The Tempest, Massolit

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.