Tempest Flashcards
Sean McEvoy. “Did not primarily write…
… with readers in mind.”
Sean McEvoy. It has to be assumed that, as many lower classes could afford tickets for the pit… “many…
… came along for the spectacle, the language being beyond their comprehension.”
Sean McEvoy. “Shakespeare would have had in mind…
… an actor who he actually knew.”
Sean McEvoy. “This patterning…
… helps the audience keep track of the sense of what they’re hearing.”
Sean McEvoy points out that Shakespeare’s language contains…
“Patterning in the language” “distinctive rhythms” “repetition of words”
Sean McEvoy. “Because most of the audience could not read…
… their ability to take in spoken language had to be more developed than ours.”
Shakespeare often writes in?
Blank verse (non-rhyming poetry)
Why do Ant. and Seb. speak heavily in verse in their scene when attempting to kill Alonso and Gonz.?
Emphasising that they are noble characters who are trying to up their status by usurping the king. Rely on civilisation.
What is a caesura?
A natural pause in a verse, or a full stop in the middle of a line. (realisation? emphasis?)
Sean McEvoy. (‘A Winter’s Tale’ Hermione -also passive) “For the future…
… to be better than the past in these plays. daughter’s must fall in love with other men’s sons.”
Sean McEvoy. “Chastity…
… is closely connected with saying little.”
Sean McEvoy. “This maiden…
… is virgin territory to be conquered.”
Sean McEvoy. “She is…
… sexually attractive to men of all classes.”
Sean McEvoy. “Prospero is…
… a usurper in Caliban’s kingdom just as much as Antonio is in Milan.”
Prospero: “If thou neglect’st…
or dost unwilling what I command, I’ll rack thee with old cramps.”
Alchemy
17th century= the golden age of alchemy. (Idea of suffering to come out on the other side- a transformation.) John Dee’s opinion. Science/chemical reference to P’s magic?
First performed? And under the reign of who?
First performed in 1611, under the reign of James I.
Island could be representative of?
Colonial expansion, Miranda, Brave new world, garden of Eden?
Inspiration- Jamestown colony context…
Jamestown colony had just been established in America, after colonists were shipwrecked there in 1609 by a hurricane. Settlers wanted to begin a new life there. Bermuda.
Prospero: “got by the devil himself.” - reference? meaning?
Sycorax was sexually promiscuous with Satan? Unconventional women who threatens the stability of a patriarchal society. Opposite to passive Miranda.
Ashley Riches
“Prospero systematically raises and disappoints their hopes.”
David Kinder and Juliet Harrison
“We have to accept that characters can be made to fit a number of interpretations.”
Dr. Roy Booth (Ariel)
“Ariel is not an evil spirit serving Prospero for his own ends, but has to be forced to serve.”
Mike Brett. “far away…
… from the restrictive social attitudes of her times.”
