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'The Tempest':
A masque and a tragicomedy
Dr. Senarath TENNAKOON
Shakespeare produced his last plays between 1608-1612. These included
'Pericles', 'Cymbeline', 'The Winter's Tale' and 'The Tempest.' These
were produced during the last mellowing years of his life. 'The Tempest'
is regarded as Shakespeare's farewell to the theatre. During the late
16th and early 17th centuries a courtly traditional dramatic
entertainment flourished in Europe. This was known as masque.
The masque was heavy with music, poetry and dancing mixed into a
loosely constructed allegorical or mythological plot. 'The Tempest'
contains elements of a masque and it was originally performed at courts.
The masque was a popular form of entertainment in the courts of Queen
Elizabeth and King James. The play script was written at a time when
belief in the supernatural was widespread and King James I had written a
treatise in 1603.
Magic power
The people believed in white magic by white witches (derived from
God) and black magic by black witches (derived from devil). The context
and the setting are planted in an enchanted island. The dominant key
character, Prospero, controls the destiny of other characters of the
play with his magical powers. He creates a storm at sea and a shipwreck.
He controls the activities of Caliban (a salvage and deformed slave) and
Ariel (a spirit that appears in various forms, sometimes invisible to
the others). Ariel is not human.
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The shipwreck in Act I, Scene 1, in an 1797 engraving based on a
painting by George Romney. |
Fast tracked acts
Ariel was released from the magical imprisonment by another witch,
Sysorax. Ariel sings four songs. In one song the audience would observe
that Ferdinand is leading towards Miranda. In another Ferdinand is
persuaded to believe that his father, Alonso is dead. In the third song
Ariel wakes up Gonzalo and saves his king from the conspiracy of Antonio
and Sebastian who were planning to kill Alonso. The last song is that is
interesting of all his songs and expresses his sense of joy in
anticipation of his freedom from bondage to Prospero. Prospero is
responsible for the schematic development and marriage between his
daughter, Miranda and Ferdinand, his rival's son.
The play has five acts. It starts with a shipwreck, a dramatic
opening. King Alonso of Naples and his court including his son Ferdinand
are returning from the wedding of King Alonso's daughter in Tunisia.
Prospero and his daughter Miranda watch the shipwreck in the sea storm.
Act I also shows the disappearance of Ferdinand, and Ariel luring him to
Prospero's cell in the island where he falls in love with Miranda.
Caliban attempts to rape Miranda, but he is cursed by Prospero ending up
a slave to him, despite his claims to be the sole owner of the enchanted
island. Ferdinand and Mirando fall in love through the power of
Prospero's magic and Ariel in its invisible form plays a mediating role
in this love affair.
In act II, we observe that Antonio and Sebastian who come to the
island with Alonzo plotting to kill Alonzo in his sleep, so that
Sebastian may become the king of Neples. But Ariel wakes Alonzo and
saves him. Caliban meets Stephano and Trinculo of Gonzolo's party. The
foolish Caliban thinks them to be gods and promises to join hands with
them. Both Trinculo and Stephano think Caliban to be a monster and they
want to exploit him. Caliban is given drinks and he promises them to
show the riches of the island now being robbed by Prospero. He cursed
Prospero for making him a slave and being tortured.
Rendering
We see Ferdinand carrying logs to Prospero in act III and Miranda
being attracted to him. She takes him to be a god and promises to marry
him. Caliban persuades Stephano and Trinculo to murder Prospero. Ariel
appears before Alonzo and denounces the betrayal of Prospero. Act IV,
shows the audience the splendour of a masque. Prospero orders Ariel to
perform a masque with the participation of the spirits so as to
celebrate the betrothal of the couple. The spirits dance and sing
wearing coloured dresses and represent Greek Goddesses like Iris
(goddess of the rainbow), Juno (queen of the Gods), and Ceres (goddess
of fertility).
The masque comes to an abrupt end as it was revealed that Caliban
together with Stephino and Trinculo are conspiring to kill Prospero. But
Ariel has charmed these three conspirators and driven them into a
stagnant pool. The final act is a revelation by Prospero. Here he
reveals himself to Alenzo in a magic circle. Propsero was the former
duke of Milan, banished by his brother Antonio in a very shrewd way,
with the help of Alonso. In fact Alonso was an innocent person in this
affair, so forgiven by Prospero. Ferdinand and Miranda are revealed.
Alonzo restores Peropero's dukedom. Ariel receives its freedom from
Prospero.
Decisive authority
Finally Prospero gives up his magical powers. The only female
character in 'The Tempest' is pretty 15-year old Miranda, who has spent
over 12 years in the lonely island with her father Prospero. Prospero is
the most powerful man with decisive magical powers. He controls all the
events and characters of the play. Caliban is an interesting character.
He is part man and part beast subjected to long years of torture by
Propsero, who wanted to take revenge from Propsero.
Ariel is a spirit who is faithful to Prospero. He is at times
invisible. He signs and dances. Ferdinand is the son of Alonso, the king
of Nepals. Alonzo's faithful counsellor is Gonzalo. He is an optimistic
character in a crisis. Antoneo, Sebestian Stephano and Trinculo are evil
characters in this play. Antonio is ruled by lust for power and urges
and plots with Sebastian to kill his own brother King Alonzo.
'The Tempest' is a poetic verse drama and Shakespeare shows his
poetic acumen in this play. Blank verse is largely used to express
emotive situations by the characters of high status. But Caliban often
uses blank verse even in ordinary conversation. Prose is used by the
higher status characters in most instances whenever important
information is transmitted. Prose is useful for the audience to
understand the structure of the plot. In diction there are several
instances where pun is extensively employed, in the comic scenes. |
