William Shakespeare, The Tempest (1610/11)
Edition used: Oxford World’s Classics
Available to read for free online: Project Gutenberg edition
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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- “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.
- 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.
- What sort of parent is Prospero, and what significance can be drawn from this analysis?
- Caliban and Antigone are both outsiders. Compare the ways in which their respective ostracisms are represented, and explore the significance of your findings.
- “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.
- Discuss the representation of servitude in The Tempest with reference to Caliban and Ariel.
- “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?
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