TABLE OF CONTENTS DRAMATIS PERSONAE 02 SETTING/ KEY FACTS 03 PLOT 04 SOURCES FOR PLOT 08 RECOMMENDED EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS 09

Transcription

1 The Tempest

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS DRAMATIS PERSONAE 02 SETTING/ KEY FACTS 03 PLOT 04 SOURCES FOR PLOT 08 RECOMMENDED EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS 09 WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE BIOGRAPHY 09 LANGUAGE AND VOCABULARY 14 SCANNING SHAKESPEARE 17 CLASSROOM EXERCISES 19 SOURCES FOR CLASSROOM EXERCISES 21 ESSAY QUESTIONS 21 SOURCES FOR ESSAY QUESTIONS 22 RECOMMENDED MOVIES 22 A TEMPEST QUIZ 22 LA STATE COMPREHENSIVE CURRICULUM CORRESPONDENCE 24 1

3 THE TEMPEST BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Study Guide: Shakespeare Festival at Tulane DRAMATIS PERSONAE Prospero The play s protagonist, and father of Miranda. Twelve years before the events of the play, Prospero was the duke of Milan. His brother, Antonio, in concert with Alonso, king of Naples, usurped him, forcing him to flee in a boat with his daughter. The honest lord Gonzalo aided Prospero in his escape. Prospero has spent his twelve years on the 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 any men other than her father and Caliban, though she dimly remembers being cared for by female servants as an infant. Because she has been sealed off from the world for so long, Miranda s perceptions of other people tend to be naïve and non-judgmental. She is compassionate, generous, and loyal to her 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. He is mischievous and ubiquitous, able to traverse the length of the island in an instant and to change shapes at will. He carries out virtually every task that Prospero needs accomplished in the play. Caliban Another of Prospero s servants. Caliban, the son of the now-deceased witch Sycorax, acquainted Prospero with the island when Prospero arrived. Caliban believes that the island rightfully belongs to him and has been stolen by Prospero. His speech and behavior is sometimes coarse and brutal, as in his drunken scenes with Stephano and Trinculo (II.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 (III.ii ). Ferdinand Son and heir of Alonso. Ferdinand seems in some ways to be as pure and naïve as Miranda. He falls in 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 Prospero as Duke of Milan twelve years before. As he appears in the play, however, he is acutely aware of the consequences of all his actions. He blames his decision to marry his daughter to the Prince of Tunis on the apparent death of his son. In addition, after the magical banquet, he regrets his role in the usurping of Prospero. Antonio Prospero s brother. Antonio quickly demonstrates that he is powerhungry and foolish. In Act II, scene i, he persuades Sebastian to kill the sleeping Alonso. He then goes along with Sebastian s absurd story about fending off lions when Gonzalo wakes up and catches Antonio and Sebastian with their swords drawn. 2

4 Sebastian Alonso s brother. Like Antonio, he is both aggressive and cowardly. He is easily persuaded to kill his brother in Act II, scene i, and he initiates the ridiculous story about lions when Gonzalo catches him with his sword drawn. Gonzalo An old, honest lord, Gonzalo helped Prospero and Miranda to escape after Antonio usurped Prospero s title. Gonzalo s speeches provide an important commentary on the events of the play, as he remarks on the beauty of the island when the stranded party first lands, then on the desperation of Alonso after the magic banquet, and on the miracle of the reconciliation in Act V, scene i. Trinculo & Stephano Trinculo, a jester, and Stephano, a drunken butler, are two minor members of the shipwrecked party. They provide a comic foil to the other, more powerful pairs of Prospero and Alonso and Antonio and Sebastian. Their drunken boasting and petty greed reflect and deflate the quarrels and power struggles of Prospero and the other noblemen. Boatswain Appearing only in the first and last scenes, the Boatswain is vigorously good-natured. He seems competent and almost cheerful in the shipwreck scene, demanding practical help rather than weeping and praying. And he seems surprised but not stunned when he awakens from a long sleep at the end of the play. Time and Place Written: London, Date of First Performance: November 1, 1611 KEY FACTS First Published: 1623 as part of the First Folio, the first authorized collection of Shakespeare's plays. Source of Play: Among likely sources for the play are accounts of a 1609 shipwreck in the Bermudas. These accounts include (1) William Strachey's A True Reportory of the Wracke and Redemption of Sir Thomas Gates upon and from the Islands of the Bermudas (written in letter form and circulated in 1610, then published in 1625) and (2) Sylvester Jourdain's A Discovery of the Barmudas [Bermudas], published in Both accounts include details of events similar to the fictional events in The Tempest. Shakespeare may also have drawn upon (1) German dramatist Jacob Ayer's Comedy of the Beautiful Sidea (Comedia von der schönen Sidea, circa ), (2) William Parry's New and Large Discourse of the Travels of Sir Anthony Shirley, Knight (1601), and (3) Michel de Montaigne's "Of Cannibals" ("Des cannibales," 1580), an essay 3

5 that idealizes savages discovered in South America by Nicolas Durand ( ). In The Tempest, Shakespeare does the opposite, ridiculing a savage, Caliban, as a lowly beast. Shakespeare may also have received inspiration from "Naugragium" (Latin for "Shipwreck"), a chapter in volume 1 of The Colloquies, by Desiderius Erasmus ( ), a Catholic priest who was one of the greatest Renaissance humanists. In addition, in writing Prospero's speech renouncing magic at the end of the play, Shakespeare drew inspiration from Book 7 of the Roman poet Ovid's Metamorphoses. In Book 7 of the famous book on ancient myths, Ovid recounts the adventures of the powerful sorceress Medea in helping Jason retrieve the fabled Golden Fleece. In one passage, Medea summons the powers that assist her, including the air and wind, elves, and charms that control the seas, dim the morning, darken the noon sun, and perform many other wondrous things. Prospero also addresses such powers, sometimes using wording similar to Arthur Golding's 1567 translation of Metamorphoses. However, Shakespeare does so not to marshal these forces, as Medea does, but to renounce them. PLOT After attending his daughter Claribel s wedding in Tunis, a city in the north African country of Tunisia, King Alonso of Naples and his company sail home to Italy in a fleet of ships and encounter a violent storm. With Alonso is his beloved son, Ferdinand. Others on the king s ship are Antonio, the Duke of Milan; Antonio s butler, Stephano; the king s brother, Sebastian; a counselor, Gonzalo; and Trinculo, a jester. When thunder booms and lightning strikes, winds churn the sea into a terrible fury that imperils all of the ships. Mariners laboring to save the king s vessel cry out, All lost! to prayers, to prayers! all lost! (1.1.28). Gonzalo is the last to speak as the ship founders: Now would I give a thousand furlongs of sea for an acre of barren ground, long heath, brown furze, any thing. The wills above be done! but I would fain die a dry death (1.1.44). As a strange, fiery light illumines the ship, the king and his company jump overboard. All except Ferdinand wash ashore in separate groups at different locations on an enchanted island. Ferdinand lands by himself, isolated from the others. Alonso thinks Ferdinand has drowned, and vice versa, and both mourn their losses. 4

6 The ruler of the island is the sorcerer Prospero. It was Prospero who caused the tempest. Aware of who was on the ship, thanks to his magical powers, he commanded the sea to deliver to him the king and his company to settle some unfinished business. Twelve years before, Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan, had been set adrift to die at sea with his three-year-old daughter, Miranda, after his brother, Antonio, seized his dukedom with the connivance of King Alonso. However, the kindly counselor Gonzalo sneaked food and drink to Prospero, along with his books of magic. So it was that Prospero and his daughter survived and landed on the island to live in a cave. One of Prospero s first orders of business on the island was to free the sprites imprisoned by a witch named Sycorax. The chief sprite was Ariel, a spirit of the air. In exchange for his liberation, Ariel agreed to do Prospero s bidding. Sycorax posed no further threat, for she was dead. However, she left behind an ugly, halfhuman offspring named Caliban. Although Caliban once tried to ravish Miranda, Prospero trains him to talk and perform menial chores, using magic to keep the beast-man s instincts in check. Ariel has proved a valuable servant. In fact, under Prospero s orders, it was Ariel who guided the tempest toward the island and set the king s ship ablaze by imitating fire. Sometimes Ariel would divide himself and become fire in several places at once: the topmast, bowsprit, and yards. In fright, the king and his company hurled themselves overboard. Miranda witnessed the terrible spectacle. In reporting on it to her father, she assumes he caused the tempest and begs him to calm the raging waters. She expresses sympathy for the ship s crew and passengers, telling her father that: I have suffered With those that I saw suffer: a brave vessel, Who had, no doubt, some noble creature in her, Dash d all to pieces. O, the cry did knock Against my very heart. Poor souls, they perish d. Had I been any god of power, I would Have sunk the sea within the earth or ere It should the good ship so have swallow d and The fraughting souls within her. ( ) Prospero informs her, however, that no harm was done; for Ariel has preserved the ship in a hidden harbor and cast its crew into a deep sleep. Ariel allowed the 5

7 rest of the fleet to survive the storm and resume the trip to Italy, supposing, as Ariel tells Prospero, that they saw the king s ship wrecked and his great person perish ( ). After Alonso and the others arrive on the island, Prospero dispatches Ariel to bring the handsome young Ferdinand to the cave, where the beautiful Miranda is sleeping. He also sends Caliban to bring wood. When Ferdinand arrives, Miranda awakens and falls immediately in love with him. Love smites Ferdinand as well. Their love for each other delights Prospero, but he believes that love needs to be tested with trials in order to make it strong and lasting. So he pretends Ferdinand is a spy who has come to the island to take it from him. Prospero imprisons him despite Miranda's pleas that Ferdinand is gentle and poses no threat. Elsewhere on the island, King Alonso and most of his company are still asleep. The only two who remain awake the evil Antonio and Alonso s brother, Sebastian see an opportunity before them: If they kill Alonso, Naples will be theirs. But just as they draw their swords, King Alonso and Gonzalo awaken. Meanwhile, Caliban, who is bringing in the wood, curses Prospero, wishing upon him all the infections that the sun sucks up. (2.2.4). Caliban, after all, was the ruler of the island before Prospero arrived. Why should he now be carrying wood for Prospero? Trinculo happens upon Caliban and takes shelter with him from a threatening storm. Stephano, the king s butler, also shows up, drunk. It seems he had the good fortune to float ashore on a barrel of wine, which he put to good use after fashioning a flask out of tree bark. After he plies Caliban with wine, the monsterman dreams of being free of Prospero. Back near the cave, Ferdinand is gathering wood under orders from Prospero. When Miranda goes out to help him, the two lovers forget about the wood. Instead, they coo and woo, and talk of marriage. From a distance, Prospero watches and smiles approvingly. Caliban, suddenly possessed of a bold and persuasive tongue, convinces his new companions, Stephano and Trinculo, to help him murder Prospero so that they can all become the new rulers of the island. Their plan is to steal upon him while he is sleeping, brain him with a log or pierce him with a stake or a knife, then burn his books. Ariel, off working on Prospero s behalf, conjures up a magnificent banquet for King Alonso, Antonio, Sebastian, Gonzalo and the rest of the king s entourage. As they are about to eat, lightning flashes, thunder booms, and Ariel appears in the form of a harpy, a hideous bird. He claps his wings and the banquet 6

8 vanishes. Then he rebukes Alonso, Antonio and Sebastian for their previous mistreatment of Prospero and Miranda years before. He tells them that: Lingering perdition worse than any death Can be at once, shall step by step attend You and your ways.... ( ) After Ariel vanishes and Alonso, Antonio, and Sebastian leave the scene while the goodly Gonzalo observes their reaction to what they just witnessed. He says: All three of them are desperate: their great guilt, Like poison given to work a great time after, Now gins to bite the spirits. ( ) As remorse eats away at Alonso, Antonio, and Sebastian, Prospero presents an entertainment for Ferdinand and Miranda in celebration of their forthcoming marriage. The entertainers are spirits in the form of three deities Ceres, goddess of agriculture; Iris, goddess of the rainbow; and Juno, queen of the gods who sing to the betrothed couple. Then nymphs and reapers (farmers) descend upon the island and perform a graceful dance. After the entertainment, Prospero and Ariel use their magic to thwart the plot of Caliban, Trinculo, and Stephano to murder Prospero. Prospero directs spirits in the form of hounds to chase the conspirators, then tells Ariel to set goblins upon them to: grind their joints With dry convulsions; shorten up their sinews With aged cramps, and more pinch-spotted make them Than pard [leopard] or cat o' mountain. ( ) Next, Ariel confines Alonso, Antonio, and Sebastian in a grove of lime trees and puts them under a spell that temporarily paralyzes them. The others in the king's company including old Gonzalo stand in mourning around the three men. Ariel reports to Prospero that all the captives are "brimful of sorrow and dismay" (5.1.18). Prospero orders Ariel to bring them before him. While the sprite goes to fetch them, Prospero renounces his powers of sorcery, vowing to break and bury his magical staff and to bury his book of sorcery deep in the ocean. When Ariel returns with Alonzo, Gonzalo, Sebastian, Antonio, Adrian, and Francisco, Prospero releases them from their enchantment and has them brought to his cell, where Ferdinand and Miranda are playing chess. Alonso rejoices at the sight of his son, as does Ferdinand at the sight of his father. Then Prospero's enemies 7

9 reconcile with him, and even the beastly Caliban admits he was a thrice-double ass ( ). Prospero regains his dukedom and prepares to return to Naples. Alonso s ship thought wrecked and lost is found still afloat and seaworthy. Prospero commands Ariel to calm the seas, then frees him. Prospero, Alonso, and the others leave for home. Caliban remains on the island. An epilogue is a short speech or poem that appears at the end of some plays. It addresses the audience after the action of a play ends. In The Tempest, Prospero speaks an epilogue in which he says it is up to the audience to determine whether he remains on the island or returns to Italy to resume his rulership of Milan. If the audience cheers and applauds, indicating that the play is a success, he will be allowed to fulfill his wish of returning to Milan. He says I must be here confin d by you, Or sent to Naples. Let me not, Since I have my dukedom got And pardon d the deceiver, dwell In this bare island by your spell; But release me from my bands With the help of your good hands [with the help of your applause]. Gentle breath [cheers] of yours my sails Must fill, or else my project fails, Which was to please. SOURSES for PLOT Cummings, Michael J. Tempest: a Study Guide. ShakeSphere: a Guide to the Complete Works of William Shakespeare. N.p2013. Web. 7 April < Podewell, Bruce. Shakespeare s Watch. Lanham: Scarecrow Press, Mabillard, Amanda. Shakespeare's Sources for Tempest Shakespeare Online. < > RECOMMENDED EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS DVD The Folger Series. Shakespeare Set Free: Teaching Hamlet and Henry IV, Part I. Edited by Peggy O Brien, Teaching Shakespeare Institute, Fogler Shakespeare Library. Published by Washington Square Press. Playing Shakespeare. Dir. John Barton. Perf. Ian McKellen. Patrick Stewart. LWT,

10 WEBSITES Shakespeare and Hip Hop: Shakespeare Resource Center: Tudor and Elizabethan Times: Life in Elizabethan England: BOOKS Barton, John. Playing Shakespeare. London: Metheun, Papp, Joseph. Shakespeare Alive! NYC: Bantam Publishing, Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. London: Arden Shakespeare, Burson, Linda. Play With Shakespeare. Virginia: New Plays Books, Macrone, Michael. Brush Up Your Shakespeare! NYC: Harper & Row Publishers, Inc Gibson, Rex. Teaching Shakespeare. Cambridge: School Shakespeare, 1998 Podewell, Bruce. Shakespeare s Watch. Lanham: Scarecrow Press, WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE BIOGRAPHY William Shakespeare, often called the English national poet, is widely considered the greatest dramatist of all time. Though little is known about William Shakespeare's personal life, his works such as "Hamlet," "Romeo and Juliet," and "King Lear," have influenced literature and theater for over 400 years. William Shakespeare was baptized on April 26, 1564, in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. From roughly 1594 onward he was an important member of the Lord Chamberlain s Men company of theatrical players. Written records give little indication of the way in which Shakespeare s professional life molded his artistry. All that can be deduced is that over the course of 20 years, Shakespeare wrote plays that capture the complete range of human emotion and conflict. Known throughout the world, the works of William Shakespeare have been performed in countless hamlets, villages, cities and metropolises for more than 400 years. And yet, the personal history of William Shakespeare is somewhat a mystery. There are two primary sources that provide historians with a basic outline of his life. One source is his work the plays, poems and sonnets and the other is official documentation such as church and court records. However, 9

11 these only provide brief sketches of specific events in his life and provide little on the person who experienced those events. Though no birth records exist, church records indicate that a William Shakespeare was baptized at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon on April 26, From this, it is believed he was born on or near April 23, 1564, and this is the date scholars acknowledge as William Shakespeare's birthday. Located 103 miles west of London, during Shakespeare's time Stratford-upon- Avon was a market town bisected with a country road and the River Avon. William was the third child of John Shakespeare, a leather merchant, and Mary Arden, a local landed heiress. William had two older sisters, Joan and Judith, and three younger brothers, Gilbert, Richard and Edmund. Before William's birth, his father became a successful merchant and held official positions as alderman and bailiff, an office resembling a mayor. However, records indicate John's fortunes declined sometime in the late 1570s. Scant records exist of William's childhood, and virtually none regarding his education. Scholars have surmised that he most likely attended the King's New School, in Stratford, which taught reading, writing and the classics. Being a public official's child, William would have undoubtedly qualified for free tuition. But this uncertainty regarding his education has led some to raise questions about the authorship of his work and even about whether or not William Shakespeare ever existed. William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway on November 28, 1582, in Worcester, in Canterbury Province. Hathaway was from Shottery, a small village a mile west of Stratford. William was 18 and Anne was 26, and, as it turns out, pregnant. Their first child, a daughter they named Susanna, was born on May 26, Two years later, on February 2, 1585, twins Hamnet and Judith were born. Hamnet later died of unknown causes at age 11. After the birth of the twins, there are seven years of William Shakespeare's life where no records exist. Scholars call this period the "lost years," and there is wide speculation on what he was doing during this period. One theory is that he might have gone into hiding for poaching game from the local landlord, Sir Thomas Lucy. Another possibility is that he might have been working as an assistant schoolmaster in Lancashire. It is generally believed he arrived in London in the mid- to late 1580s and may have found work as a horse attendant 10

12 at some of London's finer theaters, a scenario updated centuries later by the countless aspiring actors and playwrights in Hollywood and Broadway. By 1592, there is evidence William Shakespeare earned a living as an actor and a playwright in London and possibly had several plays produced. The September 20, 1592 edition of the Stationers' Register (a guild publication) includes an article by London playwright Robert Greene that takes a few jabs at William Shakespeare: "...There is an upstart Crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tiger's heart wrapped in a Player's hide, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you: and being an absolute Johannes factotum, is in his own conceit the only Shake-scene in a country," Greene wrote of Shakespeare. Scholars differ on the interpretation of this criticism, but most agree that it was Greene's way of saying Shakespeare was reaching above his rank, trying to match better known and educated playwrights like Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Nashe or Greene himself. By the early 1590s, documents show William Shakespeare was a managing partner in the Lord Chamberlain's Men, an acting company in London. After the crowning of King James I, in 1603, the company changed its name to the King's Men. From all accounts, the King's Men company was very popular, and records show that Shakespeare had works published and sold as popular literature. The theater culture in 16th century England was not highly admired by people of high rank. However, many of the nobility were good patrons of the performing arts and friends of the actors. Early in his career, Shakespeare was able to attract the attention of Henry Wriothesley, the Earl of Southampton, to whom he dedicated his first- and second-published poems: "Venus and Adonis" (1593) and "The Rape of Lucrece" (1594). By 1597, 15 of the 37 plays written by William Shakespeare were published. Civil records show that at this time he purchased the second largest house in Stratford, called New House, for his family. It was a four-day ride by horse from Stratford to London, so it is believed that Shakespeare spent most of his time in the city writing and acting and came home once a year during the 40-day Lenten period, when the theaters were closed. By 1599, William Shakespeare and his business partners built their own theater on the south bank of the Thames River, which they called the Globe. In 1605, Shakespeare purchased leases of real estate near Stratford for 440 pounds, which doubled in value and earned him 60 pounds a year. This made him an 11

13 entrepreneur as well as an artist, and scholars believe these investments gave him the time to write his plays uninterrupted. William Shakespeare's early plays were written in the conventional style of the day, with elaborate metaphors and rhetorical phrases that didn't always align naturally with the story's plot or characters. However, Shakespeare was very innovative, adapting the traditional style to his own purposes and creating a freer flow of words. With only small degrees of variation, Shakespeare primarily used a metrical pattern consisting of lines of unrhymed iambic pentameter, or blank verse, to compose his plays. At the same time, there are passages in all the plays that deviate from this and use forms of poetry or simple prose. With the exception of Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare's first plays were mostly histories written in the early 1590s. Richard II, Henry VI (parts 1, 2 and 3) and Henry V dramatize the destructive results of weak or corrupt rulers, and have been interpreted by drama historians as Shakespeare's way of justifying the origins of the Tudor Dynasty. Shakespeare also wrote several comedies during his early period: the witty romance A Midsummer Night's Dream, the romantic Merchant of Venice, the wit and wordplay of Much Ado About Nothing, the charming As You Like It and Twelfth Night. Other plays, possibly written before 1600, include Titus Andronicus, The Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew and The Two Gentlemen of Verona. It was in William Shakespeare's later period, after 1600, that he wrote the tragedies Hamlet, King Lear, Othello and Macbeth. In these, Shakespeare's characters present vivid impressions of human temperament that are timeless and universal. Possibly the best known of these plays is Hamlet, which explores betrayal, retribution, incest and moral failure. These moral failures often drive the twists and turns of Shakespeare's plots, destroying the hero and those he loves. In William Shakespeare's final period, he wrote several tragicomedies. Among these are Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale and The Tempest. Though graver in tone than the comedies, they are not the dark tragedies of King Lear or Macbeth because they end with reconciliation and forgiveness. Tradition has it that William Shakespeare died on his birthday, April 23, 1616, though many scholars believe this is a myth. Church records show he was interred at Trinity Church on April 5,

14 In his will, he left the bulk of his possessions to his eldest daughter, Susanna. Though entitled to a third of his estate, little seems to have gone to his wife, Anne, whom he bequeathed his "second-best bed." This has drawn speculation that she had fallen out of favor, or that the couple was not close. However, there is very little evidence the two had a difficult marriage. Other scholars note that the term "second-best bed" often refers to the bed belonging to the household's master and mistres the marital bed and the "first-best bed" was reserved for guests. About 150 years after his death, questions arose about the authorship of William Shakespeare's plays. Scholars and literary critics began to float names like Christopher Marlowe, Edward de Vere and Francis Bacon men of more known backgrounds, literary accreditation, or inspiration as the true authors of the plays. Much of this stemmed from the sketchy details of Shakespeare's life and the dearth of contemporary primary sources. Official records from the Holy Trinity Church and the Stratford government record the existence of a William Shakespeare, but none of these attest to him being an actor or playwright. The most serious and intense skepticism began in the 19th century when adoration for Shakespeare was at its highest. The detractors believed that the only hard evidence surrounding William Shakespeare from Stratford-upon-Avon described a man from modest beginnings who married young and became successful in real estate. Members of the Shakespeare Oxford Society (founded in 1957) put forth arguments that English aristocrat Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, was the true author of the poems and plays of "William Shakespeare." The Oxfordians cite de Vere's extensive knowledge of aristocratic society, his education, and the structural similarities between his poetry and that found in the works attributed to Shakespeare. They contend that William Shakespeare had neither the education nor the literary training to write such eloquent prose and create such rich characters. However, the vast majority of Shakespearean scholars contend that William Shakespeare wrote all his own plays. They point out that other playwrights of the time also had sketchy histories and came from modest backgrounds. They contend that Stratford's New Grammar School curriculum of Latin and the classics could have provided a good foundation for literary writers. Supporters of Shakespeare's authorship argue that the lack of evidence about Shakespeare's life doesn't mean his life didn't exist. They point to evidence that displays his name on the title pages of published poems and plays. Examples exist of authors 13

15 and critics of the time acknowledging William Shakespeare as author of plays such as The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Comedy of Errors and King John. Royal records from 1601 show that William Shakespeare was recognized as a member of the King's Men theater company (formally known as the Chamberlain's Men) and a Groom of the Chamber by the court of King James I, where the company performed seven of Shakespeare's plays. There is also strong circumstantial evidence of personal relationships by contemporaries who interacted with Shakespeare as an actor and a playwright. What seems to be true is that William Shakespeare was a respected man of the dramatic arts who wrote plays and acted in some in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. But his reputation as a dramatic genius wasn't recognized until the 19th century. Beginning with the Romantic period of the early 1800s and continuing through the Victorian period, acclaim and reverence for William Shakespeare and his work reached its height. In the 20th century, new movements in scholarship and performance have rediscovered and adopted his works. Today, his plays are highly popular and constantly studied and reinterpreted in performances with diverse cultural and political contexts. The genius of Shakespeare's characters and plots are that they present real human beings in a wide range of emotions and conflicts that transcend their origins in Elizabethan England. SOURSES for BIOGRAPHY Podewell, Bruce. Shakespeare s Watch. Lanham: Scarecrow Press,

16 FIGURES OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND VOCABULARY Antithesis: Good wombs have borne bad sons. ( ) Contrast of good wombs and bad sons. The statement is also a paradox. Alliteration: I would fain die a dry death. (1.1.43)... Hast thou forgot The foul witch Sycorax, who with age and envy Was grown into a hoop? ( ) Look, he s winding up the watch of his wit; by and by it will strike. (2.1.15) Full fathom five thy father lies (2.394) He that dies pays all debts. ( ) Apostrophe: Stand fast, good Fate, to his hanging! (1.1.17) The speaker addresses Fate. Hyperbole: Your tale, sir, would cure deafness. ( ) This line also contains a metaphor comparing the tale to a remedy. I ll show thee every fertile inch o the island. (2.2.61) Metaphor: My library Was dukedom large enough. ( ) Comparison of a dukedom to a library... The king's son, Ferdinand, With hair up-staring, then like reeds, not hair, Was the first man that leap'd; cried, "Hell is empty And all the devils are here." ( ) Comparison of Prospero's island to hell You taught me language; and my profit on t Is, I know how to curse. ( ) Comparison of knowledge to profit It [sleep] seldom visits sorrow; when it doth It is a comforter. ( ) Comparison of sleep to a visitor and a comforter The winds did sing it to me, and the thunder, That deep and dreadful organ-pipe, pronounced The name of Prosper.( ) Metaphor comparing the winds to a singer Metaphor comparing thunder to the sound made by an organ pipe 15

17 No sweet aspersion shall the heavens let fall To make this contract grow. ( ) Comparison of heaven's approval to rain (aspersion) that promotes the growth of a seed We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep. ( ) Comparison of humans to the immateriality of a dream Personification: While you here do snoring lie, Open-ey d Conspiracy His time doth take. Comparison of Conspiracy to a person Paradox: What's past is prologue. ( ) A. NOTE: This next section of information will correspond to exercise #1, in the classroom exercise section. Shakespeare is credited for inventing over 2,000 words in the English language (or at least that s where they appeared in print for the first time). Here are some words and phrases that appeared for the first time in The TEMPEST: Over-stink Instinctively Bow-wow Reeling-ripe Betrim Discase Over-topping Baseless Printless Expeditious Unmitigable B. William Shakespeare and the English Language The vocabulary of the average American is approximately 10,000 words. The vocabulary of an intelligent, present-day individual contains an estimated 17,000 words. American Journalists are said to have vocabularies of up to 20,000 words. The King James Bible, written in 1611, contains approximately 8,000 different words. The 37 plays of William Shakespeare contain approximately 34,000 different words. There are 1,700 words for which the Oxford English Dictionary can trace no usage prior to Shakespeare's plays including such diverse words as: 16

18 amazement addiction anchovy birthplace cheap cold-blooded countless critical dawn day's work defeat downstairs employer epileptic eventful eyeball farmhouse fashionable fortune-teller frugal hostile hunchbacked laughable love letter majestic misquote moonbeam obscene ode outgrow overpower pious priceless puke!!! puppy-dog on purpose retirement schoolboy shipwrecked shooting star skim milk successful undress unreal upstairs watchdog well-educated yelping To see a more complete (although still incomplete!) list of words Shakespeare coined, you can visit: And for a list of phrases, please visit: SCANNING SHAKESPEARE NOTE: This information will correspond to exercise #2, in the classroom exercise section. FACT: Shakespeare wrote primarily in IAMBIC PENTAMETER. What is iambic pentameter? Iambic pentameter is a line of poetry that is made up of 5 feet of iambs: weak STRONG / weak STRONG / weak STRONG / weak STRONG / weak STRONG 17

19 Ex: but SOFT/ what LIGHT /through YON / der WIN / dow BREAKS Iambic Pentameter is the natural way to say this line of Romeo s. You would never say, for example, yon-der, or win-dow. Shakespeare is using natural speech to aid his poetry. What is an iamb? An iamb is one of the "weak STRONG" units used to build a line of iambic pentameter. "Penta" means five (as in "the Pentagon," a building which happens to have five sides) and iambic pentameter is a line of verse that has 5 iambs (or 5 feet). One iamb is considered a foot. What is a foot? A foot is one of the repeating segments that is used to build a line of poetry. In the case of iambic pentameter, one iamb = one foot. What is meter? Meter is the pattern of a line of verse (for example, iambic pentameter). HOW TO SCAN SHAKESPEARE S TEXT: 1. The first step in scanning Shakespeare is: understanding the text. 2. The second step in scanning is: reading the text out loud. (If these two steps are achieved correctly, 80% of your scansion work is done.) 3. Count the syllables in each line (with the goal of finding no more than 10 syllables in each, 5 stressed and 5 unstressed). 4. Look for the perfect iambic line. If the line is not simply iambic pentameter, then look for the other type of feet that Shakespeare used. The Variety of Feet 1) Pyrrhic: x x (see note) 2) Iamb: x / (a-lone, de-spair, to walk) 3) Trochee: / x (stu-dy, back-ward, talk to) 4) Anapest: x x / (in-ter-dict, to per-mit) 5) Dactyl: / x x (ten-der-ly, af-ter the) 6) Spondee: / / (stone deaf, broad-browed) Note: Because two unstressed syllables create no drive, a pyrrhic foot is OFTEN paired together with a spondee foot. Pyrrhic-Spondees are feet found together such as: he is SO GROSS! THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR ONCE YOU HAVE SCANNED FEMININE ENDING A feminine ending is line of verse (11 syllables long) that ends with an unstressed syllable. The first four lines of Hamlet s To be or not to be that is the 18

20 question speech all have feminine endings. Likewise, if you look at lines 2, 5, 25, or 34 of our scansion classroom exercise (Mark Anthony s funeral speech) they too all end with feminine endings. TROCHAIC STARTS Is the movie called Pirates of the CARE-a-BEE-an or cah-ri-bee-an? One sounds rough and violent, the other sounds like a vacationing spot. The difference of the two is whether you make it 2 trochaic feet (CAR-i-BBE-an) or an iamb (ca-ri-bbe-an). Shakespeare will often use trochees to start lines in order to create a jarring effect. TOO MANY (OR NOT ENOUGH) SYLLABLES Do you have more or less than ten syllables? What will you do? Names are notoriously variable in Shakespeare. Is it Ca-SI-us, or CA-shus? You will find that Shakespeare scans them differently, depending on the syllables he needs in a line. Thus, you should follow suit and pronounce them differently in different uses. Likewise, Shakespeare might change the pronunciation of a word, due to how many syllables he may need. Shakespeare often found extra syllables in ed endings. For example we would say be-loved. Shakespeare, if needing an extra syllable would stretch it out to be-love-ed. Therefore if you count more (or less) than 10 syllables in a line, you know you must elongate or truncate some words. CHECKLIST 1. Is the line regular iambic pentameter? 2. If not, is there a surprisingly strong start, or start to the phrase just after the pause, or both? (trochaic) 3. Is there an extra syllable at the end of the line, at the end of the phrase? (feminine ending) 4. Are there contractions, elisions, eliminated v s? (If the line is too long, and the extra syllable occurs in midline rather than at the pause, there is probably an elision needed.) 5. If the line is too short, look for word endings that need expansion ( ed, or ion, or ious ). CLASSROOM EXERCISES 1. Knowing that Shakespeare invented a lot of new words by putting two wellknown words together (love-letter, moonbeam, hunchbacked) can you create 10 news words of your own in 15 minutes? 2. Knowing what you learned about iambic pentameter, scan Prospero s speech and see what you find. You do look, my son, in a moved sort, 1 As if you were dismay'd: be cheerful, sir. Our revels now are ended. These our actors, 19

21 As I foretold you, were all spirits and Are melted into air, into thin air: 5 And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, the great globe itself, Ye all which it inherit, shall dissolve And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, 10 Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep. Sir, I am vex'd; Bear with my weakness; my, brain is troubled: Be not disturb'd with my infirmity: 15 If you be pleased, retire into my cell And there repose: a turn or two I'll walk. Answer Key All lines are full iambic pentameter lines except for the following: Feminine Endings: 3, 6, 10 Trochee start: 14 Incomplete Line: Have students perform a scene from the play allowing them to adapt it in their own way. The setting, costumes, and manner of speech can change, so long as the words remain true to the text, and show they understand the meaning of the scene. The student should complete the project with a detailed composition explaining why they chose the adaptation. 4. Write a journal entry as a character in the play or write the headlines of the news stories on the Island. What problems are the characters facing? What fights are breaking out? What makes the daily news? 5. Create a Facebook or Twitter feed or profile for 5 of these characters. What are their likes? Status Updates? Who are their friends? What do they tweet and hash tag? What does their profile picture look like? Cover photo? 6. Create a journal entry for one of the characters. What is the entry about? What is the character concerned about? 20

22 7. The Tempest- PART TWO! Break up into groups. Write the prequel or sequel to The Tempest. What happens to the characters? What new conflicts arise? How are they solved? 8. Take a speech and translate it into modern day English. Read each version out loud to the class. 9. Pick a current TV show. What would happen if the characters in The Tempest were on it? What would happen? What obstacles may each character run into throughout the process? 10. Write a ten-minute play, starring Miranda (or other character from The Tempest) and four other people from history as the cast. Where are they? What time period do they reside in? What are they doing together? What is the conflict, rising and falling action? Use you imagination!! SOURCES FOR CLASSROOM EXERCISES Garfield, Leon. Shakespeare Stories. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, Morley, Jacqueline and John James. Shakespeare s theatre: the inside Story. East Sussex, London: Simon and Schuster Young Books, ESSAY QUESTIONS 1. Write an essay explaining how closed, isolated environments like Prospero s island in The Tempest, affect the characters. 2. Shakespeare uses allusions to mythology in The Tempest. What is an allusion? Where do allusions take place in Acts 3 and 4? 3. Lust for power, a theme in other Shakespeare plays, manifests itself in The Tempest in two independent conspiracies? What are these conspiracies and who is involved in them? 4. Would you consider Prospero s island an example of a microcosm? Write a short essay that explains your answer. 5. To whom does Shakespeare address the epilogue at the end of the play? 6. Do you despise or pity Caliban. Explain your answer. 7. Do you approve of the way Prospero treats Miranda? 21

23 SOURCES FOR ESSAY QUESTIONS Davis, James E., ed. teaching Shakespeare today: Practical Approaches and Productive Strategies. Urbana, Ill: National Council of Teachers of English, Crystal, David, and Crystal, Ben. the Shakespeare Miscellany. The Overlook Press, Peter Mayer Publishers, Inc. Woodstock and New York, Crystal, David, and Crystal, Ben. Shakespeare s Words: A Glossary and Language Companion. Penguin Books, The Penguin Group. London, Papp, Joseph and Elizabeth Kirkland. Shakespeare Alive! New York, New York: Bantam Books, Epstein, Norrie. the Friendly Shakespeare: A thoroughly Painless Guide to the Best of the Bard. New York, New York: Penguin Books Asimov, Isaac. Asimov s Guide to Shakespeare. New York, New York, Bender, Michael. All the World s a Stage: a Pop-up Biography of William Shakespeare. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, Foster, Cass and Lynn G. Johnson. Shakespeare: to teach or Not to teach. Grades 3 and Up. Scottsdale, AZ: Five Star Publications, Garfield, Leon. Shakespeare Stories. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, Morley, Jacqueline and John James. Shakespeare s theatre: the inside Story. East Sussex, London: Simon and Schuster Young Books, The Tempest, Miramax, 2010, Julie Taymor. RECOMMENDED MOVIES of THE TEMPEST 1. Which of these animals is Caliban not likened to? Beast Fish Monkey Tortoise THE TEMPEST QUIZ 2. Which character does Miranda fall in love with? Trinculo Alonso Ferdinand Sebastian 3. Which character attempts to rape Miranda? Stephano Prospero Caliban Ferdinand 22

24 4. How long have Prospero and Miranda lived on the island? 5 years 30 years 16 years 12 years 5. Which of these characters is Sebastian's brother? Prospero Antonio Alonso Gonzalo 6. Whose mother is Sycorax? Prospero Ferdinand Miranda Caliban 7. Who caused the Tempest? Gonzalo Prospero Caliban Miranda 8. Which three men are being referred to in this quote? "You three men of sin did supplant good Prospero..." Antonio, Alonso and Sebastian Caliban, Trinculo and Stephano Stephano, Trinculo and Alonso Antonio, Sebastian and Ariel 9. Where was Ariel imprisoned? a house a hedge a cave a tree 10. The island is described as "uninhabitable and almost inaccessible". True False 23

25 LOUISIANA STATE COMPREHENSIVE CURRICULUM CORRESPONDENCE Each classroom exercise meets the state of Louisiana s educational standards. In order to correctly identify how it meets these standards, the following formula will be employed: If the class associated with the exercise is English Language Arts It is followed by the phrase Comprehensive Curriculum That is followed by the grade number That is followed by the unit number Lastly, the Grade Level Expectation number (ELA) (CC) (6-8, I, II, IV) (U1) (1a) Therefore a senior English class, Unit 6, with 3 corresponding GLEs will read: ELA CC, IV U6. GLE: 1a, 11, 25b. Due to the fact that there are no GLEs associated with Drama (and therefore no unit number) the following formula will be employed: If the class associated with the exercise is Drama (D) It is followed by the phrase Comprehensive Curriculum (CC) That is followed by the grade number (6-8) That is followed by the title of the exercise (Forms of Drama) That is followed by the HP (HP1, for example) Therefore an 8 th grade drama exercise will read: D CC, 8: Forms of Drama (HP1) CLASSROOM EXERCISES 1. ELA CC, 6 U6. GLE: 01a, 01c, 01d, 03. ELA CC, 7 U6. GLE: 01a. ELA CC, 8 U7. GLE: 01a, 01b. ELA CC, II U4. GLE: 01d. ELA CC, IV U3.GLE: 01a, 01b. D CC, 6: Becoming Familiar with Shakespeare s Phrases (HP6) 2. ELA CC, 6 U6. GLE: 11g, 19a, 19b, 31. ELA CC, 7 U6. GLE: 04a, 09b, 09g, 28, 32. ELA CC, 8 U7. GLE: 09g, 14b,17b. ELA CC, I U4. GLE: 11a, 11c, 17a. ELA CC, II U4. GLE: 03a, 03b, 09b. ELA CC, IV U3.GLE: 01c, 03b, 07c. D CC, 6: Becoming Familiar with Shakespeare s Phrases (HP6) D CC, 8: Elizabethan Theatre (HP2) 3. ELA CC, 6 U6. GLE: 04d, 09, 11a-f, 19d, 20f, 38b. ELA CC, 7 U6. GLE: 04c, 10, 15e, 17b. ELA CC, 8 U7. GLE: 02b, 15a, 17a, 28,

26 ELA CC, I U4. GLE: 04c, 11f, 17a, 19, 31a, 35a. ELA CC, II U4. GLE: 02a-d, 03a. 03b, 03g. ELA CC, IV U3.GLE: 09a, 09d, 13c, 20a. D CC, 6: Incorporating Theme into a New Story (HP4) D CC, 8: Forms of Drama (HP1) 4. ELA CC, 6 U6. GLE: 04d, 09, 11a-f, 19d, 20f, 38b. ELA CC, 7 U6. GLE: 04c, 10, 15e, 17b. ELA CC, 8 U7. GLE: 02b, 15a, 17a, 28, 32. ELA CC, I U4. GLE: 04c, 11f, 17a, 19, 31a, 35a. ELA CC, II U4. GLE: 02a-d, 03a. 03b, 03g. ELA CC, IV U3.GLE: 09a, 09d, 13c, 20a. D CC, 6: Incorporating Theme into a New Story (HP4) D CC, 7: Types if Theatrical Performance (HP1) D CC, 8: Forms of Drama (HP1) 5. ELA CC, 6 U6. GLE: 11c, 16c, 19d. ELA CC, 7 U6. GLE: 09e, 10, 33, 35. ELA CC, 8 U7. GLE: 10, 14c, 29, 30. ELA CC, I U4. GLE: 11a, 11e, 12a, 12b, 14b, 31a, 32c. ELA CC, II U4. GLE: 11e, 12a, 15a, 20, 32c, 34a, ELA CC, IV U3.GLE: 09c, 09f, 09g, 13a. D CC, 8: Build a Character (HP6) 6. ELA CC, 6 U6. GLE: 11b, 16c, 17a, 24b, 39a,b,d,f. ELA CC, 7 U6. GLE: 11, 17b, 40c. ELA CC, 8 U7. GLE: 15c, 15d, 17b, 29, 40a-c. ELA CC, I U4. GLE: 36b, 38, 39c. ELA CC, II U4. GLE: 17c, 31a, 40b. ELA CC, IV U3.GLE:10b, 19c, 31b, 34b, 35b, 37c. D CC, 6: The Art of Cinema, TV (HP1) D CC, 6: Incorporating Theme into a New Story (HP4) 7. ELA CC, 6 U6. GLE: 17d, 19c, 20a, 21, 25b, 26. ELA CC, 7 U6. GLE: 17b, 18f, 23a, 24b. ELA CC, 8 U7. GLE: 17b, 19, 23, 24a. ELA CC, I U4. GLE: 15b, 22b, 22c, 25. ELA CC, II U4. GLE: 11a, 13, 15a, 15c, 17c, 25a-28. ELA CC, IV U3.GLE: 03b, 05, 13a, 19c, 19d. D CC, 6: Incorporating Theme into a New Story (HP4) D CC, 8: Build a Character (HP6) 8. ELA CC, 6 U6. GLE: 11b, 17a, 17c. ELA CC, 7 U6. GLE: 15e ELA CC, 8 U7. GLE: 15a, 15d-f, 23. ELA CC, I U4. GLE: 11a, 15b, 17a, 19, 22a-c, 23c,g,

27 ELA CC, II U4. GLE: 03i, 04c, 11a, 11f, 17a,b, 17d. ELA CC, IV U3.GLE: 03b, 09a,c. D CC, 6: Becoming Familiar with Shakespeare s Phrases (HP6) 9. ELA CC, 6 U6. GLE: 11b, 17a, 19c, 24c. ELA CC, 7 U6. GLE: 04c, 14c, 15d, 17c, 35. ELA CC, 8 U7. GLE: 14c, 15d, 23, 28. ELA CC, I U4. GLE: 11a, 11e, 12a, 31b. ELA CC, II U4. GLE: 11a, 11f, 17a, 34a. ELA CC, IV U3.GLE: 04, 12, 13d, 13f, 19c, 30b. D CC, 6: Incorporating Theme into a New Story (HP4) D CC, 7: The Art of the Poster (HP5) D CC, 8: Build a Character (HP6) 10. ELA CC, 6 U6. GLE: 08, 09, 10d, 17a. ELA CC, 7 U6. GLE: 07, 17c. ELA CC, 8 U7. GLE: 19, 23. ELA CC, I U4. GLE: 02a, 14b, 15b, 17c. ELA CC, II U4. GLE: 02a-d, 3a-h, 15a. ELA CC, IV U3.GLE: 12, 13b, 19c, 20a. D CC, 6: Incorporating Theme into a New Story (HP4) D CC, 6: Becoming Familiar with Shakespeare s Phrases (HP6) D CC, 7: Types if Theatrical Performance (HP1) D CC, 8: Forms of Drama (HP1) 26