The divine right of kings
“the state of monarchy is the supreemest thing upon earth; for kings are not only Gods lieutenants upon earch… but even by god himself are called gods.”
King James 1st, works (1609)
“by providence divine” - Prospero brought to the island like a king brought to the throne.
Hamlet: fathers and daughters
Polonus orders Ophelia not to talk to Hamlet any more. She responds with “i shall obey, my lord”.
Miranda in contrast rebels against Prospero’s treatment of Ferdinand urguing that “He’s gentle, and not fearful.” Prospero reminds her of her status with “my foot, my tutor?”
Then says “silence! One word more shall make me chide thee, if not hate thee” - threatening language. losing control.
This moment in Hamlet also shows the fathers concern for Ophelia’s chastity, and warns her to stay away
Link to Prospero threatening Ferdinand with a curse if he “breaks her virgin knot” before marriage.
A new theatre
- in 1608 the king’s men acquired a new venue in the blackfriars playhouse. there was artificial lighting and even more sophisticated machinery for the stage.
- Shakespeare had in mind this new theatre, the facilities and equipment of Blackfriars when he was writing the tempest
- the airborne goddesses, flying harpy and disappearing banquet all demanded mechanical aid.
Machiavels
Martin Gray: Machiavels are practiced liars and cruel opportunists, who delight in their own manipulative evil”
- Machiavels were villainous stock characters in Elizabethan and Jacobean drama.
Influence of Virgil
- Harpies were creatures with bodies of great birds and faces of women.
- Harpie classical purpose of Divine punishment from Zeus (in the aeneid, the harpys appear after the Trojans arrive on their land and slaughter many sheep and goats)
- Harpies were classically known as ‘the hounds of Zeus’ further gives Prospero a godlike presence as Ariel is serving him much like the Harpies.
- Shakespeare emphasises Ariels difference from the disgusting creatures by having Prospero praise Ariels “grace”
Widow Dido
- Dido of carthage: tension established between the view of the queen as an icon of idealist chastity, and of forbidden sexuality on the other. Parallel with the lovers of Ferdinand and Miranda “good lord, you play me false” (as Aneas played dido false).
- Venus present at the union of Dido and Aneas, but banished from tempest union.
Ovids metamorphosis
Prospero link to Medea: “made the ghosts walk” - makes the potential blasphemy of his magic more apparent.
Colonial context cards
- William strachey letter describing the wreck in 1609 of one of the ships carrying missionaries to Virginian ‘James town’. they were stranded on Bermuda for almost a year before being rescued. “any man who overvaluing his worth would be a commander…undervaluing anthers worth, denied to be a commander”
- John Smith’s account of the Virginia colony (1608) - “had the savages not fed us, we directly would have starved”
- link between language and empire was established very early on in the colonial enterprise: 1492 Bishop of Avila to Queen isabella of spain “language is the perfect instrument of empire”
Masque
- the masque consisted of elaborate songs and dancing, with amazing elaborate scenery. king james was particularly fond of this form. Use of magic
- the play itself may be a masque due to the setting always giving the possibility for music and spectacle “sounds and sweet airs”
