Prospero
- Caliban – a servant of Prospero and a savage monster
- Alonso – King of Naples
- Sebastian – Alonso's brother
- Antonio – Prospero's brother, the usurping Duke of Milan
- Ferdinand – Alonso's son
- Gonzalo – an honest old councillor
- Adrian – a lord serving under Alonso
- Francisco – a lord serving under Alonso
- Trinculo – the King's jester
- Stephano – the King's drunken butler
- Juno – the Roman goddess of marriage
- Ceres – Roman goddess of agriculture
- Iris – Greek goddess of the sea and sky
- Master – master of the ship
- Mariners
- Boatswain – servant of the master
- Nymphs, Reapers
Synopsis[edit]
A ship is caught in a powerful storm, there is terror and confusion on board, and the vessel is shipwrecked. But the storm is a magical creation carried out by the spirit Ariel, and caused by the magic of Prospero, who was the Duke of Milan, before his dukedom was usurped and taken from him by his brother Antonio (aided by Alonso, the King of Naples). That was twelve years ago, when he and his young daughter, Miranda, were set adrift on the sea, and eventually stranded on an island. Among those on board the shipwreck are Antonio and Alonso. Also on the ship are Alonso's brother (Sebastian), son (Ferdinand), and "trusted counsellor", Gonzalo. Prospero plots to reverse what was done to him twelve years ago, and regain his office. Using magic he separates the shipwreck survivors into groups on the island:
- Ferdinand, who is found by Prospero and Miranda. It is part of Prospero's plan to encourage a romantic relationship between Ferdinand and Miranda; and they do fall in love.
- Trinculo, the king's jester, and Stephano, the king's drunken butler; who are found by Caliban, a monstrous figure who had been living on the island before Prospero arrived, and who Prospero, adopted, raised and enslaved. These three will raise an unsuccessful coup against Prospero, acting as the play's 'comic relief' by doing so.
- Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio, Gonzalo, and two attendant lords (Adrian and Francisco). Antonio and Sebastian conspire to kill Alonso and Gonzalo so Sebastian can become King. At Prospero's command Ariel thwarts this conspiracy, and later in the play Ariel confronts the three nobles (Antonio, Alonso and Sebastian), causing them to flee in guilt for their crimes against Prospero and each other.
- The ship's captain and boatswain are asleep until the final act.
Prospero betroths Miranda to marry Ferdinand, and instructs Ariel to bring some other spirits and produce a masque. The masque will feature classical goddesses, Juno, Ceres, and Iris, and will bless and celebrate the betrothal. The masque will also instruct the young couple on marriage, and on the value of chastity until then.
The masque is suddenly interrupted when Prospero realizes he had forgotten the plot against his life. He orders Ariel to deal with this. Caliban, Trinculo, and Stephano are chased off into the swamps by goblins in the shape of hounds. Prospero vows that once he achieves his goals, he will set Ariel free, and abandon his magic, saying:
- I’ll break my staff,
- Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,
- And deeper than did ever plummet sound
- I’ll drown my book.[1]
Ariel brings on Alonso, Antonio and Sebastian. Prospero forgives all three, and raises the threat to Antonio and Sebastian that he could blackmail them, though he won't. Prospero's former title, Duke of Milan, is restored. Ariel fetches the sailors from the ship; then Caliban, Trinculo, and Stephano. Caliban, seemingly filled with regret, promises to be good. Stephano and Trinculo are ridiculed and sent away in shame by Prospero. Before the reunited group (all the noble characters plus Miranda and Prospero) leaves the island, Ariel is told to provide good weather to guide the king's ship back to the royal fleet and then to Naples, where Ferdinand and Miranda will be married. After this, Ariel is set free. In the epilogue, Prospero requests that the audience set him free—with their applause.
The masque[edit]
The Tempest begins with the spectacle of a storm-tossed ship at sea, and later there is a second spectacle—the masque. A masque in Renaissance England was a festive courtly entertainment that offered music, dance, elaborate sets, costumes, and drama. Often a masque would begin with an "anti-masque", that showed a disordered scene of satyrs, for example, singing and dancing wildly. The anti-masque would then be dramatically dispersed by the spectacular arrival of the masque proper in a demonstration of chaos and vice being swept away by glorious civilization. In Shakespeare's play, the storm in scene one functions as the anti-masque for the masque proper in act four.[2][3][4]
The masque in The Tempest is not an actual masque, it is an analogous scene intended to mimic and evoke a masque, while serving the narrative of the drama that contains it. The masque is a culmination of the primary action in The Tempest: Prospero's intention to not only seek revenge on his usurpers, but to regain his rightful position as Duke of Milan. Most important to his plot to regain his power and position is to marry Miranda to Ferdinand, heir to the King of Naples. This marriage will secure Prospero's position by securing his legacy. The chastity of the bride is considered essential and greatly valued in royal lineages. This is true not only in Prospero's plot, but also notably in the court of the virgin queen, Elizabeth. Sir Walter Raleigh had in fact named one of the new world colonies "Virginia" after his monarch's chastity. It was also understood by James, king when The Tempest was first produced, as he arranged political marriages for his grandchildren. What could possibly go wrong with Prospero's plans for his daughter is nature: The fact that Miranda is a young woman who has just arrived at a time in her life when natural attractions among young people become powerful. One threat is the 24-year-old Caliban, who has spoken of his desire to rape Miranda, and "people this isle with Calibans",[5] and who has also offered Miranda's body to a drunken Stephano.[6] Another threat is represented by the young couple themselves, who might succumb to each other prematurely. Prospero says:
- Look though be true. Do not give dalliance
- Too much the rein. The strongest oaths are straw
- To th'fire i'th'blood. Be more abstemious
- Or else good night your vow![7]
Prospero, keenly aware of all this, feels the need to teach Miranda—an intention he first stated in act one.[8] The need to teach Miranda is what inspires Prospero in act four to create the masque,[9] and the "value of chastity" is a primary lesson being taught by the masque along with having a happy marriage.[10][11][12]
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