1. After the pageant of Juno, Ceres and Iris (a scene that
is often heavily cut), Prospero informs Ferdinand that
These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, 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 dissolve
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind.
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, 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 dissolve
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind.
How might this scene, and indeed much of the play, be a
metaphor for a stage performance itself?
In Shakespeare’s last play, why might he push the boundaries of actors
playing actors playing actors even further than usual? How might this help us read or perform The
Tempest?
2. Much of The Tempest is clothed in dramatic effects
and spectacles: Ariel entering with thunder and lightning; the dance of the
shapes with the banquet; and the song and dance of Iris, Ceres, and Juno. These are all reduced to a mere stage
direction in the text, yet have to be realized dramatically in
performance. Some productions cut these
entirely, or at least to a bare minimum.
How important are these moments in the play? Why might they not work when reading, and why might
underperforming (or ignoring) these moments damage Shakespeare’s vision?
3. Caliban is a very contradictory character in these Acts:
on the one hand, he licks boots and plots revenge and murder; on the other, he speaks
divine poetry and is certainly more sensible than his Italian lords. Consider his famous speech when Trinculo and
Stephano are terrified by the unearthly music:
Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices
That, if I then had waked after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again: and then, in dreaming,
The clouds methought would open and show riches
Ready to drop upon me that, when I waked,
I cried to dream again.
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices
That, if I then had waked after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again: and then, in dreaming,
The clouds methought would open and show riches
Ready to drop upon me that, when I waked,
I cried to dream again.
Does this speech humanize Caliban? Is this his “Hath not a Jew eyes” speech? Do we see him speak in this vein elsewhere
in these acts? Dramatically, why would
he create a monster that attempts rape and murder, yet speaks in harmonious
verse?
3. In a way, it does humanize Caliban. He's a being who has experienced little in life designed to make him (personally) happy, especially after being treated more as a slave to Prospero when before he'd been almost an equal to Miranda. All he has of anything better are dreams and hearing snatches of things that are beautiful, but directed at someone else. He doesn't seem to speak in this way as much in the rest of the acts without talking malice about Prospero. It isn't even a full "Hath not a Jew eyes" speech; he isn't protesting that he's equal to those who look down on him (the closest he gets is when he says the isle was stolen by Prospero). He's just saying that he wished that good things came his way and didn't have to be snatched like a dog looking for the tiniest scraps of food. He's smarter than many give him credit for, but easily fooled by people's treatment of him. Dramatically, as a monster who attempts such crimes, Shakespeare sets up the kinds of evil that the English saw in anyone that wasn't "them." By giving him pitiable moments despite being evil (because much of what he knows has been evil, and has grown up to believe that evil is his lot in life and that he must commit evil to even have a chance at happiness), Shakespeare may have been forcing his audience to wonder, "If a beast-man can be like this, pitiable on top of being reprehensible to us, who else in the world can be the same way?" I think that Shakespeare's work is best as a "mirror" to his society by being ambiguous. It may not have effected any changes for anyone, but for the thinkers in his audience, they would ponder at least the differences between characters, words, and actions, and why Caliban is able to get such reactions out of them, especially since we know that the backstory of the events of the play is sketchy at best.
ReplyDeleteJessie Randall
2. These moments are important because they fill out the world of spirits on this island. Prospero must be powerful indeed if he can get spirits like the Greek goddesses to bless his daughter and her chosen beloved (of their own will and blessing, too!). Ariel is powerful as a spirit; as possibly the chief among the spirits Prospero commands, he has to be able to frighten and awe and confuse the crap out of the people Prospero wants to punish or manipulate. Without more direct words as to how these events are happening, a reader might not imagine it particularly vividly. Underperforming makes everything seem a chore, moreso what ought to be awe-inspiring, terrifying, or sneaky, and as ordinary as an owl-post in Harry Potter. If such feats are performed as ordinary or something to get out of the way, people won't see the spectacle it is meant to be.
ReplyDeleteJessie Randall
1) When you think of this being Shakespeare's last play, this scene may suddenly seem bitter. At the end of his career, Shakespeare likens actors to air which "dissolves" and melts away. Perhaps it was a reflective moment for him, thinking back on his life and what his legacy will be. If actors are just vapor then what worth is a play? This idea may help explain why Shakespeare used so many of his favorite themes in this play: he was tired and jaded. It makes "The Tempest" feel almost like a lazy attempt at the glory of his former works and somehow makes the reading of this play feel darkly comical.
ReplyDelete2) Somehow reading dry, minimal stage directions isn't exactly the most inspiring reading experience. Just reading about Ariel's fantastical harpy disguise does little for a reader in way of understand the context of the situation. Certainly, we would freak out if we saw a harpy. We would expect, on stage, to see a wild reaction filled with terror. If this were removed from the play, how could the audience understand Antonio's suicidal monologue?
2. The mystic/supernatural elements scattered throughout The Tempest really help to set it apart from the previous plays Shakespeare had written. Most of the time Shakespeare's plays are grounded in reality; they contain very little that could be considered supernatural, or they only hint at slight ethereal bits. These moments help set the tone of the play, as well as describe to the readers what's going on and why it's important to the story. They provide necessary details in order to make the story more cohesive; if Iris, Ceres, and Juno suddenly popped up in the play with no introduction, the play would be confusing and feel jumbled. Something that can be said is that the stage directions sometimes break the pace of the play up (such on Act 4, Scene 1: Enter certain reapers...) but what's being conveyed is so important for the reader to comprehend what's going on that it's acceptable. These stage directions would be even more important in a filmed version, because confusing the audience would have a much more negative effect overall compared to reading the text and being able to slow down or reread a passage.
ReplyDelete3. The speech Caliban gives allows for the reader to understand what he's been through and how his life on the island has been. His description of the instruments and voices reveals just how much Ariel (and perhaps other forces) have been bothering, tormenting, and manipulating him throughout the years, and gives context to why he might be a “monster.” Caliban has never been treated right by anyone on the island, and I see his character as that of being a dog. If someone had a dog and they mistreated the dog everyday, and the dog developed perhaps angry tendencies, such as being malicious towards people, why would anyone have the right to blame the dog for being the way it is? The same can be said for Caliban; if he is a monster, he is not a monster by his means, but rather a monster born from the torment and cruelties of others.
- Casey Fowler
1. This was Shakespeare's last play. In a way, this play (and the speeches in it) was his goodbye to the literary world. If we believe that Shakespeare was Prospero (and we find out that he is in the epilogue), then many of the speeches, Prospero's especially, make sense. Shakespeare was riffing off the fact that he was Prospero. Especially in his speech to Ferdinand and Miranda, in Act 4 Scene I, Prospero makes reference to the golden globe. As we all know, this was where Shakespeare's plays were performed in London, at the Golden Globe Theatre.
ReplyDelete3. In Caliban's speech in Act 3 Scene 3, he is saying that he wants to wake up and not go back into that "dream" or his life with Prospero. He doesn't want to be "that Caliban" anymore. He does not want to be Prospero's slave/monster anymore. He wants to be free, to be the Caliban that was "lord" over the island before the arrival of Prospero and Miranda. In a way, this makes Caliban the humanized villain of the play.
Jennifer Wingard
2.) These moments add to the mystery of who is Prospero, and what his intentions are. They also add to the spectacle that is supposed to be the play. I think Shakespeare placed these moments to really let us feel what Ferdinand is feeling when he sees all these spirits. He’s taken aback, without the lines of Iris, Ceres, and Juno it makes Ferdinand’s reaction seem exaggerated because there wasn’t much of a spiritual spectacle. But I also think that Shakespeare wanted it in place to add to the overall effects and mystery of the play. Taken those moments out lessons the aesthetic affect that scene is suppose to have on the audience.
ReplyDelete3.) This speech definitely humanizes Caliban. He talks about wanting to go back to sleep to live in his dreams, that is something that humans do, we dream and wish we could live in our dreams most of the time. He talks about riches as some of his dreams and how he desires that. When he says “I cried to dream again” he’s showing that he has emotions and is moved by them, much like a human. I don’t know if it humanizes him in a major way like “Hath not a Jew eyes” humanizes Shylock, but I do think it takes away part of the “monster” factors we’ve gotten from Caliban. We see Caliban speak in similar patterns and verse, but we don’t see him speak words like that in the rest of this act, anyways. I don’t know if I believe that Caliban is a monster, murder, or rapist. I think Caliban is a creature of some sorts that has been abused and misunderstood. I’m not convinced that he is a bad guy, but I also have no trust in Prospero. I think this speech kind of reinforces that Caliban is in fact not a monster that attempts to rape and murder.
3. I do think that this speech gives Caliban a level of depth. It does humanize him, but it also questions what we define as humanity. It is very Frankenstein-ish. Here is a so called monster, but he can appreciate beauty. At the same time, he is fully capable of committing great acts of violence. This passage takes this creature that the other characters in the play despise or ridicule and gives him the voice of reason, instead of the madness they would attribute to him. The fact is, all human beings are capable of terrible things, but the perception we have of Caliban's sins come from those who he has reason to act out against. I think this speech just shows that Caliban is not a raving monster. Instead, he is fully capable of appreciating beauty and respecting other people. The fact that he gave this speech to soothe his companion's nerves shows that he is capable of compassion.
ReplyDelete2. I think that the masquerade section of the play, is only important if we see Prospero as an extension of Shakespeare. Then, we can see it as a manipulation of setting and characters, and as an explanation of the "magic" of theater. If it is under performed, it is meaningless and doesn't carry across the sense of wonder the viewer is supposed to receive. If it is over performed, it is more comical than insightful. This scene could very well be Shakespeare's way of indirectly confessing or throwing his ability to captivate an audience into the face of his fans. It could almost be read as a way of saying this is how easily I do this. So, I don't think it is at all important for the play itself. It seems more of a factor in regards to the ego of the Prospero/ Shakespeare persona.
-Cayla O.
2. I think that the dramatic effect and spectacles (Ariel entering with thunder and lightning; the dance of the shapes with the banquet; and the song and dance of Iris, Ceres, and Juno) need to be seen visually to really capture the mystical nature. The text is very dry, dull even in comparison to the performance of the Tempest. The text offers little for the imagination in regards to effects that can be done theatrically. In reading or underperforming these moments much of the beauty, power, and intrigue is lost I think.
ReplyDelete3. I think that the true villain here might be Prospero. As I said before, I just can’t see Caliban as the villain. I see him robbed of his land, freedom, and his liberty and Prospero as the villain. This speech screams humanity. He basically tells them not to be afraid of the unknown (the noises or him even) that just because they have not encountered this before or are not accustomed to it doesn’t make it frightening or threatening. Perhaps Shakespeare was creating a character that embodies both good and bad because he saw this play as the end for him and wanted to portray an honest character. By that I mean that he recognizes good and bad within humanity and perhaps even himself.
Lisa Edge