Annotated Bibliography The Tempest

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Aakash Dave

Annotated Bibliography- The Tempest

Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. 1604. Ed. Peter Holland. New York: Penguin, 1999.

The Tempest by William Shakespeare was a classic play written circa 1604. There were twelve different characters in The Tempest that shaped the play to make it one of the best. Three characters though played a major role that made the play brilliant. First was the protagonist of the play Prospero. Prospero, in his past, was the duke of Milan but was forced off the island by his brother and the King of Naples. He lived on the island for twelve years hoping to master magic then punishing and forgiving his enemies. Second is Miranda who is Prospero’s daughter. She was brought onto the island at a young age and did not know many people besides from her father and Caliban. She was nice, sympathetic, and obedient to her Prospero and tended no not judge others. Last but not least is Caliban. He was one of Prospero’s servants; who also met with Prospero when he had first arrived to the island. Caliban believed that Prospero had taken the island from him and that it was rightfiully his.

Some other characters were Ariel, Ferdinand, Alonso, Antonio, Sebastian, Gonzalo, Trinculo, Stephano, and the Boatswain.

Ariel was Prospero’s spirit helper. The character’s gender was never mentioned in the play but is usually referred to as a man. He was one of Prospero’s servants until he was released and he acts rather mischievous and appears almost everywhere. He has the power to travel across the island in the blink of an eye and has the ability to change shape when he pleases. He helps with almost everything the Prospero needed to accomplish in the play.

Ferdinand is son of Alonso as well as the heir to the throne of Naples. He is quite naïve and has no underlying intentions. He falls in love with Miranda at first glimpse and does everything Miranda’s father tells him so that he would allow the two to marry.

Another character is Alonso; he is the King of Naples and helped Antonio usurp Prospero as the Duke of Milan. He blames the death of his son on himself saying that it was because he married the Prince of Tunis to his daughter. He also ends up regretting his decision of unseating Prospero after the events of the magical banquet.

Antonio is the power-hungry and idiotic brother of Prospero. He plans to kill Alonso in his sleep but gets caught when Antonio suddenly awaked.

Sebastian was the brother of Alonso. He is similar to Antonio but is more aggressive and afraid. He was easily convinced by Antonio to kill his brother and once caught tells a frivolous story about fending off lions.

Gonzalo was an old but honest lord who helped Miranda and Prospero escape once Antonio took Prospero’s throne.

Trinculo was one of the members of the shipwreck along with Stephano. Trinculo was a jester and Stephano was a drunken butler. Combined they added a bit of humor in the play and took the mind set off of the main struggles.

The Boatswain only appeared twice in the play but added happiness at disastrous times in the play. He looked as if unaffected when the shipwreck occurred and was a practical person.

Summary

As the scene begins a monstrous storm rages on a small ship is stuck in the middle of it at sea. The master calls for the boatswain and tells him to wake up the mariners so that they could possibly prevent the ship from going aground. As the storm rages on the mariners approach out and then come a group of nobles consisting of Alonso, Antonio, Sebastian, and Gonzalo. They are told to go below the deck by the boatswain and declared that he will do what is necessary to save the boat. Antonio and Sebastian start cursing wildly trying to hide their fear while Gonzalo orders the mariners to pray for the prince and the king. Out of nowhere comes a noise that in unidentifiable and Gonzalo, Sebastian, and Antonio go searching for the king while on the brink of a watery death.

As the second scene comes, Miranda and Prospero view the scene of the shipwreck from an island. Miranda attempts to convince Prospero to go see that no one had been hurt, but Prospero assures her that no one is hurt and then tells her to learn her true identity and where she comes from. Prospero then tells Miranda a story about how he used to be the Duke of Milan and how he was known throughout for his great intelligence. He says that as he became more interested in his studies he began to neglect the duties as the duke. This gave Antonio opportunity to side with the King of Naples, raise an army, and taking over Milan. He catches Miranda up to speed on what happened and then says how it is sheer luck that his enemies have come to the island. Miranda grows sleepy, most likely because of Prospero’s magic and she falls asleep. Prospero, making sure that she is asleep, calls his spirit, Ariel. He converses with Ariel and Ariel tells about how Prospero and Ariel were responsible for the shipwreck and that Ariel acted as the ravaging storm. It is now learned that Prospero wanted the shipwreck to happen but wanted them all spread out on the island and for all of them to be safely brought to shore. Ariel also tells Prospero that the mariners and the Boatswain were headed back to Naples. Prospero thanks Ariel for his help and then reminds him that Prospero is required to take off one year from his servitude. Prospero is not happy about this he goes on telling Ariel how he rescued him from being the servant of a witch and says that he will sentence Ariel to twelve years in prison. Ariel tells Prospero that he will be more polite. Prospero then tells him to do something else; he must make himself invisible to all others except for Prospero, and Ariel does just so. Prospero goes into Miranda’s sleeping form and tells her to wake up. Once she does, Miranda claims that the Prospero’s strange story was the reason she fell asleep.

As the second scene continues, Miranda awakens fully and she and Prospero go to have a chat with Caliban. Caliban came when Prospero called and started cursing, Prospero says that he will give him cramps at night, and Caliban starts to scold Prospero for imprisoning him on an island that was once his. He tells Prospero that he was the first person to show him around when he arrived. Prospero counters by calling Caliban ungrateful for that he was the one who educated him. Caliban then remembers that the only reason he knew how to curse is because Miranda had taught him how. Prospero tells him to go away and get firewood while threatening him with several medical conditions. Caliban does so. Ariel then enters singing and playing music and following him is Ferdinand. Miranda is told by Prospero to look after Ferdinand but, immediately falls in love with him because she had never seen any other human except for her father and Caliban. Ferdinand quickly tells Miranda that he is the prince of Naples but Prospero accuses him of being a fraud and threatens to imprison him. Ferdinand draws his sword but quickly Prospero charms him into not being able to move. Miranda tells her father not to be so harsh and to have mercy on him. But Prospero sends Ferdinand to imprisonment. Prospero quietly thanks Ariel and tells him that he will be free soon and concludes the second scene.

While the love burns between Ferdinand and Miranda, Gonzalo, Antonio, Sebastian, and Alonso search for Ferdinand on a completely different side of the island. While Alonso has lost both hope and courage, Gonzalo tries to cheer him up but meets resistance from Antonio and Sebastian. Gonzalo tries to look at the situation from a good perspective saying that they are lucky that they have survived and is on this island, but is mocked. Alonso brings the conversation to a halt and says that Gonzalo is having regrets about marrying his daughter in Tunis. This leads to more bickering and Sebastian telling his brother that it is his fault because he married his daughter to an African. But, a minor lord with the name of Francisco appears and tells them that he had saw Ferdinand swimming away from the shipwreck. This although did not satisfy anyone. Gonzalo tries to make the best of the situation once again and is again mocked by Antonio and Sebastian. Finally all but Antonio and Sebastian fall asleep, Antonio tries to convince Sebastian to kill his brother and justifies it with Sebastian being the heir to the throne. Antonio once again says that the best decision he had ever made was usurping Prospero’s throne. So Sebastian decides to do it. As Sebastian and Antonio figure out the last details of the plan, and draw their swords but, Ariel appears in Gonzalo’s dream and says that something bad is going to happen to the king. Gonzalo wakes up right up and yells and wakes everybody else up while the two have their swords drawn. Sebastian and Antonio claim that they heard a noise so they drew their swords, but Gonzalo doesn’t buy it. But, he decides to keep it to himself and not challenge the word of the two nobles.

As the second scene of the first scene starts, Caliban appears with a stack of wood. He begins complaining to Prospero that the spirits have been doing hurtful things to him when he curses. While he has the sprits in mind, Trinculo appears and Caliban hides in a cloak thinking it’s one of the spirits here to pinch him. Trinculo debates whether whatever under the cloak was a man or a fish, but as the storm came he had no other choice but to go under the cloak with Caliban. He thinks of bringing Caliban to England and putting him in one of the freak shows to make some money. This leads to Stephano entering while consuming alcohol and dancing. He hears as Caliban wildly yells for the sprits not to "torment" him. When he sees four legs from under the cloak he deduces that it’s a monster and with a fever and that he should relieve that fever with a drink. Trinculo immediately recognizes Stephano’s voice and he calls out. Stephano pulls Trinculo and pours liquor into Caliban’s mouth. Caliban says that he wants to worship him so Stephano decides to take advantage of him while he’s drunk. Caliban says that he will show them around the island.

The first scene of the third act shows Prospero at cell where Ferdinand is doing all of Caliban’s work without complaining or even cursing. He is actually happy serving Miranda because he loves her. While working Miranda enters and tells Ferdinand to take a break, but, when neither Miranda nor Ferdinand was paying attention, Prospero entered. Miranda and Ferdinand talk about he is soon to be a king, though he hopes that his father is still alive. Miranda doesn’t care whether Ferdinand was a prince or a king; she just simply asked him if he loved her. He replied that he did and Miranda proposed to Ferdinand. Prospero spectating quietly comes forth and he is happy because he knew that it would eventually happen. The scene ends with Prospero rummaging through his book of magic to get ready for later coming business.

The second scene of the third act begins with Stephano, Trinculo, and Caliban drinking and roaming the island. Stephano started to refer to Caliban as the "servant monster" and keeps giving him more alcohol. While they are all drunk they begin to quarrel and Stephano begins to call himself the "Lord of the Island" and threatens to hang Trinculo if he keeps making fun of his servant monster. Ariel appears (invisible) and starts to stir up trouble. He says to Caliban that he is "subject to a tyrant, a sorcerer, who by his cunning hath cheated me of the island." Ariel starts talking more bad things but, since he is invisible, Caliban thinks that it is Trinculo who is doing it. Stephano confronts Trinculo asking him whether he said that to Caliban or not and he says that he didn’t, so they converse more. In the midst of this conversation, Caliban admits that he wants revenge of Prospero. Ariel keeps interrupting so Stephano hits Trinculo because Stephano thinks that he is doing it. Caliban begins to start plotting for revenge, he decides that the first step is to take the magic books from Prospero, kill him, and take his daughter. He decides that then he would be the king of the island and that Miranda would be his queen. At the conclusion of the second scene of the first act, Ariel plays a tune which scares Stephano and Trinculo but Caliban tells them to remain calm. The three decide to follow the music to see where it takes them and then go kill Prospero.

At the opening of the final scene of third act begins, Gonzalo, Antonio, Sebastian, and Alonso, and their companions’ become tired, Alonso loses faith and gives up on finding his son, and Antonio still plans on killing Alonso. This leads to Antonio telling Sebastian that it is going to be the perfect time to kill Alonso because he is exhausted and will not be expecting it. At this point, spirits begin to come in different shapes and forms, they begin to dance, and they serve the king food. Prospero enters at this time but declares himself invisible. The group of men decide whether it is a good idea or not to eat the food. Gonzalo decides that it is a bad idea for them to eat the food and that there is a possibility something bad may occur. But the group doesn’t listen. Right when they were beginning to eat, thunder came out of nowhere. Ariel appears in the form of a harpy, he begins to his wings and the entire banquet disappears. Ariel mocks the men because they draw their swords because he made them really heavy so they could not be drawn. Ariel begins to call himself an "instrument of faith" and he accuses Antonio, Alonso and Sebastian of kicking Prospero out of Milan and leaving him stranded with his child in the ocean. He says that their punishment for this is the taking of Ferdinand for revenge on Alonso. At the end of the third act, Prospero is now pleased that his enemy’s fate is in his hands now and he leaves to go check up on Miranda and Ferdinand. Alonso becomes suicidal; he runs to go drown himself and is chased by the younger lords to prevent him from making a bad decision. Meanwhile, Sebastian and Antonio are fighting with the spirits and Gonzalo sends more of the younger lords to go after them to make sure they don’t make any rash decisions.

At the opening of the fourth act Prospero gives his consent for Miranda and Ferdinand to get married as long as the promise not the break the "virgin-knot" before the marriage ceremony has taken place. Prospero then calls in Ariel to appear in the shape of various Roman gods and a masque is performed by them. Ferdinand says that he wants to stay on the island forever. But just as the masque is being performed, Prospero shoos the spirits away remembering that it was almost time for Caliban to try to kill him. Prospero makes a small speech about the masque and says that he needs to go for a walk claiming that it would sooth him. Prospero immediately called Ariel and Ariel informed Prospero that he had used the music to guide the drunks through pointy plants and led them directly to a nasty pond. Prospero thanks Ariel for saving him from the three soon to be assassins. At the end of the fourth act Ariel and Prospero decide to build a trap. Prospero puts up a clothesline and he and Ariel hung up irresistible, fine clothing which would be too tempting for them not to steal. So Prospero and Ariel become invisible and they wait. Soon enough, despite Caliban’s protest, the three came to steal the clothing. Once they touched the clothing, various spirits in the form of hounds began to drive the three away.

As the final act arrived, Ariel tells Prospero it is six o’clock, meaning it was time for him to stop working. Prospero in a way ignores this and asks Ariel how the king and the others were doing. Ariel tells him that Sebastian, Alonso, and Antonio are going mad with fear, and Gonzalo cries constantly. Prospero tells Ariel to release the men. He then talks about his feelings and how he is going to give up magic, break his staff, and drown his magic book. Ariel shows up once again with Antonio and all the others who have been spelled and are standing in a circle. Prospero lectures them while they are charmed and he thanks Gonzalo for not betraying him and tells Ariel to go get the clothes he used to wear when he was the Duke of Milan. Ariel returns almost immediately and tells him that he is going to give his loyal, helping spirit freedom. As Prospero releases Alonso and the others from the spell he talks to them. He tells Antonio that he is over the past, but he wants his former title back, but Antonio doesn’t say a word back, in fact doesn’t say a word the rest of the play. This leads to Alonso asking about Ferdinand, teasing, Prospero says that he has lost a son in the storm, but reveals that both Ferdinand and Miranda were there. From then on Prospero tells the three thieves to return the fancy clothing, clean it and get ready for the evening. He then tells Alonso to stay the night so he could tell him about the last twelve years. He also says that once they were back in Naples, he planned on getting Ferdinand and Miranda married, and then going to Milan where he tends to spend the rest of his life. The last command Prospero gives to Ariel before leaving is to make sure their trip back is on calm seas.

Themes

The first predominant theme in The Tempest by William Shakespeare was the phantasm of justice. The play tells of Prospero’s brother, Alonso, usurping Prospero’s throne. From then on the play shows Prospero trying to bring back justice by reinstating himself to power. But, Prospero’s view of justice and injustice is both hypocritical and bias in most cases. Like in act I, Prospero is frenetic when his brother usurped him but then has no problem with enslaving two people for his personal benefit.

The final theme in the play was colonization. As Shakespeare showed us the view from a European colonizer and native peoples through the eyes of Prospero and Caliban, it showed the Prospero thought lesser of Caliban. Prospero believes the Caliban should thank him because he is educating him and bringing him above the others. Caliban though quickly finds out Prospero’s view of him and he turns bitter and violent once he realizes that he had traded his leadership abilities for an education. Shakespeare demonstrated through the relationship of, Prospero and Caliban, how miscommunication between the colonizer and the already settled lead to conflict, struggle, and distrust between both sides.

The colonizer and the colonized are not only the problem, Shakespeare displays the angst and prospect that settling brings. He showed how the introduction to different races leads to intolerance and racism. An example is the situation with Alonzo and Sebastian where Sebastian frowns upon Alonzo’s decision to let his daughter marry an African.

Finally, Shakespeare shows in The Tempest that colonization brought forth the idea of slavery. This is shown later in the play with Trinculo and Stephano when they contemplate capturing Caliban so they can sell him and show the people back in their home country, and while this is happening, Stephano is dreaming of himself being the ruler of the island. Along with all of this, the colonization led to testing of the new places created by using separate societies. Shakespeare discloses this idea in Golanzo’s dreams about a perfect society where he could rule his own territory.