The Tempest Play

These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community. We are thankful of their contributions and encourage you to make your own. Written by Polly Barbour In this post-colonial re-working of Shakespeare\'s original play \', we find exiled, and living on a secluded island in the Caribbean.

It differs from Shakespeare\'s other plays in its observation of a stricter, more organised neoclassical style. Critics see The Tempest as explicitly concerned with its own nature as a play, frequently drawing links between Prospero\'s \'art\' and theatrical illusion, and early critics saw Prospero as a representation of Shakespeare. The play opens with a storm raised by Prospero, who years earlier, as the rightful duke of Milan, had been set adrift in a boat with his three-year-old daughter, Miranda, by his usurping brother, Antonio. Prospero, more interested in his books and his magic than in the pragmatics of ruling Milan.

In order to force his daughter\'s ship ashore, he creates an enormous and malevolent storm.The main focus of the play is the constant efforts on the part of - a Mulatto slave - and - a black slave - to gain their freedom from Prospero and to escape his tyrannical rule over the island and its people. Ariel is a dutiful slave, and follows all orders that are given to him diligently. He believes with all his heart that Prospero will one day honor the promise he made to him and give him emancipation and freedom.

Caliban, though, does not wear such rose-colored eye-glasses. He snubs and slights Prospero at every contact with him, greeting him by saying \'Uhuru\' which is the Swahili word for \'freedom\'. Prospero hates it when Caliban speaks his native language, because he has forbidden its use on the island, and also for the more practical reason that he does not speak or understand it.

Caliban also threatens to claim birthrights to the island, which makes Prospero even angrier. He threatens Caliban with a whipping.

Caliban tells Prospero that he does not want to be called Caliban anymore; rather, he will go by the name \'X', like a man who has no name, or more accurately, like a man whose name has been stolen from him. The character Eshu is portrayed as a black devil-god. Eshu is the traditional trickster, who is crooked and concerned with confusing the other characters. Eshu calls upon he mythological traditions of West Africa to help him to thwart Prospero\'s power and authority.

These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community. We are thankful of their contributions and encourage you to make your own. Written by Polly Barbour In this post-colonial re-working of Shakespeare\'s original play \', we find exiled, and living on a secluded island in the Caribbean.

It differs from Shakespeare\'s other plays in its observation of a stricter, more organised neoclassical style. Critics see The Tempest as explicitly concerned with its own nature as a play, frequently drawing links between Prospero\'s \'art\' and theatrical illusion, and early critics saw Prospero as a representation of Shakespeare. The play opens with a storm raised by Prospero, who years earlier, as the rightful duke of Milan, had been set adrift in a boat with his three-year-old daughter, Miranda, by his usurping brother, Antonio. Prospero, more interested in his books and his magic than in the pragmatics of ruling Milan.

In order to force his daughter\'s ship ashore, he creates an enormous and malevolent storm.The main focus of the play is the constant efforts on the part of - a Mulatto slave - and - a black slave - to gain their freedom from Prospero and to escape his tyrannical rule over the island and its people. Ariel is a dutiful slave, and follows all orders that are given to him diligently. He believes with all his heart that Prospero will one day honor the promise he made to him and give him emancipation and freedom.

Caliban, though, does not wear such rose-colored eye-glasses. He snubs and slights Prospero at every contact with him, greeting him by saying \'Uhuru\' which is the Swahili word for \'freedom\'. Prospero hates it when Caliban speaks his native language, because he has forbidden its use on the island, and also for the more practical reason that he does not speak or understand it.

Caliban also threatens to claim birthrights to the island, which makes Prospero even angrier. He threatens Caliban with a whipping.

Caliban tells Prospero that he does not want to be called Caliban anymore; rather, he will go by the name \'X', like a man who has no name, or more accurately, like a man whose name has been stolen from him. The character Eshu is portrayed as a black devil-god. Eshu is the traditional trickster, who is crooked and concerned with confusing the other characters. Eshu calls upon he mythological traditions of West Africa to help him to thwart Prospero\'s power and authority.