The Tempest - William Shakespeare

The Tempest is a fascinating play, bleniding large scale politics with the personal, drawing on strong natural imagery and dabbling with magic - lots of the best Shakespeare ingredients. Obvious comparions can be made with "A MIdsummer Night's dream" but this is by far the more focused text, and has a far smaller cast.

The Plot: Prospero is the rightful Duke of Milan, but due to some politicking, he's an exile, trapped on a small island with his daughter. Fate, chance or magic brings a boat to flounder on the island's shore - on that boat is Ferdinand, son of the King of Naples, and the Duke who userped Prospero, amongst others. On the island, there is confusion, romance and resolution. Being a comedy, it ends with reconiliation and marriage, in a quite touching scene.

Prospero is the character who interests me most - not only is he a powerful political figure in exile, he is also clearly a magician of sorts who has bound spirits to his service - Ariel (yes, jsut like a certain powder) is one such being, a very fey creature, who, like Puck helps to keep the plot moving. There is also Caliban, a grotesque, and often savage being who is Prospero's slave. Prospero is clearly a learned man, and a good one. Most human dabbling in magic do not fare as well as he in Shakespeare's plays, which is something of interest.

Miranda, daughter of Prospero caught the pre-Raphaelite imagination (there are a few paintings of her) Growing up on an island, she knows nothing of the world, and has only ever seen her father. The arrival of Ferdinand throws her feelings into confusion, and she soon falls in love. A wonderfully romantic figure and a real innocent.

Caliban - not a major character, but a dark presence that permeates the play. He is crude and ugly, the opposite of everything Miranda and Prospero represent. He is base, angry and troubling. His status as a slave is not a comfortable one for the modern reader, and we must ask how deeply Prospero is implicated in Caliban's condition. Caliban presents prospero as a tyran who has userped hiw ownership of the island and enslaved him. Not only does this fuel the tension in the plot, but there may well be some truth in it. It is Caliban's innate foulness that makes the audience less inclined to take his part, but looking closely at the text, he may well be justified in his complaint.

The Island, with its magical inhabitants, represents a space where matters can be resolved. There is often an inclination in work from the period to represent rural environments as places of peace. The island is not entirely benevolent in nature, with its storms and spirits, but it does function as a place for peace and love.

It is possibl;e to read this play as a precursor to "Robinson Crusoe" and as the first piece of Colonial writing - Prospero colonises the island and makes himself lord of it, regardless of the status of those who had lived there before his arrival.

Back when I was wee small, I saw a production of this that had a cast of I think about eight - there are several parties from the boat, who, seperated, wander the island. However, in the last scene, they all come together for a showdown. The cast handled this by runign back and forth across the stage, in what was one of the funniest performances I have ever encountered.

On the surface, this is a lighthearted tale of love and reconciliation, with a bit of clowning about and magic thrown in to liven things up. There are deeper themes, as I've tried to suggest above, and as with most Shakespeare plays, there is scope for taking it on a range of levels.

This is quite a readable play - there aren't too many characters to keep track of, so its not hard to take from the page. Much better to see it live of course, if you can.

A few things that might be of interest: "The Tempest" was transformed into futuristic science fiction in the form of the film "Forbidden Planet" which contians much the same plot, and makes for an interesting comparrison. This was again revised to produce the hit West End Musical "Return to the Forbidden plannet" which is a very funny piece, with some stunning misquotes. "What light through yonder airlock breaks?"

The other thing I would recomend taking a look at is John Fowles excellent book "The Collector" which features a girl called Miranda trapped by an odious man, and plays with themes and motifes from "The Tempest". reading this book actually does help to develop insght into the play, and make sense of the book, it really does help if you have read the Shakepseare.