The University of British Columbia
UBC - A Place of Mind
The University of British Columbia Vancouver campus
Arts One Open
  • About
    • People
  • Themes
    • Repetition Compulsion
    • Remake/Remodel
    • Explorations and Encounters
    • Monster in the Mirror
    • Dangerous Questions
    • Borderlines
    • Hopes and Fears
  • Lectures and Podcasts
    • Lectures
    • Podcasts
  • Texts
  • Blog posts
    • Seeing & Knowing LB1 (2015/16)
    • Seeing & Knowing LB3 (2015/16)
    • Seeing & Knowing LB4 (2015/16)
    • Repetition Compulsion LB1 (2014/15)
    • Repetition Compulsion LB4 (2014/15)
    • Repetition Compulsion LB5 (2014/15)
    • Remake/Remodel LB3 (2013/14)
    • Remake/Remodel LB4 (2013/14)
    • Remake/Remodel LB5 (2013/14)
    • Monster in the Mirror LB1 (2012/13)
    • Monster in the Mirror LB2 (2012/13)
    • Public
    • All
  • Twitter

Shakespeare, The Tempest

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare, The Tempest (1610/11)
Edition used: Oxford World’s Classics
Available to read for free online: Project Gutenberg edition

 

  • About
  • Lecture
  • Other Formats
  • Questions

Robert Crawford gives what he calls a somewhat unconventional reading of The Tempest, arguing that we can see it as a directly political play in the sense that it may function as a criticism of King James I. We can see links between Prospero and King James I, Crawford argues, and in presenting Prospero in a critical light, Shakespeare may have been questioning the king in front of whom this play was performed.

Faculty: Robert Crawford
Lecture title: “Upstart Crew”
Lecture date: October 27, 2014
Theme: Repetition Compulsion

  • Slides from the lecture on Power Point
  • PDF of lecture slides
  1. The Tempest, like Antigone, is set at a time of crisis in the state. How does The Tempest respond to political crisis? You may also compare your analysis to how Antigone responds to political crisis, if you wish.
  2. Caliban: “You taught me language, and my profit on’t/ Is I know how to curse. The red plague rid you,/ For learning me your language” (Shakespeare 1.2.362-364). Consider the role of language in The Tempest and its connection to the nature/nurture issues the play seems to raise.
  3. Explore the depiction of migration in The Tempest, paying particular attention to Prospero’s double role as a migrant and a colonizer. You may also refer to the depiction of migration in Until the Dawn’s Light, if you wish.
  4. “This island’s mine by Sycorax my mother,/ Which thou taks’t from me” (Shakespeare 1.2.331-332). Discuss this claim in the context of the various usurpations and political subplots in the play as a whole.
  5. Prospero has learned that deception, illusion, and manipulation are important tools of statecraft. Consider Prospero’s uses of these tools. You may compare them with philosopher-rulers’ uses of such tools in the Republic, if you wish.
  6. What sort of parent is Prospero, and what significance can be drawn from this analysis?
  7. Caliban and Antigone are both outsiders. Compare the ways in which their respective ostracisms are represented, and explore the significance of your findings.
  8. “Their understanding/ Begins to swell, and the approaching tide/ Will shortly fill the reasonable shore,/ That now lies foul and muddy” (Shakespeare 5.1.79-82). Discuss the literal and/or figurative use of ships, storms, and the sea in The Tempest.
  9. Discuss the representation of servitude in The Tempest with reference to Caliban and Ariel.
  10. “Prospero: And my ending is despair/ Unless I be relieved by prayer,/ Which pierces so that it assaults/ Mercy itself, and frees all faults./ As you from crimes would pardoned be,/ Let your indulgence set me free” (Shakespeare 5.1.333-338). In what ways and to what effect does this play break the separation between actors and audiences?

 

More material related to Shakespeare

 

Posted in lecture, powerpoint, Repetition Compulsion, Rob Crawford, video | Tagged with C17th, drama, England, politics, Shakespeare, The Tempest

J M Coetzee
Creative Commons License
Faculty of Arts
Vancouver Campus
East Mall
Vancouver, BC Canada V6T 1Z1
Website artsone-open.arts.ubc.ca
Email artsoneopen@gmail.com
Find us on
    
Back to top
The University of British Columbia
  • Emergency Procedures |
  • Terms of Use |
  • Copyright |
  • Accessibility