The Tempest - William Shakespeare

This is a peice of year 10 coursework whick i got a b+ for. I was realy proud of this so i have decided to type it out and review it after. If any one is reading this and wants a copy of the essay you are more then welcome :-p.

Imagine that you are going to direct a version of The Tempest. Explain how you would present the character of prospero to an Audience in act
1 scene 2 and The Epilogue.

From the very start of William Shakespeare’s play `` The Tempest `` We can see that the character Prospero has a range of personalities. They can change rapidly from heartless and cruel to soft and loving. He is always trying to be in control, this may be because he needs to control people.
Prospero tries to twist people’s minds and wrap people round his little finger. We can see an example of this when he makes this quote to Miranda.
``Tell your piteous heart, there’s no harm done``.
This suggests that he likes to dictate to people. Prospero uses an imperative verb to order Miranda. He says that Miranda has a ``piteous heart``. This is patronizing her. I would present this part of by getting Miranda to get down on her knees and look up at Prospero. This would show to the audience that Prospero is in command. After Prospero has shouted out his line to Miranda, Prospero could look like he is looking back at his life, and remembering how hard it was on him when the king relived him of his powers. Then he could look sorry for Miranda.
The way Prospero controls Miranda could result in him having mixed feelings over Miranda. At one point in the play, Prospero calls Miranda a `` Wench`` and a little bit after that, Prospero calls her a ``Cherubim`` which means angel. You can clearly see that Prospero is confused about what he thinks about Miranda. When Prospero calls Miranda a wench he could shout and look very serious and give no mercy to Miranda. Miranda should look very confused when Prospero calls her a cherubim because he has just called her a wench. This would put in a bit off comedy into the play for the audience. This could also represent to the audience that Miranda doesn’t understand her dad.
From the start of the play Prospero doesn’t show his trust in Ariel. We can see this when Prospero calls Ariel a ``liest mastgliant thing``. This suggests that Prospero doesn’t think that Ariel is telling the truth, which could postpone his time until he is released by Prospero. I think Prospero uses this to exploit Ariel into doing more tasks for Prospero. When Prospero accuses Ariel of lying Ariel could look offended by Prospero and also anxious and scared to show to the audience that he is lying but he doesn’t want Prospero to find out. Prospero could look angry and disappointed at Ariel for lying to him.
Prospero is exploiting Ariel by making him do more tasks for him. We see an example of this when Prospero implies to Ariel that ``thou shall be as free as mounting winds`` This creates the impression that Prospero is holding his freedom at ransom by ordering Prospero into doing more jobs for him and saying he shall be free when he does this next task but Prospero never sets him free. To show this to the audience Ariel could be played by a black character to give the impression that Ariel is represented by a slave in Elizabethan times. Prospero could look guilty on him self for exploiting Ariel. To show that Ariel is use to it he could look disappointed and he could roll his eyes.
Prospero may be exploiting Ariel because he was exploited by The King of Naples. The King off Naples is also Prospero’s enemy we can see this when Prospero uses the phrase the ``King of Naples being an enemy`` this evokes the impression that Prospero hates and despises the king by using the word enemy. Enemy is a really emotive word to use. This creates the feeling that the king has upset him in a personal way. To emphasize this point Prospero could grind his teeth to show he really dislikes the king. He could also clench his fist in anger and mutter ``enemy`` under his breath. Prospero could stare into the audience, this is to make it look like he is having a flash back of what the king has done to him.
As well has showing hatred to the King he shows hatred to Caliban as well. Though Prospero hates Caliban he also admits that he needs Caliban. We know this because Prospero says ``we can not miss him he does make our fire``. Prospero does not really like Caliban but he out right admits that he also needs him to make fire. This creates the feeling that Prospero is not self sufficient and he relies on other people t survive. I don’t think that Prospero would like to admit to this so he could say it in a reluctant way. Prospero could also not say it too loud to emphasize that he isn’t proud of it.
Another point to show that Prospero is not self sufficient is that he uses magic ``and what strength I haves my own`` Prospero is trying to stick up for him self. He is saying that his magic, his main strength , is no one else’s just his. He uses his magic and powers to control people so he would be useless without them. To direct this part of the play Prospero could do some type magic trick while he says it. He could exclaim in a selfish way to make out that its his magic and no one else’s.
In the Epilogue at the end of the play we see a new side of Prospero. This is the only part of the play where Prospero fluently rhymes. This is also the only part of the play where Prospero is at easing with him self. At the stars of the play and throughout people have been waiting to be set free by Prospero. In the Epilogue Prospero is asking to free himself. Prospero could be in some kind of formal clothing like a robe to show a side of Prospero. He could say it like he has only got one trouble in the world and that is his freedom.Now the review

Because I don’t really enjoy learning English I hate reading books they are always so plain and boring and there is no need to when there are hundreds of great videos to watch. From the essay above you can see that I am going to review about Shakespeare’s The tempest.

The Tempest is one of Shakespeare’s most understandable plays (I have also done Macbeth and that is like trying to understand another language) so if you are going to start reading Shakespeare I would recommend starting with this one.

The tempest is a play about an old duke called Prospero and his daughter Miranda who were ordered by the king to be marooned on a desert island. A lot happens in the play but I won’t spoil it for you so I will only write a brief description about it. Life goes by on the Island and Prospero uses his magical powers to summon a tempest (a big storm) on the king’s ship. The plan goes wrong and no one dies instead they get washed up on the same island as Prospero. The story carries on and after a while Prospero realizes that he shouldn’t control people and carry on with his life and he himself asks to be set free.

The actual storyline is very confusing so I would recommend for it advance readers. As it is Shakespeare you will get a brilliant book and you cant go a fault with getting it.

The chracters in this play are very hard to predict so there will be loads of supizes as you read.

As I didn’t buy the book I don’t know the price and where to get it but I would recommend lending it from a library. There are many different styles to buy or rent but they are all the same so don’t worry which one you get.