Tempest Key Quotations - created from Mind Map

Page 1

This island's mine, by Sycorax my mother, Which thou takest from me.

but I feel not This deity in my bosom: twenty consciences, That stand 'twixt me and Milan, candied be they And melt ere they molest!

thou didst seek to violate The honour of my child.

I'll break my staff ... drown my books'

'You are three men of sin'

'...this thing of darkness I acknowledge mine'

Introduces the theme of colonialism

Act 1 sc. 1 said by Caliban to Prospero

Shows ownership of the island is disputed

Social hierarchy dictates that Caliban should not own land

'Caliban cannot rule the island because he is not fully human' (Butler)

Colonialism in its infancy in Jacobean England e.g. Magellan in Patagonia (heads in chests)

'deity in the bosom' suggests the idea of an omnipotent god - he must be obeyed

The melting of the consciences suggests that they have no impact, like an ice dagger that has melted

Link to Machiavelli - do whatever is necessary, ignore morality.

If Miranda had been 'deflowered', a 'deflowered daughter would have tainted the family. (Butler)

According to Montaigne 'primitive societies' had different sexual norms. This was abhorrent to western minds

Uses his magic for good; neo-platonic science

'For all Propseros, the price of forgiveness is the requirement to forgo magic' (Butler)

By their actions they set in motion the play. Without the act of usurpation, there is no play.

The motif of usurpation is seen again in the play: Sebastian and Antonio plot against Alonso; Caliban plots against Prospero.

'He has taken all the necessary archetypes and integrated them within himself. We have seen the unconscious played out as fantasy and then a return to reality.'(Barry Beck)

Prospero is acknowledging the dark side of his personality (Jungian interpretation)

Prospero's forgiveness has its limits - no sign of real forgiveness here.