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Themes, Motifs, Summary The Tempest, ISBN: 9781903436080 English Home Language
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Summary of the themes, motifs and key points in each act of Shakespeare's The Tempest
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Summary The Tempest, ISBN: 9781903436080 English Home Language
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The Tempestcombination of comedy and tragedy
Magical/fantastical elements/otherworldly elements
Prospero is used by Shakespeare to explore various tensions: between revenge and forgiveness,
authority and benevolence, and perception and reality.
Prospero delights in Ariel’s account of terrifying the men aboard the ship to the point that they leapt
into the sea for fear of losing their lives but is also concerned for their safety (contradictory)
Prospero uses magic to lure Ferdinand to Miranda so that the two of them may fall in love, but then
chains the prince up and treats him as his slave (contradictory) – part of his plan to ensure the
couple go through obstacles so they grow deeper in love
Prospero is also a playwright figure who gives up his powers at the end of the play just as
Shakespeare supposedly draws to the end of his career
Themes:
The Noble Savage: creatures that are innocent, childlike and in need of protection – this theme
justified colonialism as Europeans could then oversee the ‘development’ of native people who were
‘more advanced’. ‘Noble savages’ were considered sub-human. The relationship between Prospero
and Caliban explores these dynamics. Caliban welcomed Prospero to his island as many ‘noble
savages’ did and helped him to survive. “I loved thee / And showed thee all the qualities o’the’isle”.
Sea Journeys: motif of voyage
- Europeans went on voyage to ‘discover’ new land, however these were already inhabited by
the locals.
- presents opportunities to those who undertake it (knowledge, wealth, redemption):
Sebastian, Antonio, Stephano and Trinculo are lured by opportunity and desire for power;
Alonso receives forgiveness; Ferdinand gains love (and discovers father is alive) -- “Though
the seas threaten, they are merciful. I have cursed them without a cause”
- “but doth suffer a sea change into something rich and strange” (Ariel) – if you survive the
storm, you thrive
Land, Language and Liberty: Caliban represents others around the world that were oppressed by
European colonisers, “This island’s mine, by Sycorax my mother, which thou takest from me”.
Colonisers bring education and language which impaired locals
Symbols:
There are only 2 settings in the play: the island and the ship. They are very different: the ship is
vulnerable to wind and storm and the island offers refuge. But they are also similar: both isolated
spaces, micro-societies.
Prospero’s staff and books are the symbols of his magical power. Gonzalo helped Prospero by giving
him his books. Like the tempest, Prospero’s books are a symbol of his power. “Remember first to
possess his books,” Caliban says to Stephano and Trinculo, “for without them he’s but a sot”. The
, books are also, however, a symbol of Prospero’s dangerous desire to withdraw entirely from the
world. It was his devotion to study that put him at the mercy of his ambitious brother, and it is this
same devotion to study that has made him content to raise Miranda in isolation. Yet, Miranda’s
isolation has made her ignorant of where she came from, and Prospero’s own isolation provides him
with little company. In order to return to the world where his knowledge means something more
than power, Prospero must let go of his magic.
“But this rough magic I here endure”. In calling magic ‘rough’, Prospero admits that his magic has
been at once crude and violent. His use of the word “rough” also recalls the fact that his obsession
with magic contributed to his political downfall and eventual exile on the island. When he resolves to
break his staff and drown his book, he promises to give up the thing that has caused him much pain
and suffering
The masque that Prospero conjures for Ferdinand and Miranda is heavy with symbolism. Spirits
perform the roles of three goddesses: Iris (messenger for Juno), Juno (Queen of the gods) and Ceres
(goddess of agriculture). read extra notes on the masque.
- “its perfect setting makes us more aware of positive values and customs that become hidden
from view in a world which includes men such as Antonio and Sebastian”
- reinforces Prospero’s narrative and illustrates his power blessing for the young couple,
“some vanity of mine art” – Prospero gives blessing through masque
- blesses their love: “a contract of true love to celebrate”. Reason for mask: fertility
- Prospero emphasises the importance of maintaining Miranda’s virginity before marriage:
“She is thine own”
Motifs:
Masters and Servants
Nearly every scene in the play portrays a relationship between a figure that possesses power and a
figure that is subject to that power. The play explores the master-servant dynamic most harshly in
cases in which the harmony of the relationship is threatened or disrupted, as by the rebellion of a
servant or the ineptitude of a master. Master-servant relationships dominate the play: Prospero and
Caliban; Prospero and Ariel; Alonso and his nobles; the nobles and Gonzalo; Stephano, Trinculo, and
Caliban; and so forth. The play explores the psychological and social dynamics of power relationships
from a number of contrasting angles, such as the generally positive relationship between Prospero
and Ariel, the generally negative relationship between Prospero and Caliban, and the treachery in
Alonso’s relationship to his nobles.
Quotes:
Gonzalo is described as a “noble Neapolitan” who, “of his gentleness”, ensured that Prospero and
Miranda had plenty of provisions and books to help them survive when they were exiled from Milan.
Miranda is compassionate and empathetic as in the first lines that she speaks, she begs her father to
calm the storm that he has conjured, showing her capacity for empathy as she affirms, “I have
suffered with those that I saw suffer!”
Miranda and Prospero see Caliban as an “abhorred slave, which any print of goodness will not take,
being capable of all ill!”
Prospero calls Caliban the “born devil”
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