The tempest offers little more than a tale of travel and discovery.

intro

• 1611 tragicomedy play

• circumnavigation of the globe easier through cartography

• allows for dev. of humanity

• prospero as coloniser

• setting allows for pastoral elements

• dev. of courtly love

P1 new discovery through..

• Prospero as EU coloniser

• “th’ islands mine which thou tak’st from me”

• echoes Montaignes of critique of colonial mentality in essay “Of Cannibals” C. represents indigenous culture of Americas.

• rightful ownership

• Ariel: “my liberty” “before the time be out? No more!”

• stichomythia, desperation to maintain control

• topical concept of circumnavigation travel to foreign land

• Xp studied Hakylut’s pamphlets probably influencing his view on sea travel.

• “just another white coloniser” due to displacement of C’s authority

• Miranda ; “ softer colonialism “

• ‘i took pains to make thee speak

• civilising mission

P2 forgiveness

• prospero’s anagnorisis agree to free C and A

• ‘thou shalt have freedom’

• character dev. reminicent of renaissance interest in individualism, humanism and potential for human growth

• ‘the rarer action is in virtue than vengance’ shows his anagnorisis toward good christin values like forgiveness

• differs from ‘my high charms work, mine enemies are knit up in my distractions’ this aside shows he is calculated not forgiving

• forgives Antonio too ‘mine would sir were i human’ ‘mine shall’

• Bowen: p. learned the ‘virtue of mercy and reconcilliation’

P3 play about love

• follows f and m’s love story

• elemens of a pastoral play used, often contained to comedy genre, allows character to subvert norms.

• removed from polit. structures of city settings.

• their courtship is subversive

• orchestrated by P “curtains of thine eyes… see yond”

• metatheatrical metaphor of eyelashes ; importance of beauty in era and opening her eyes to a new ‘scene’

• both immediately fall in love ; ‘i have no ambition to meet a goodlier man’ ‘o wonder’ ‘a godess’ ‘..a spirit?’

• said to be the ‘very purity of love’

• deviates norms ; presented as equals

• ‘if youll sit down ill bear your logs the while’

• and in the chess game ‘a score kingdoms you should wrangle id call it fair play’

• displays her intellect in a game which has fair partners showing she is equal to F

• marriage masque ; special effects, magic, a spectacle uncommon for normal people but a traditiomn is james 1 court .

• play is ‘most evidently experimental’ due to its ref. to pastoral elements such as setting allowing for magic, transformation, love and a detached setting from social and political expectations.

outro

not just as simple as of travel and discovery but is also about love and humanity using a detached setting away from restrictions of politics