Elizabethan drama was not written for posterity
Jacobean and Elizabethan drama is elusive, non –
naturalistic and very often symbolic
We explore drama and art through myth, our deepest
concerns and our deepest worries
His romances and late plays tackle huge issues
Important distinction between the Globe Theatre and the
Blackfriars theatre is that the Globe theatre was an open theatre (e.g. open to
the sky), it was a very big building, and it would have held approximately
3,000 people. Therefore writing for this
type of theatre is very different than writing for the Blackfriars theatre
which was an indoor closed theatre (which meant that there was artificial
light) while seating only 200 people. At the same time, it was close to the
court and in a good residential area so writing for the Blackfriars meant that
there was a much more select audience, much richer, paying for a seat (2
shillings) as opposed to a penny in the Globe Theatre. They were also familiar
with the classics. Lighting could be directed through the use of mirrors in the
BF Theatre, having the effect of a spotlight. Away from the noise of the South
Bank, allowed for much more delicate effects and the use of more music. Since
it was catered for a different audience there is much more use of masque, which
is symbolic and allegorical which the Tempest is full of – (e.g. the masque of
goddesses that Prospero puts on for Ferdinand) the storm is an anti-masque
spectacle
The names are also symbolic, giving the audience an
insight to their character.
Many of what people would read leisurely would be
romances which descended from the medieval romances. The typical structure of a
romance is that you start with an apparent stable situation. This situation
however comes under stress where the hero is separated from the stable
situation into a place of trial and testing. Change comes from this where they
are returned to a more stable structure.
Around the 1600’s there was a lot of debate about what
makes the proper dramatic form for a Christian society - is it tragedy that
descends from Greek ideas about tragedy that have a very nihilistic view of the universe. Italian playwright and
critic Giovanni Guarani said that Christianity does not stop with a genuine tragedy
of Calvary but it offers reconciliation and redemption. Therefore he argued
that tragicomedy was the higher form of tragedy and the appropriate form of
Christian society.
Tragicomedy – reconciliations after storms literally and
symbolically, redeeming of the fathers by the children through the symbol of
marriage. Shakespeare therefore uses the three unities of place, time and
action, getting over the time for Miranda to grow up by having a great
flashback in order to prevent disrupting the time period, waiting for Miranda
to grow up in order to marry Ferdinand to come to a resolution.
When we first meet Miranda she is being taught by her
father about history. Ferdinand is being taught how to serve and how to
restrain himself. Miranda tries to teach Caliban but she does not understand
that the right type of education that works for someone might not work for
another. Caliban eventually does learn – he learns that not everything is that
is immediately attractive is valuable – he learns that Prospero is a lot more
worthy than those who he chose for himself ‘I’ll seek for grace hereafter’.
However there are those who refuse. Sebastian and Antonio have the freedom to
refuse reconciliation and wisdom.
The storm at the start of the play is symbolic of storms
in the court and the parallel between the storm Prospero raises and the storm
in Alonso’s minds. One storm is disruptive and the other storms which are
cleansing and purify.
Miranda, Caliban and Ferdinand all because they are young
and have to go through the process of education raise the issue of nature and
nurture. Alonso, Antonio and Sebastian respond to misfortune and the grace of
Prospero’s forgiveness
Prospero and Gonzalo represent an uncorrupted moral
judgement.
Prospero’s idea of right rule is as a result of study and
nurture and its parallel to Gonzalo’s Utopian motif relying on nature.
The issue of appearances: three views of the storm, three
views of the feast and they are all different.
The goddesses Prospero blesses Ferdinand with seem as
though they are a holy blessing but are in a fact an illusion bringing up the
issue of how we watch the play.
The storm is disruptive and an act of punishment and
hurtful at the beginning of the play but it is also healing.
