Study guide

for the

2003 productiom of

July 15, 1610

... a dreadful storme and hideousbegan to blow from out theNorth-east, which swelling, androaring as it were by fits, somehoures with more violence thanothers, at length did beate alllight from heaven; which like anhell of darkness turned blackupon us, so much the more fullerof horror.

William Strachey

On June 2 1609, the flagship Sea Adventure left the port of Plymouth with a fleet carrying

colonists to help fortify John Smith's colony in Virginia. During the fierce tempest described above, the

fleet was separated while traveling through the dreaded Bermuda Islands- the Isle of Devils. The Sea

Adventure was lost during the storm.

Almost a year after the fleet had set sail, the Sea Adventure arrived in Virginia. She had run

aground an island during the storm and had suffered severe damage. For almost a year the colonists and

crew lived on the deserted isle. The island was pleasant and provided more than enough resources to

repair the ship. The story of the Sea Adventure was regarded as a miracle and personal accounts and

pamphlets circulated throughout England.

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Most scholars recognize the significance this event had on a certain playwright and in 1613

Shakespeare wrote The Tempest.

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;>A storm strikes a ship carrying Alonso, Ferdinand,

Sebastian, Antonio, Gonzalo, Stefano, and Trinculo, who are enroute to Italy after coming from the wedding of Alonso'sdaughter. The royal party and the mariners begin to fear for theirlives. Lightning cracks, and the mariners cry that the ship hasbeen hit. Everyone prepares to sink.

The next scene begins much more quietly. Miranda andProspero stand on the shore of their island, looking out to sea atthe recent shipwreck. Miranda asks her father to do anything hecan to help the poor souls in the ship. Prospero assures her thateverything is all right and then informs her that it is time shelearned more about herself and her past. He reveals to her thathe orchestrated the shipwreck and tells her the lengthy story ofher past- that Prospera was the Duke of Milan until his brotherAntonio, conspiring with Alonso, the King of Naples, usurped his position. With the help of Gonzalo, Prospero wasable to escape with his daughter and with the books that are the source of his magic and power. Prospero and hisdaughter arrived on the island where they are now and have been for twelve years. Only now, Prospero says, hasFortune at last sent his enemies his way, and he has raised the tempest in order to make things right with themonce and for all.

After telling this story, Prospera charms Miranda to sleep and then calls forth his familiar spirit Ariel, his chiefmagical agent. He then makes sure that everyone got safely to the island, though they are now separated fromeach other into small groups.

Miranda awakens from her sleep, and she and Prosperogo to visit Caliban, Prospero's servant and the son of the deadwitch Sycorax. Caliban curses Prospero, and Prospero andMiranda berate him for being ungrateful for what they havegiven and taught him. Prospero sends Caliban to fetchfirewood. Ariel, invisible, enters playing music and leading inthe awed Ferdinand. Miranda and Ferdinand are immediatelysmitten with each other. He is the only man Miranda has everseen, besides Caliban and her father. Prospero is happy tosee that his plan for his daughter's future marriage is working,but decides that he must upset things temporarily in order toprevent their relationship from developing too quickly.

On another part of the island, Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio,and Gonzalo worry about the fate of Ferdinand. Gonzalo triesto maintain high spirits by talking of the beauty of the island,

but his remarks are undercut by the sarcastic sourness of Antonio and Sebastian. Ariel appears, invisible, andplays music that puts all but Sebastian and Antonio to sleep. These two then begin to discuss the possibleadvantages of killing their sleeping companions. Antonio persuades Sebastian that the latter will become ruler ofNaples if they kill Alonso and the two are about to stab the sleeping men when Ariel causes Gonzalo to wake with ashout. Everyone wakes up, and Antonio and Sebastian concoct a ridiculous story about having drawn their swordsto protect the king from lions. Ariel goes back to Prospero while Alonso and his party continue to search forFerdinand.

Caliban, meanwhile, is hauling wood for Prospero when he thinks a spirit sent by Prospero is come totorment him. He lies down and hides under his cloak. A storm is brewing, and Trinculo, enters and crawls under thecloak to protect him from the lightening. Stefano, drunk and singing, comes along and stumbles upon the bizarrespectacle of Caliban and Trinculo huddled under the cloak. Stefano decides that this monster requires liquor andattempts to get Caliban to drink. Trinculo recognizes his friend Stefano and calls out to him. Soon the three aresitting up together and drinking. Caliban quickly becomes an enthusiastic drinker, and begins to sing.

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Prospero puts Ferdinand to work hauling wood. Ferdinand finds his labor pleasant because it is for Miranda'ssake and she tells him to take a break. The two flirt with one another. Miranda proposes marriage, and Ferdinandaccepts. Prospero has been on stage most of the time, unseen, and he is pleased with this development.

Stefano, Trinculo, and Caliban are now drunk and raucous. Caliban proposes that they kill Prospera, take hisdaughter, and set Stefano up as king of the island. Stefano thinks this a good plan, and the three prepare to set offto find Prospera.

Alonso, Gonzalo, Sebastian, and Antonio grow weary from traveling and pause to rest. Antonio andSebastian secretly plot to take advantage of Alonso and Gonzalo's exhaustion, deciding to kill them in the evening.A magical banquet is then brought out by strangely shaped spirits. As the men prepare to eat, Ariel appears like aharpy and accuses the men of supplanting Prospero and says that it was for this sin that Alonso's son, Ferdinand,has been taken. He vanishes, leaving Alonso, Antonio and Sebastian mad and wracked with guilt.

Prospera now softens toward Ferdinand and welcomes himinto his family as the soon-to-be-husband of Miranda. He sternlyreminds Ferdinand, however, that Miranda's "virgin-knot" (IV.i.15)is not to be broken until the wedding has been officiallysolemnized. Prospero then asks Ariel to call forth some spirits toperform a masque for Ferdinand and Miranda. The spirits assumethe shapes of Ceres, Juno, and Iris and perform a short masquecelebrating the rites of marriage and the bounty of the earth.Prospero suddenly remembers that he still must stop the plotagainst his life. He sends Ferdinand and Miranda and the spiritsaway. Ariel and Prospero then set a trap by hanging beautifulclothing in Prospero's cell. Stefano, Trinculo, and Caliban enterlooking for Prospero and, finding the beautiful clothing, decide tosteal it. They are immediately set upon by a pack of spirits in the

shape of dogs and hounds, driven on by Prospero and Ariel.Prospero uses Ariel to bring Alonso and the others before him and confronts

Alonso, Antonio, and Sebastian with their treachery, but tells them that he forgives them.Alonso tells him of having lost Ferdinand in the tempest and Prospero says that herecently lost his own daughter. Clarifying his meaning, he draws aside a curtain to revealFerdinand and Miranda playing chess. Alonso and his companions are amazed at themiracle of Ferdinand's survival, and Miranda is amazed at the sight of people unlike anyshe has seen before. Ferdinand tells his father of his marriage.

Ariel returns with the Boatswain and mariners. The Boatswain tells a story ofhaving been awakened from a sleep that had apparently lasted since the tempest. AtProspero's bidding, Ariel releases Caliban, Trinculo and Stefano, who then enter wearingtheir stolen clothing. Prospero and Alonso command them to return it and to clean upProspero's cell. Prospero invites Alonso and the others to stay for the night so that hecan tell them the tale of his life in the past twelve years. After this, the group plans toreturn to Italy. Prospero, restored to his dukedom, will retire to Milan. Prospero gives Ariel one final task-s-to makesure the seas are calm for the return voyage-before setting him free. Finally, Prospera delivers an epilogue to theaudience, asking them to forgive him his wrongs and set him free by applauding.

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Prospero - Father of Miranda. Twelve years before the events of the play, Prospero was the duke of Milan. Hisbrother, Antonio, in concert with Sebastion and Alonso, king of Naples, usurped him, forcing him to flee in a boatwith his daughter. The honest lord Gonzalo aided Prospero in his escape. Prospero has spent his twelve years onthe island refining the magic that gives him the power he needs to punish and forgive his enemies.

Miranda - The daughter of Prospero, Miranda was brought to the island at an early age and has never seen anymen other than her father and Caliban. Because she has been sealed off from the world for so long, Miranda'sperceptions of other people tend to be natve and non-judgmental. She is compassionate, generous, and loyal toher father.

Ariel - Prospero's spirit helper. Rescued by Prospero from a long imprisonment at the hands of the witch Sycorax,Ariel is Prospero's servant until Prospero decides to release him. It is Ariel's pity for the tormented court that allowsProspero to see his own hardened heart.

Caliban - Another of Prospera's servants. Caliban, the son of the now-deceased witch Sycorax, acquaintedProspero with the island when Prospero arrived. Caliban believes that the island rightfully belongs to him and hasbeen stolen by Prospero. His speech and behavior is sometimes coarse and brutal, as in his drunken scenes withStefano and Trinculo (lIl.ii, IV.i), and sometimes eloquent and sensitive, as in his rebukes of Prospero in Act I,scene ii, and in his description of the eerie beauty of the island in Act III, scene ii (1II.ii.130-138). Much debate hasbeen had on exactly what he looks like.

Ferdinand - Son and heir of Alonso. Ferdinand seems in some ways to be as pure and narve as Miranda. He fallsin love with her upon first sight and happily submits to servitude in order to win her father's approval.

Alonso - King of Naples and father of Ferdinand. Alonso aided Antonio in unseating Prospera as Duke of Milantwelve years before. As he appears in the play, however, he is acutely aware of the consequences of all his actionsand after the magical banquet, he regrets his role in the usurping of Prospero.

Antonio - Prospero's brother. Antonio quickly demonstrates that he is power-hungry and foolish. In Act II, scene i,he persuades Sebastian to kill the sleeping Alonso. When Prospera forgives his brother it is unclear as to whetherAntonio actually excepts his forgiveness.

Sebastian - Alonso's brother. He is persuaded to kill his brother in Act II, scene i. He was part of the plot of theoverthrow of Prospero.

Gonzalo - An old, honest lord, Gonzalo helped Prospero and Miranda to escape after Antonio usurped Prospero'stitle. Gonzalo's speeches provide an important commentary on the events of the play, as he remarks on the beautyof the island when the stranded party first lands, then on the desperation of Alonso after the magic banquet, and onthe miracle of the reconciliation in Act V, scene i.

Trinculo and Stefano - Trinculo, a jester, and Stefano, a drunken butler, are two minor members of theshipwrecked party. They provide a comic foil to the other, more powerful pairs of Prospero and Alonso and Antonioand Sebastian. Their drunken boasting and petty greed reflect and deflate the quarrels and power struggles ofProspero and the other noblemen.

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"WitI amThemes

Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.

The Illusion of Justice - The Tempest tells a fairly straightforward story involving an unjust act, the usurpation ofProspero's throne by his brother, and Prospero's quest to re-establish justice by restoring himself to power.However, the idea of justice that the play works toward seems highly subjective, since this idea is the view of onecharacter who controls the fate of all the other characters. Though Prospero represents himself as a victim ofinjustice working to right the wrongs that have been done to him, Prospero's idea of justice and injustice issomewhat hypocritical-for example, though he is furious with his brother for taking his power, he has no qualmsabout enslaving Ariel and Caliban in order to achieve his ends and he never tells Alonso about the plot on his life byhis brother Sebastion. At many moments throughout the play, Prospero's sense of justice seems extremely one­sided, mainly involving what is good for Prospero. Moreover, because the play offers no notion of higher order orjustice to supercede Prospero's interpretation of events, the play seems somewhat morally ambiguous.

As the play progresses, however, it begins to become more and more involved with the idea of creativity andart, and Prospero's role begins to mirror more explicitly the role of an author creating a story around him. With thismetaphor in mind, and especially if we accept Prospero as a surrogate for Shakespeare himself, Prospero's senseof justice begins to seem, if not perfect, at least sympathetic. Moreover, the means he uses to achieve his idea ofjustice mirror the machinations of the artist, who also seeks to enable others to see his view of the world.Playwrights arrange their stories in such a way their own idea of justice is imposed upon events. In The Tempest,the author is in the play, and the fact that he establishes his idea of justice and creates a happy ending for all thecharacters becomes a cause, not for criticism, but for celebration. Using magic and tricks that echo the specialeffects and spectacles of the theater, Prospero gradually persuades the other characters and the audience of therightness of his case. As he does so, the arnbiqultles surrounding his methods slowly resolve themselves. Prosperoforgives his enemies, releases his slaves, and relinquishes his magic power, so that, at the end of the play, he isonly an old man whose work has been responsible for all the audience's pleasure. In this way, the establishment ofProspero's idea of justice becomes less a commentary on justice in life than on the nature of morality in art. Happyendings are possible, Shakespeare seems to say, because the creativity of artists can create them, even if themoral values that establish the happy ending originate from nowhere but the imagination of the artist.

The Difficulty of Distinguishing "Men" from "Monsters" - Upon seeing Ferdinand for the first time, Mirandasays that he is "the third man that e'er I saw" (l.ii.449). The other two are, presumably, Prospero and Caliban. Intheir first conversation with Caliban, however, Miranda and Prospero say very little that shows they consider him tobe human. Miranda reminds Caliban that before she taught him language, he gabbled "like / A thing most brutish"(l.ii.59-60) and Prospero says that he gave Caliban "human care" (l.ii.349), implying that this was somethingCaliban Ultimately did not deserve. Caliban's exact nature continues to be slightly ambiguous later. In Act IV, scenel, reminded of Caliban's plot, Prospero refers to him as a "devil, a born devil, on whose nature / Nurture can neverstick" (IV.i.188-189). Miranda and Prospero both have contradictory views of Caliban's humanity. On the one hand,they think that their education of him has lifted him from his originally brutish status. On the other hand, they seemto see him as inherently brutish. His devilish nature can never be overcome by nurture, according to Prospero;Miranda expresses a similar sentiment in Act I, scene ii: "thy vile race, / Though thou didst learn, had that in't whichgood natures / Could not abide to be with" (l.ii.361-363). The inhuman part of Caliban drives out the human part,the "good nature," that is imposed on him.

Caliban claims that he was kind to Prospera, and that Prospero repaid that kindness by imprisoning him (seel.ii.347). In contrast, Prospero claims that he stopped being kind to Caliban once Caliban had tried to rape Miranda(l.ii.347-351) to which Caliban responds saying "would it had been done". How audience decides to view Caliban(as inherently brutish, or as made brutish by oppression) the play leaves to its audience. Caliban balances all of hiseloquent speeches, such as his curses in Act I, scene ii and his speech about the isle's "noises" in Act III, scene il,with the most degrading kind of drunken, servile behavior. But Trinculo's speech upon first seeing Caliban (11.ii.18­38), the longest speech in the play, reproaches too harsh a view of Caliban and blurs the distinction between menand monsters. In England, which he visited once, Trinculo says, Caliban could be shown off for money: "There

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would this monster make a man. Any strange beast there makes a man. When they will not give a doit to relieve alame beggar, they will lay out ten to see a dead Indian" (1I.ii.28-31). What seems most monstrous in thesesentences is not the "dead Indian," or "any strange beast," but the cruel voyeurism of those who capture and gapeat them.

The Allure of Ruling a Colony - The nearly uninhabited island presents the sense of infinite possibility to almosteveryone who lands there. Prospera has found it, in its isolation, an ideal place to school his daughter. Sycorax,Caliban's mother, worked her magic there after she had been exiled from Algeria. Caliban, once alone on theisland, now Prospero's slave, laments that he was once his own king (l.ii.344-345). As he attempts to comfortAlonso, Gonzalo imagines a utopian society on the island, over which he would be the ruler (1I.i.148-156). In Act III,scene ii, Caliban suggests that Stefano kill Prospero, and Stefano immediately begins to envision his own reign:"Monster, I will kill this man. His daughter and I will be King and Queen-save our graces!-and Trinculo andthyself shall be my viceroys" (III. ii.101-1 03). Stefano particularly looks forward to taking advantage of the spiritsthat make "noises" on the isle; they will provide music for his kingdom for free. All of these characters envision theisland as a space of freedom and unrealized potential.

The tone of the play, however, toward the hopes of the would-be colonizers is vexed at best. Gonzalo'sutopian vision in Act II, scene i is undercut by a sharp retort from the usually foolish Sebastian and Antonio, WhenGonzalo says that there would be no commerce or work or "sovereignty" in his society, Sebastian replies, "yet hewould be king on't," and Antonio adds, "The latter end of his commonwealth forgets the beginning" (11.i.156-157).Gonzalo's fantasy thus involves him ruling the island while seeming not to rule it, and in this he becomes a kind ofparody of Prospera.

While there are many representatives of the colonial impulse in the play, the colonized have only onerepresentative: Caliban. We might develop sympathy for him at first, when Prospero seeks him out merely to abusehim, and when we see him tormented by spirits. However, this sympathy is made more difficult by his willingness toabase himself before Stefano in Act II, scene ii. Even as Caliban plots to kill one colonial master (Prospero) in ActIII, scene ii, he sets up another (Stefano). The urge to rule and the urge to be ruled seem inextricably intertwined.

MotifsMotifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text's

major themes.

Masters and Servants - Nearly every scene in the play either explicitly or implicitly portrays a relationship betweena figure that possesses power and a figure that is SUbject to that power. The play explores the master-servantdynamic most harshly in cases in which the harmony of the relationship is threatened or disrupted, as by therebellion of a servant or the ineptitude of a master. For instance, in the opening scene, the "servant" (theBoatswain) is dismissive and angry toward his "masters" (the noblemen), whose ineptitude threatens to lead to ashipwreck in the storm. From then on, master-servant relationships, such as the following, dominate the play:Prospera and Caliban; Prospero and Ariel; Alonso and his nobles; the nobles and Gonzalo; Stefano, Trinculo, andCaliban; and so forth. The play explores the psychological and social dynamics of power relationships from anumber of contrasting angles, such as the generally positive relationship between Prospero and Ariel, the generallynegative relationship between Prospera and Caliban, and the treachery attending on Alonso's relationship to hisnobles.

Water and Drowning - The play is awash with references to water. The Mariners enter "wet" at in Act I, scene i,and Caliban, Stefano, and Trinculo enter "all wet," after being led by Ariel into a swampy lake (IV.i.193). Miranda'sfear for the lives of the sailors in the "wild waters" (l.ii.2) causes her to weep. Alonso, believing his son deadbecause of his own actions against Prospera, decides in Act III, scene iii to drown himself. His language is echoedby Prospero in Act V, scene i when the magician promises that, once he has reconciled with his enemies, "deeperthan did ever plummet sound / I'll drown my book" (V.i.56-57).

These are only a few of the references to water in the play. Occasionally, the references to water are used tocompare characters. For example, the echo of Alonso's desire to drown himself in Prospero's promise to drown hisbook calls attention to the similarity of the sacrifices each man must make. Alonso must be willing to give up his lifein order to become truly penitent and to be forgiven for his treachery against Prospero. Similarly, in order to rejointhe world he has been driven from, Prospero must be willing to give up his magic and his power.

Perhaps the most important overall effect of this water motif is to heighten the symbolic importance of the

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tempest itself. It is as though the water from that storm runs through the language and action of the entire play­just as the tempest itself literally and crucially affects the lives and actions of all the characters.

Mysterious Noises - The isle is indeed, as Caliban says, "full of noises" (1II.ii.130). The play begins with a"tempestuous noise of thunder and lightning" (I.i.1, stage direction), and the splitting of the ship is signaled in partby "a confused noise within" (1.i.54, stage direction). Much of the noise of the play is musical, and much of themusic is Ariel's. Ferdinand is led to Miranda by Ariel's music. Ariel's music also wakes Gonzalo just as Antonio andSebastian are about to kill Alonso in Act II, scene i. Moreover, the magical banquet of Act III, scene iii is laid out tothe tune of "Solemn and strange music" (1II.iii.18, stage direction), and Juno and Ceres sing in the wedding masque(IV.i.106-117).

The noises, sounds, and music of the play are made most significant by Caliban's speech about the noisesof the island at III.ii.130-138. Shakespeare shows Caliban in the thrall of a magic that the theater audience alsoexperiences as the illusion of thunder, rain, invisibility. The action of The Tempest is very simple. What gives theplay most of its hypnotic, magical atmosphere is the series of dreamlike events it stages, such as the tempest, themagical banquet, and the wedding masque. Accompanied by music, these present a feast for the eye and the earand convince us of the magical glory of Prospero's enchanted isle.

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"And deepersound I'll1. Analyze Caliban's "the isle is full of noises" speech (1I1.ii.130-138). What makes it such a compelling andbeautiful passage? What is its relation to Caliban's other speeches, and to his character in general? What effectdoes this speech have on our perception of Caliban's character? Why does Shakespeare give these lines toCaliban rather than, say, Ariel or Miranda?

2. What is the nature of Prospero and Miranda's relationship? Discuss moments where Miranda seems to beentirely dependent on her father and moments where she seems independent. How does Miranda's characterchange over the course of the play?

3. Discuss Ferdinand's character. What is the nature of his love for Miranda? Is he a likable character? What isthe nature of his relationship to other characters?

4. Who is forgiven at the end of the play and actually excepts the forgiveness? Previous productions have hadAntonio walk away from Prospero's forgiveness. If you were to direct the last scene, how would you stage theforgiveness and who would except it? Use the text to back-up your ideas.

5. Virtually every character in the play expresses some desire to be lord of the island. Discuss two or three ofthese characters. How does each envision the island's potential? How does each envision his own rule? Whocomes closest to matching your own vision of the ideal rule?

6. Analyze the tempest scene in Act I, scene i. How does Shakespeare use the very limited resources of his barestage to create a sense of realism? How does the APT Production grapple with the opening? Previous productionshave had Prospera standing center holding a little wooden boat while the storm sounds and dialogue are heardfrom off stage. Other productions have had the court and crew enter in a tight boat-like formation while crossing thestage in a rhythmically swaying motion. When the boat splits the court and crew disperse chaotically. If you were todirect the opening tempest scene, how would you approach it?

7. "Have we devils here?" What does Caliban look like? Find all the references to Caliban's look and behaviour­"..a man or fish?" Armed with these descriptions design or describe your own costume.

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A great deal has been made of the fact that Forbidden Planet is essentially Shakespeare's The Tempest(1611) in an sf setting. It is this which transforms Forbidden Planet into far more than a mere pulpreading. The Tempest is set on a Mediterranean island where the magician Prospero lives in exile fromMilan, along with his daughter Miranda, the tamed spirit Ariel and the bestial Caliban, original lord of theisland. The idyll is upset by the arrival of various shipwrecked Milanese dignitaries, one of whom falls inlove with Miranda. Forbidden Planet transplants the play and finds science-fictional equivalents for theShakespearean characters - the magician Prospero becomes the archaeologist Morbius, Miranda becomesAltaira, Caliban becomes the Id monster, the Milanese dignitaries become the Earthmen and in atransposition that it is unlikely that Shakespeare in his wildest dreams could ever have imagined theethereal Ariel is now played by a robot. And what is even more striking is the subtext put on the play ­Caliban is transformed from the original inhabitant of the island into an amorphous 'monster from the id'made manifest, a direct nod to the era's fad for Freudian psychology. But there's also the fact thatMorbius/Prospero, despite being given an ostensible reason about wanting to protect the Krell discoveries,can be clearly read as having an unstated jealousy over the sexual attentions forced on his daughter by theearthmen. It's quite an incredible underscoring to a film, especially to find when one comes to this as afilm whose legend lies in fandom more for its successful display of pulp content.

Copyright Richard Scheib 2002

A r.1 e

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PROSPERA'SROUGH MAGIC

"IT'S IMPOSSIBLE to believe this wasn't written for a woman," director Emily Mann says of The Tempest. "It fitslike a glove."

Meet Prospera, single mom and linchpin of what many have called Shakespeare's most emotionally mature work.When Tony-winning actress Blair Brown assumed the role last February in the production Mann directed at the McCarterTheatre Center in Princeton, N.J., she was not the first woman to do so. British actress Valerie Braddell was an acclaimedProspero for the Actors Touring Company in 1981, for example, and interest in the approach has spiked since 2000, whenVanessa Redgrave played the role at London's Globe Theatre. (Like Braddell, Red grave portrayed Prospero as a man.) . Sincethen, three major U.S. theatres have each changed Prospero to Prospera, starting with an Oregon Shakespeare Festival Tempeststarring Demetra Pittman in 2001.

Some months before the McCarter production opened, Terry Bamberger played the part in a San FranciscoShakespeare Festival version that toured schools in 2002.Why the surge in Prosperas? Several actresses are frustrated by the dearth of meaty Shakespearean roles for what Pittman calls"women in their middle years." Of all the major male parts, Prospero is arguably Shakespeare's most "sexless, " if for no otherreason than that the play's isolated setting doesn't lend itself to romantic couplings. And the character's gradual transition fromvengeance to mercy has special significance to many of the female actors and directors involved.

Prospero is also one of Shakespeare's more "hands-on dads," as Brown puts it, a quality that lends itself particularlywell to the gender swap. Pittman, her Oregon counterpart, agrees: "Prospero is much more of a caregiver- almost too much, toa degree. And that's what we often associate with mother-daughter relationships. "

While the Prospera-Miranda dynamic grew more tender in both the Oregon and the McCarter productions, Prospera'sattitude toward the island's other two inhabitants-Caliban and Ariel- - became harsher. Brown and Pittman say they bothplayed Prospera as more of what Pittman calls "an oppressor of Caliban and Ariel." In particular, the relationship betweenProspero and Caliban, who lived as a free man on the island until being enslaved after attempting to violate - Miranda,becomes far more complex with the added layer of sexual tension. Phrases such as Cal iban's "When thou cam'st first / Thoustrok'st me and made much of me," and his subsequent rage toward his master, take on a very different tone when Prosperobecomes Prospera. "There's a whole 'back story' implicit, or at least possible, in the case of Prospera and Caliban" says DianaHenderson, an associate professor of literature at M.l. T. who has written extensively about Shakespeare.

The Oregon and McCarter productions deviated from the typical portrayal of Cali ban as a sort of monster or" missinglink, " turning him instead into a more conventionally handsome personage. Though the relationship between the two was leftsomewhat ambiguous in Oregon, according to the artists involved, McCarter director Manu emphasized the chemistry betweenBrown and her Caliban (Ian Kahn).

Discussing their Tempests, director Manu and actors Brown and Pittman all stressed the importance of Prospera's shifttoward an all-embracing state of mercy, embodied in the line "The rarer action / Is in virtue than in vengeance. " Duringrehearsals, said Mann, who is the McCarter's artistic director, she drew upon her firsthand exposure to the controversial Truthand Reconciliation Commission hearings in post-apartheid South Africa. This exposure was instrumental in illuminating whatshe calls "the enormous burden of forgiveness" on Prospera's part. "

Almost all of Shakespeare's plays deal with: How does one rule well? How does one rule better?" she says. "Instead ofrevenge, one could make the choice to forgive-and forgiveness is not always an easy thing. " Notable among the dynamics inher staging of the finale were Prospera's lingering, fraught glance at the newly freed Caliban and the image ofa chastenedAntonio-Prospero's brother and usurper as duke-silently walking away from Prosperas outstretched hand. As he refusesabsolution, we were reminded that being forgiven is as much a choice as forgiving.

Mann and the two actresses all believe the potential exists for many more Prospera productions. Brown, who haslobbied in the past for all- female productions of Art and Shakespeare's R&J, was ecstatic about the creation of a substantialShakespearean role like Prospera. "Most female parts in the classical repertory, good as they may be, are almost entirely aboutlove-love toward a man, love toward children," she says. " And I'm not denigrating those parts, but there are limits." AT

Eric Grode is a 2002-03 American Theatre Affiliated Writer with support from a grant by the Jerome Foundation.

"Tend to the Master's whistle ... "The following guide is provided by Joseph R. Scotese through the Folger ShakespeareLesson Plan Series.

Today students will be introduced to The Tempest. They will act out the openingshipwreck scene, or watch and direct others doing it. By doing this activity, studentswill use the text to understand the plot, see that what seemed daunting is not quite sodifficult, and have fun and embarrass themselves in the name of Shakespeare. Thisactivity will take one class period.

What to Do:1. Preparation (reading the night before)

Students will have read the opening shipwreck scene before coming in to class today.Expect (didn't they teach you never to have any "prejudgments" about students?)students to grumble that they didn't "get it."

2. Getting Started

Before you can say "lack Robinson" rush the students out to some public place thathas lots ofmovable objects like desks and chairs. Lunchrooms and study halls areideal. Break the students up into groups of seven to ten.

3. Students on Their Feet and Rehearsing the Scene

Give the students scripts of the scene from which you've removed any stagedirections, line numbers, or glosses. Have the students divide the parts for the openingscene. Make sure they include all the sailors, crashing waves, etc. Then they are firstto pantomime the entire scene, so they must plan and act out every important actionthat occurs in the scene. Give the groups a good ten minutes to do this.

4. The Finished Product

Have all the groups present their pantomimes. After each scene ask students (the onesnot performing) to quietly write down what the performing group did well and whatthey might have missed. When all of the scenes have been performed, have thestudents read their comments.

5. Directing the Spoken Scene

Randomly choose one of the groups and have the students perform the scene completewith words. Give them five minutes or so to prepare and tell them to make sure theyinclude the students suggestions for all of the scenes. If time permits, allow the otherstudents to make comments that direct the group's performance.

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What you'll Need:a lunchroom; kids who aren't afraid of getting a wee bit embarrassed; a copy of theshipwreck scene that has had all of the stage directions, line numbers, and glossestaken out

How did it Go:You can check how the students did based on their pantomimes, their comments, theirfinal production, and the inclusion of any comments such as "that wasn't as hard as itseemed last night ..."

More specifically, after you are finished, ask the students to contrast theirunderstanding of the scene before and after the exercise. (You may wish to have themwrite down their understanding of the scene before you begin, then have them write itagain after they finish.)

Carol Ja2o'S Four BoxesI've adapted her technique listed in the book, so that Elementary and Middle school students working onShakespeare can use it as well.

1. Begin with a large sheet of white paper and have the class fold it into fours.

2. Based on in-class reading or discussion of a theme or plot within the play (revenge, Prospero frees Ariel,Proteus lies to the Duke, friendship, etc.), have the students, in the FIRST BOX, draw a picture of apowerful image they had during the reading or discussion. You may assign the entire class one theme orplot or you could have the students choose the image that spoke strongest to them. This image mayormay not directly relate to the example within the play- the student may chose to represent something fromtheir life or the play, whichever is stronger. Not everyone's an artist- and artistic talent is not required- just asincere effort to get at what's in their mind's eye. Encourage them to draw a metaphor of those thoughts,feelings, or themes.

3. In the SECOND BOX, put that picture into words. Ariel is a cloud that wears cinderblock boots. She fliesaround and stuff, but she's still stuck in the mud and can't blow away like thw other clouds.

4. In the THIRD BOX, have the students pretend that they are the teacher. Have them write down what orhow they would teach the theme or plot discussed.

5. In the FOURTH BOX, have them write a poem, create a word collage, write a quote from the play, a pieceof a song, or in any other way that suited them to respond to the scene or theme drawn.

It can take a single class period or be stretched out over two or three. It provides the option of allowing students toexplore themes or scenes that they found powerful in the play and they examine this moment from variousperspectives.

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Scatterbrained SoliloquiesCan be used with 4th

- rz" graders depending on the passage.The following is provided by Russ Bartlett through the Folger Shakespeare Lesson Plan Series.

Small groups of students will look at a famous soliloquy or monologue whose lines have been written on separatepieces of paper and then scrambled. As the students work to reassemble their scrambled passages, they willbecome more aware of sentence structure, meter, meaning, characterization, and vocabulary.

You will need one scrambled soliloquy or monologue packet for each small group; each packet must be printed ondifferent colored paper.

This lesson will take one to two class periods.1. Divide the class into small groups of three to five students, and assign each group a color. Explain that

they will be looking at a passage from the current play, trying to make sense of its meaning. First (myfavorite part)...

2. Take all of your scrambled packets, mix them together for a rainbow effect, and throw them up into theair, in two or three dramatic tosses. Once the pieces of paper settle to the floor ...

3. Assure the students that you have not gone crazy. Remind each group of its assigned color, and askeach group to pick up all the pieces of that particular color. Each group should end up with the samenumber of pieces. Briefly set up the context of the speech and explain that now they must...

4. Put the speech in order, laying out the papers on their desktops or on the floor. (No peeking in theirbooks is allowed!) How can they accomplish this task, they wonder, not knowing many of the words orexpressions? Easy, you tell them...

5. Create a word bank on the blackboard, noting unfamiliar words, phrases, and concepts. Ask a fewprobing questions that might help them figure out the meanings for themselves. If students get stuck ona particular word or phrase, have the students refer to dictionaries or Shakespearean glossaries.Armed with this new knowledge, they can...

6. Put the various pieces of paper in order and be prepared to explain/defend all of the choices made.Why did you put a certain line where you did? What clues led to your group's final order? When thegroups are finished... .

7. Pick one group to read its assembled passage aloud, while other groups check it against their finishedsequences. After one group has had its chance ...

8. Check the order of the lines in each group's soliloquy, asking each group to explain its choices. List onthe board the criteria used to determine line order. Compare and contrast the different versions. Whenthe entire class has decided on the best, most accurate, plausible or even elegant version ...

9. Tack the pieces in order on a bulletin board, or punch holes in them and string them together for ahanging display. The possibilities are endless. Inform the students that they may now...

10. Consult their texts to check the order of the speech.

Were the students able to reassemble the soliloquy in logical and meaningful ways? Did the explanations offeredby group members reflect attentiveness to meaning, sound and rhyme, characterization, compatibility with priorevents occurring in the play, etc.?

"Scatterbrained Soliloquy" packets: You will need to divide up the speech into at least ten sections, writing in largeletters on white typing paper. Preserve the poetry in your transcribing (don't turn it into prose as you copy it) but feelfree to create a break in mid-line or mid-sentence. When you have broken up the passage into at least ten sections,copy the sets in different colors or number them per group, as many different colors or numbers as there aregroups participating. The prep time for this lesson is a bit long, but if you collect the copies from your students atthe end of the exercise, you can use the packets again next year.

"Gabble like a thing"

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A fool's paradise.--Romeo and Juliet.A foregone conclusion.--Othello.A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!--Richard 11/Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him.--Hamlet.A little pot and soon hot.-- The Taming of the ShrewAll the world's a stage.--As You Like ItAll's well that ends well--AlI's Well That Ends WellAs ... luck would have it.--The Merl}' Wives of Windsor.Beware the ides of March--Julius Caesar.Blow, blow, thou winter wind.--As You Like ItBrave new world.-- The TempestBrevity is the soul of wit.--HamletCold comfort.--King JohnCome full circle--King LearCome what may.--MacbethConscience does make cowards of us all.--HamletCowards die many times before their deaths.--Julius CaesarCrack of doom.--MacbethDeath by inches--CoriolanusDish fit for the gods.--Julius CaesarDog will have its day--HamletDone to death.--Much Ado About NothingDouble, double, toil and trouble; fire burn, and cauldron bubble.-­MacbethEaten me out of house and home.--Henl}' IVElbow room.--King JohnEt tu, Brute! [Latin: And you, Brutus!]--Julius CaesarEvery inch a king.--King LearFatal vision.--MacbethFlaming youth.--HamletFriends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.--Julius CaesarGive the devil his due.--Henl}' IVGreen-eyed monster.--OthelloHalcyon days.--Henl}' VIHearts of gold--Henl}' VI Part IHer infinite variety.--Antony and CleopatraHold a candle to.-- The Merchant of VeniceI am fortune's fool.--Romeo and JulietI cannot tell what the dickens his name is.--Merl}' Wives of WindsorI have not slept one wink.--CymbelineIn my mind's eye.--HamletIt's a wise father that knows his own child.--The Merchant of VeniceIt smells to heaven.--HamletIt was Greek to me.--Julius CaesarKill ... with kindness.--The Taming of the ShrewLend me your ears.--Julius CaesarLet slip the dogs of war.--Julius CaesarLord, what fools these mortals be!--A Midsummer Night's DreamLove is blind.-- The Merchant of VeniceLov'd not wisely, but too well.--OthelloMerry as the day is long.--Much Ado About NothingMore sinned against than sinning.--King LearMy own flesh and blood.-- The Merchant of VeniceMy salad days, when I was green in judgement.--Antony andCleopatraNeither a borrower nor a lender be.--HamletNeither rhyme nor reason.--As You Like ItNow is the winter of our discontent.--Richard 1/1Once more unto the breach.--Henl}' VOne fell swoop--MacbethOut, damned spot!--MacbethOut of the question.--Love's Labour's LostPaint the lily.--King JohnParting is such sweet sorrow.--Romeo and Juliet

Play fast and loose.--Love's Labour's LostPrimrose path.--HamletPut out the Iight.--OthelloSeamy Side--Othello.Short and the Long of It--Merl}' Wives of WindsorSmooth runs the water where the brook is deep.--Henl}' VI, Part 1/Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.--HamletSomething wicked this way comes.--MacbethSomething in the wind.-- The Comedy of ErrorsSorry sight.--MacbethSpotless reputation.--Richard 11/Star-cross'd lovers--Romeo and JulietStrange bedfellows.--The TempestSweets to the sweet--HamletWhat's in a name?--Romeo and JulietThe devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.--The Merchant of VeniceThe first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.--Henl}' VIThe lady doth protest too much.--HamletThe play's the thing.--HamletThe quality of mercy is not strained.--The Merchant of VeniceThe short and the long of it.-- The Merl}' Wives of WindsorThe working day world.--As You Like ItThe world's mine oyster.-- The Merry Wives of WindsorThere is a tide in the affairs of men.--Julius CaesarThey sayan old man is twice a child.--HamletThis was the noblest Roman of them all.--Julius CaesarThough this be madness, yet there is method in't.--HamletThrow cold water on it.-- The Merl}' Wives of Windsor'Tis neither here nor there.--OthelloTo be, or not to be: that is the question.--HamletToo much of a good thing.--As You Like ItTo thine own self be true.--HamletUnkindest cut of all.--Julius CaesarWe are such stuff as dreams are made of--The TempestWhat's past is prologue.--The TempestWoe is me-Hamlet

"Remember first possessbooks; for without them

t "a so ...

Mandel, Susannah. Sparknotes on The Tempest. 19 November 2002.http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/tempest

hishe's but

Tempest in the Lunchroom, Joseph R. Scotese, Whitney Young Magnet School in Chicago, IllinoisThe Folger Shakespeare Library

http://www.folger.edu/education/lesson.dm?lessonid=5

Grode, Eric. "Prospera's Rough Magic." American Theatre Magazine: August, 2003.

Jago, Carol. With Rigor for All. Portsmith, NH: Heinemann, 2000

Scatterbrained Soliloquies, Russ Bartlett, Rutgers Preparatory School in Somerset, New JerseyThe Folger Shakespeare Library

http://www.folger.edu

William Strachey, True Reporty ofthe Wracke as reprinted in the Arden Shakespeare's edition of TheTempest, ed. Frank Kermode (New York: Routledge, 1994) 135.