The Tempest

A detailed Summary of The Tempest

Shakespeare's romance The Tempest along with many other works of that time help represent the arts and drama which were large parts of the Elizabethan Renaissance. Queen Elizabeth I made many of changes and influenced all England and also much of the world during her reign. She was Queen of England for forty-five years, 1558-1603 and her reign signifies tremendous political power and unparalleled achievement, so it is only appropriate that the second half of the sixteenth century was named after her. She is often considered the greatest monarch to sit on the English throne and it just so happens that her reign coincided with the English Renaissance (rebirth of the arts). She was extremely well educated and had many intellectual interests out side of the castle, because of this and her support, some of the best literature and drama was written while she was in power. She herself wrote both poetry and music and was a big supporter of the local playhouses such as The Globe. Commerce, industry, and the arts flourished while she was in power and because of her great support. She enjoyed the plays and sonnets of such great writers as William Shakespeare whose plays are virtually icons of the Elizabethan era. Shakespeare was very

Finally The Tempest displays example of the Elizabethan Renaissance theme of the interest in science/ magic. It was extremely common to have some kind of magic or supernatural entity at work in any of Elizabethan drama because magic and spirits can explain anything. No one would ever be accused of being crazy for believing in ghosts or magic in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, it was excepted in society because everything needed to be explained in one way or another (MacDonald 175). The Tempest deals with more examples of magic than science. From the opening scene of the play, this story deals with magic. The storm that the play was named after was the product of magic. The island on which Prospero and Miranda are deserted is a magical island because of Prospero's powers and because of the actions that the spirit Ariel takes and along with other factors around the island. Prospero's magic is one of the main reasons he lost his dukedom. Prospero reveals to Miranda, " The government I cast upon my brother/ And to my state grew stranger, being transported/ And rapt in secret studies" (1,2. 93-95). Prospero became so engrossed in his studies and mastery of magic that he did not see what was going to happen to him and his daughter. Because he concentrated so much time studying, he trusted the care of his dukedom over the land to his brother which was inevitably his downfall. The somewhat ironic thing is that Miranda has not even been made completely aware of the fact her father is a powerful sorcerer. She does not even know that Ariel exists. She does have a feeling of her father's powers but she is not definite of what exactly is going on which she reveals in the first few lines of her first dialogue. "If by your art, my dearest father, you have/ put the wild waters in this roar, allay them" (1,2. 1-2). Miranda reveals her obliviousness to the whole situation on this island that is filled with magic, but she does have a feeling that something is going on and that her father had something to do with the storm. She also has no idea about Ariel because whenever Prospero and Ariel meet to discuss what they plan on doing next, they will usually use magic to cast a spell and put her asleep or they will meet out of her presence. It is not until later that Prospero simply reveals the magic to her in the form of the masque in celebration of her marriage to Ferdinand. The nobles who are wrecked on the island are much like Miranda in the sense that they are oblivious to what exactly is going on and how they are being toyed with but at least Alonso quickly notices the strange occurrences. " These are not natural events,/ They strengthen from strange to stranger" (5,1. 227-228). He knows something is going on and he has a clue it could be magic, whatever it is he does not think it is just happening. Another example of the magic on the island and in the story is when Prospero abruptly stops the masque because he remembers that Caliban has convinced his drunken leaders to try and kill him. Prospero goes on to make one of his most famous speeches of the play where he compares human life to the existence of the spirits in the masque. "These our actors,/ As I foretold you, were all spirits and/ Are melted into air; into thin air;" (4,1. 165-167). He explains how he simply created these images and he has the same ability to make them disappear as he did. This proves it is simply magic, but he makes a good argument about enjoying life and the time that one is given because it passes quickly and can end just as suddenly.

First of all, The Tempest displays the elements of Elizabethan Renaissance such as humanism through many of its lead characters. In the fifteenth century the idea of humanism stemmed first from the teachings of the church where they denounce material wealth and believed in goodness in one's spirit to make noble and moral choices no matter how wealthy a person (learner.org). For a character to ex

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Approximate Word count = 2846
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English