Tempest Essay

“Meaning is dependent upon the responder’s personal context.”“The Tempest,” written by William Shakespeare, is a romance that combines the conventions of drama with that of Shakespearean comedies. The �tempest’ in the title refers to both the tremendous storm that opens the play and the emotional conflicts that are highlighted by what follows. The play deals mainly with forgiveness, to those who have been poorly treated. The colonialist approach communicates the idea which was not intended by William Shakespeare, but is somewhat crucial when reading and understanding the play, which reflects the responder’s personal context in the meaning of the play.

“The Tempest,” has many ideas and themes which were used by the poet to justify what he is getting at. Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work similar to “The Tempest.”

The main theme which is explored in the play is forgiveness. Prospero is willing to forget the sadness of the past and move on to a future that is hopefully to be blessed with greater happiness:

“Let us not burden our remembrances with

A heaviness that’s gone.” (Act 5, Scene 1)

There is no longer any need for the magician to call upon his fairy and this is symbolised in the setting free of Ariel:

“I’ll deliver all,

And promise you calm seas, auspicious gales,

And sail so expeditious that shall catch

Your royal fleet far off. My Ariel, chick,

That is they charge. Then to the elements

Be free and fare thou well. Please you draw near.” (Act 5, Scene 1)

Here, Prospero’s language is rich in imagery.

In the end he asks for forgiveness, directly addressing the audience in a rhyming epilogue at the conclusion of the play. He ends with:

“And as of crimes you would pardoned be

Let your indulgence set me free.” (Act 5, Scene 1)

These last words imply the completion of what he was trying to achieve (justice). Prospero is now relentless of finalising his task so he turns to the power of the responder to save him, in this case, quite literally asking for their applause and support to help him to reach Naples with the king’s party. Also, the last line is a parallel with Shakespeare’s separation from writing, as many believe that The Tempest may have been Shakespeare’s final play.

In Shakespeare's day, most of the planet was still being discovered, and stories were coming back from distant islands, with myths about the Cannibals of the Caribbean, and distant Tropical Utopias. Caliban (whose name is roughly distorted to Cannibal) can be visualised through the following lines made by Prospero:

“A devil, a born devil, on whose nature

Nurture can never stick…” ( Act 4, Scene 1)

My perception of this opinion of Prospero’s is that, he believes Caliban is incapable of being educated or trained, which has quite an aggressive tone, and is evident with the repetition of “devil” and the alliteration of the sounding letter �d’. This gives the responder an impression of the plot and its movement, as it emphasises certain points and contrasts this with Prospero’s self-awareness, towards the end of the play, where he has realised that he too, like Caliban, has an evil side to his nature.

His exile on the island has taught him that:

“This thing of darkness, I

Acknowledge mine.” (Act 5, Scene 1)

His, speech with “darkness” a very suggestive word, followed by the first person use of “I”, suggests to the reader that Prospero is genuinely exploring himself within the very depths of his mind.

The island acts like a mirror medium and Shakespeare as the composer has ingeniously constructed the setting as a result, while also commenting on the imperfections of civilization through the various flaws of those who stagger ashore. In Act III, scene ii, Caliban suggests