Tempest context

Tempest context

1. Age of Colonisation and Adventure

   • Queen Elizabeth had been sending out men towards (now known as) America to enslave natives (those not under a christian leader) and use them for labour and work, for their own economic gain
   • When the Tempest was first performed in 1611 the idea of colonisation was growing in society(Jacobean era)
   • Prospero's enslavement of Caliban and Caliban's suffering
   • many think the tempest was inspired by a shipwreck that happened in 1609 - a ship got caught in a hurricane on its way to virginia and was stranded on an island called Bermuda
   • Gonzalo's speech when arriving
   • Antonio's subversion of Prospero (power hungry mindset)

2. Noble Savage

   • Idea is that nature is better left unaffected as man will never be able to replicate it's beauty and complex design
     • We cannot judge a culture that is closer to nature than our own, as it is likelier they are behaving more towards what nature had intended
   • there is a purity in the barbarism of 'savages' which is sustainable in the universes plan more than humans modern civilisation - so bringing civilisation to a noble world is like 'bring evil to good'
   • Caliban was native of the island, until he is enslaved by Propsero, dispresects the Noble savage culture and enforces his own modern culture (so prospero is real villian)
   • Gonzalo arrives and praises the untamed nature of the island, wheras others see it as dirty and wild - represents the differing mindsets

3. Chain of Being

   • The divine hierarchy created by god
   • It was believed that to disrupt/challenge this chain of being, it would be to challenge god himself and will lead to terrible chaos
     • People were expected to respect their positions in the chain of being expecterrible consequences
       • Women were seen as below men in the chain of being , with the exception of Queen Elizabeth - it was seen that Monarchs were given their position by god
   • chain of being is disrupted many times
     • Ariel expresses desire for freedom towards Prospero with lack of respect
     • Caliban attempts to overthorw Prospero
     • Antonio overthrows Prospero

4. Key

   • Topic
     • explanation
     • example

5. Magic and the Supernatural

   • During Elizabethan and Jacobean periods, many people belied in Magic - there was alot of fear around Magic and it was not seen as a positive thing
   • Many misfortunes and uncertainties of the world were explained by supernatural being/creatures - e.g. goblins and fairies controlled dreams and made people go insane
     • women who did not fit into sciety were often accused of being witches, who got blamed for illness and catastrophes and were punished or killed for working for the devil
   • King James actually wrote a book about magic called "Daemonologie"
   • Prospero and Ariel's Magic powers are used as a force of bad and cause suffering
   • Cycorax was a witch and mother of Caliban, she was killed
   • Magic is used as Power and overcomes Monarchial status

6. Marriage and Status of Women

   • Women were seen as possessions of their Father's and then their Husband's when they married
   • Women who did not Marry were seen to have failed in society and were at risk of being accused as a Witch for not fitting in
   • There were certain virtues that were essential for the success of a woman: 1. Virginity till marriage 2. obedience 3. being attractive
   • Prospero's treatment of Miranda
     • Demanded her chastity is maintained before marriage
     • used her (and her love for Ferdinand) as a tool of manipulation
     • 'Handed her over' to Ferdinand in a big ceremony (the masque)

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