Studied by 0 peopleWhat is an alchemical tempest?
A moment of change in an alchemical experiment — however it is also, of course, a storm. This is a pun/metaphor deployed by Shakespeare.
What is the Divine Right of Kings and from where does the idea originate?
The belief that the monarch was preordained to their role by God, and therefore regicide was not only treason but sacrilegious. The idea originated from European Christianity.
What is the Scala Naturae?
The Great Chain of Being: a Christian belief that God created a hierarchical structure to all entities which placed God at the apex, then angels, then humanity (descending from royalty → proletarians), and the ecological climate last. This was not seen as malleable.
How was Aristotle’s belief in fate different to the typical Jacobean belief?
Aristotle believed that date was malleable while Jacobean populations did not.
Which commandment defined parent-child relationships? What does Kathryn Martin say about this?
The 5th commandment: honour thy mother and father
Kathryn Martin says: “this was particularly prevalent with fathers and daughters (perhaps the greatest victim of the patriarchal family)”.
How was a woman’s status determined in Jacobean England? What is this known as?
Femme couverture
She would be an extension of her father who would then “pass her on” to a husband, becoming part of his property. By law, married couples were regarded as one public figure, which was the husband.
Why were women expected to be virginal until their marriage? How did this affect their daily life?
Because this ensured no complications in the establishment of heirs for their husbands — amongst upperclassmen daughters were often used as geopolitical pawns to create good connections.
This meant that the courting process was preconcerted and calculated, and women were selected from a combination of their connections and their looks.
How were men and women educated differently in Jacobean England?
Sons became part of the schooling system and were raised in preparation to inherit familial land and titles.
Women were schooled in domestic labours in preparation for their expected marriage and future motherhood.
How did the Church enforce Jacobean patriarchy?
In the 17th Century an improvement in printing and less expensive books created an explosion in “conduct books” which often linked to religious ideas such as the story of Genesis which affirms the idea that the subjugation of women was divinely ordained due to Eve’s “original sin”.
What is courtly love and where did the concept originate?
A courting process between a knight and noblewoman which followed a structured set of courting rituals that adhere to traditional conventions of knighthood and chivalry. Often associated with motifs of yearning and admiration, as well as self-sacrificial rituals.
This was developed by French lyrical poets and used extensively in European literature.
Give a contemporary example of a woman used as a geopolitical pawn. How does this link to the Tempest?
James I’s daughter Elizabeth Stuart was wed to Frederick V of the Palatinate to ease political tensions that James inherited from Elizabeth I.
This play was revised for and performed in Whitehall in 1613 to celebrate this wedding.
How does James I link to Shakespeare?
He adopted Shakespeare’s theatre company, who became known as the King’s Men only a few months into his rule
Why was James I heavily criticised as a monarch?
He was known to be overly-infatuated with witchcraft/ the supernatural — for example, he authored Daemonologie (1597) which detailed how to look out for, hunt, and find proof of witches — e.g. looking for devil’s marks with the case study of Agnes Sampson. Witches were frequently used as scapegoats and preoccupied James’ career.
How might Prospero’s redemption link to James I?
Prospero abandoned his studies to unify everyone again. This may be a message to James to similarly abandon his infatuations and work on his goals — for example unifying Scotland and England to make Great Britain.
What is the Basilikon Doron?
A letter from James I (1599) in which he draws on his experience with kingship — for example saying kings are “set upon a publicke stage, in the sight of all the people”, saying to his son Henry to mix justice and mercy, and admitting to being too lenient as a ruler.
What was the Jamestown voyage?
A settler colonial mission which embarked on December 6, 1606. 3 ships were sent to North America and create a settlement named after King James I.
What are the Bermuda Pamphlets and how do they link to the Tempest?
A ship heading to Jamestown in 1609 was wrecked on the coast of Bermuda in a hurricane — news of this reached home via the Bermuda pamphlets. The Tempest shares distinct similarities with the written narrative of the event called the True Reportory, and it is speculated that Shakespeare drew inspiration from it perhaps in its colonial narratives.
Describe the Smallpox pandemic.
Smallpox was a virus brought most predominantly to America by Spanish colonists in the 16th Century. This killed over 90% of native Inca people.
Describe the events of the 16-19th Century Triangular slave trade.
This was the transatlantic trade, the most historically significant trade which operated between Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
This involved the physical trading of slaves as well as forced labour on plantations to work ans produce “cash crops” such as sugar, cotton, and tobacco.
How did benign and settler colonialism affect natives?
Enforced a loss of culture through means such as the enforcement of new language, religion (Christianity), and Western re-education. This was both to enforce submission but also to correct behaviours that colonists saw as savage — for example native tribes would not eat a set 3 meals per day.
What ideas does Montaigne’s Des Cannibales (1580) draw upon?
Draws attention to the European tendency to use Europe as a model society, and says that those inhabiting the oriental “New World” are only barbarous through their close connection to the original state and laws of nature, thus re-framing the “savage” perspective.
How was alcohol used to control slaves, according to Frederick Douglas?
Alcohol was used to trick slaves into thinking they were being treated well by providing “holidays”, but Douglas also said slaveowners used to bet on slaves being able to drink more whiskey than another, to induce rivalry but to re-direct aggression and therefore reduce the threat of rioting.
What is Thomas More’s Utopia (1r41 about?
The book envisions a social realm where visionary schemes are implemented to achieve social and political “perfection” — for example, war and violence are surpassed to achieve peaceful & orderly societies.
How do Shakespeare’s and More’s views contrast?
More believes that a return to a primitive state of being would reveal the innocent nature of man.
Shakespeare instead believed that societal evil stemmed from within man innately, not from the “corruption of manners” by civilisation. (He shows this as Gonzalo strives for primitivism yet is still subject to the temptation of social authority.)
Who is Niccolò Machiavelli and what is his book, The Prince, about?
An Italian diplomat who believed that even good people should strategically do bad things as wicked people tend to win social conflicts. Therefore in order to achieve great good you must be willing to be bad.
How were clothes regulated in Jacobean society?
They were regulated to reinforce social hierarchies by creating a subtle blockade of the fluidity between social structures — for example it was law before 1604 that only the Royal Family could wear “any silk of the colour purple”.
What is a masque?
Masques were popular forms of entertainment in England in the 16th-17th Centuries — they often featured masked actors performing allegorical stories derivative of mythology and folklore.
How does Shakespeare use Roman mythology within his masque?
Juno: Goddess of marriage
Ceres: Goddess of agriculture and maternalism
This allegorically glorifies marriage as both the foundation of society and the natural order of the world, given the accord between marriage and nature in the speech of Ceres.
What does Aristotle say about spectacle?
It is the least important component of theatre as plays can also be read as texts and achieve the same effects.
What is Neoplatonic philosophy?
Popularised in Florence in the 15th Century from the original philosopher Plotinus who argues that artists create works that directly imitate forms of their ideal realities.
How is God presented in the Old Testament?
In Ezekiel 13 and 14 God says he will turn against Israelites as they worship idols, so he will allow them to do bad deeds and thus return to God after their punishment. In 2 Samuel it says “divine deception is at times necessary to rescue Israel and bring restoration” — this may link to the Harpy Scene.
Which magus does Prospero mirror?
John Dee — a magus who was part of Elizabeth’s court however was tried in court and had to prove his practices were harmonious with the divine.
Who may Prospero ultimately stand in for?
Shakespeare himself
Why is Prospero’s final speech significant?
This was Shakespeare’s last play before retiring
Why is stagecraft so important in this play?
The first production of it was in 1611 in the Blackfriars theatre which was a new indoor space as opposed to the Globe theatre which was outdoors. This allowed Shakespeare to make more use of special effects as e.g. it avoided weather complications, the musicians occupied the gallery above the stage which entwined music with action, candles were used for lighting and so could be blown out as SFX, and people could be suspended from the ceiling as well as be descended into the floor.
What does Kobiyashi say about Elizabethan clowning?
He says that the two most famous clowns in the 1580s gained popularity for their “improvisational and witty talk”
One of these is Tarleton — who is described by Henry Peacham as appearing “like a rogue…in a blue coat with one sleeve, his stockings out at the heels, and his head full of straws and feathers”
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