Okay, first things first… I hate Shakespeare… With a passion. He’s so overdone, so pretentious, with plots stolen for nearly all his works, and a boring predictability for all his plays, and I simply cannot stand the man’s work.
That being said, The Tempest less than thrilled me. However, I was fascinated by the concept of reality versus a dream. The whole play contained a very dream-like, fantasized nature. The allusions to mythical faeries and beasts, as well as the actual magic performed by Prospero create an airy, dreamy image. This idea of false realities does not end with a literal dream-like state, but continues when Prospero mentions this idea as well, whereupon he realizes that he has in turn become lost in the state of things, losing sight of what really matters. He states that, “… our little life is rounded with a sleep,” (4.1, ll 157-58). This portrays humanity as living within this idealized, dreamy world, blocking ourselves away from the hardships and important aspects of life, that is, until they jolt us from this sleep and thrust us into reality. The whole work delves into this idea of whether or not our reality is merely a dream. The drunkenness of the men also portrays this idea, as intoxication, especially with this seemingly enchanted drink, allows us to live in a world without the norms of reality. Their drunkenness takes them farther into the already dream-like state of the island, believing butlers to be kings. In a way, we are always in this state of drunkenness, as we are unable to perceive the true nature of man or life, believing evil to be good, and vice versa.
The idea of deception was also very prominent. Wherever one turns, someone always finds himself in the thick of visual deceit. Be it the invisibility of Ariel, lying to and deceiving Stephano, Caliban, and Trunuculo, or the masques Ariel wears to disguise himself as Ceres, someone is constantly being lied to. This whole deception thing sort of ties in with that fantasy element as well, in that we don’t actually know if our reality is the truth or merely a distorted image of it.
So, after suffering through this play, I finally reached the most dissatisfying end of any work I have ever read. Instead of actually exacting revenge, or doing something significant, such as in other Shakespearean plays, Prospero just decides to FORGIVE everyone??? After he’s been stuck on this god-forsaken island for twelve years, Antonio has stolen his dukedom and the King of Naples helped him out, and he just brushes it aside? So I just forced myself to read this play, just to find out that at the end everything is marvelous????? Normally, I don’t condone violence, but if I’m going to sit through a Shakespeare play, I expect something meaningful to happen that will leave an impression on my mind. All in all, The Tempest furthered my disdain…
One reply on “The Tempest”
I disagree upon your view on Shakespeare, though I dislike the Tempest as well and agree upon many of your points. Prospero is too magnamonious at the end… though I argue that that’s what (most) audiences likes about him because he’s playing the role of the hero. Your point on reality vs fantasy is also extraordinarily interesting and it was this that set The Tempest apart from the rest of Shakespeare’s plays.. which usually involved religious/fantastical/spiritual elements, but not to the extent that The Tempest did.
I still think Shakespeare is deserving of his title. His plots are not original, but then again, no author or playwright can be completely original. However, for a man of his times, his plays are very interesting mix of modern comedic and oral elements as well as ancient traditions, not only drawing on the tragic elements of the Greeks, but using verbal comedy and irony that we would recognize in modern language. That’s my opinion on it though and I admit, at times I find him trying my patience, but despite that, I beleive there are still things to be learnt by studying Shakespeare.