The Tempest - William Shakespeare > Reviews (14)

I'm so sorry.... I know The Bard is some kind of a VIP, I know everything he wrote was wonderful. Still, I don't like The Tempest.
To me, it's one of his worst plays. I must say that some of his plays are really boring...
For instance, The Winter Tale, it is very cute, but it looks like Mickey Mouse in Wonderland, mum comes back, we are glad, we cry a bit, but finally we smile. Completely excentric.
Titus Andronicus... How could Shakespeare write such a tragedy ? It is so tragic that I laughed for hours. Lavinia is raped, her hands and her tongue are cut off, and Titus says something very clever, he says she will be here for him. He adds she will read books for him. My questions are :
- how is it possible for her to say a word ?
- how is it possible for her to hold a book ?
He must finally be aware of that, because he kills her. I found it too funny to read it as a tragedy, and I think bad plays are faire-valoirs for Shakespeare's master pieces.

The Tempest is a "not-so-good-play".
The story first :
Prospero, a young prince who was too interested in witchcraft, lost his kingdom and he was forced to live on an island, with his young daughter, Miranda. But he grows more and more powerful, and his former "ennemies" arrive on his island.

There isn't much to say about the play. Usually what is interesting in Shakespeare's plays is that there are many sub-meanings. There are the plot and sub-plots, and usually some other meanings.
And in almost every play there are references made to magic, witchcraft, but usually it is very ambiguous, or at least very hermetic, you do not see it at first.
For instance, in Macbeth, there are 3 witches, but there are 2 main interpretations :
- these witches really know what will happen
- these women say they are witches, but in fact they are just very clever women who know what Macbeth's flaw is, and who know how to influence him and how to guide him.
To me it's quite clear that they are real witches, but some say it truly is ambiguous.
An other example is Rome and Juliet. It seems to be a rather straight forward story, but it is very interesting to read it as a recipe, how to get the philosophal stone ; they aren't perfect, but through their evolution, they get clearer, and finally, once they are dead, they are represented by golden statues, they have reached the highest level.

In The Tempest, of course there are some sub-meanings, but it is a rather clear play, it is too straight forward. Shakespeare usually uses stories to hide some magical recipe, and here, he reveals every thing, and we don't have the pleasure to find it by ourselves.

This book has a philosophical aspect, when Prospero realizes he was too greedy and that it was the reason why he failed. He pardons every body and shows what religion should be.

Now, just a last thing, about human beings and spirits in the play. First, Caliban is the anagram of canibal, and it helps us to understand why Caliban is such a naughty spirit. Anagrams are very important with Shakespeare, they can help a lot.

For instance in Twelfth Night Olivia = Viola, in King Lear, Lear is also Real (and Wisdom, reality, the truth are always told by a fool), and Earl (Edmund, earl of Gloucester is somewhat responsible for Cordelia's death, and thus Lear's). And so on.

Ariel is a nice spirit, and Prospero considers him as his son. Now I come to the point. Tome Miranda is a spirit. But my teacher always told me I was wrong. And teachers are very stubborn, they don't even want to listen to your good ideas. So now that I can say why Miranda is a spirit in my opinion, I'll give you my opinion, and please, tell me what you think about it, and if I(m really wrong, tell me why (my teacher simply said it wasn't so and wouldn't develop any further).
So. The dramatis personae is always very important. In Shakespeare's plays, usually there are 3 parts :
- men
- women
- others
The only exception I found was Romeo and Juliet, where there is a slightly different order :
- Escalus (& kins)
- the Montagues (men + women)
- the Capulets (men + women)
- others

In The tempest, we have :
- (noble) men
- a spirit
- others
- Miranda
- spirits

In fact, "others" is a minor category, and we don't really have to take it into account.
So, there is men - a spirit - Miranda - spirits.

Among these spirits, there are female spirits, and I think Miranda should be one of them. Why should she be the only human being among these spirits ?

An other reason is that Miranda is Prospero's daughter. He lost his wife, and so every thing that linked Miranda to some earthly life is erased. Prospero is her dad and his mom at the same time.
He considers Ariel as his son. And Miranda is his daughter. Is it possible to have 2 children so different ?
Prospero is a spiritual leader, and he is very interested in witchcraft. I think we could say Miranda is a metaphor for this witchcraft. He was born a man, he will die a wizzard. There is a huge transformation. As for Miranda, she was a young child when they came to the island, so we can say that Prospero was already interested in witchcraft before her birth. She may represent witchcraft and would thus be a spirit.

A last reason is Caliban's attitude to her, he doesn't despise her, but he keeps on insulting Prospero whom he considers as his inferior.