The Tempest (Folger Shakespeare Library)
by William Shakespeare
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Book Summary Information
Author: William ShakespeareEditor: Barbara A. Mowat
Editor: Paul Werstine
Edition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-06-22
ISBN: 0743482832
Number of pages: 218
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780743482837
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
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Book Reviews of The Tempest (Folger Shakespeare Library)
Book Review: 'Such stuff as dreams are made on'
Summary: 5 Stars
I have read THE TEMPEST at various stages of my life, and it never fails to surprise and confound me. I can't think of many works of fiction that have undergone so many changes in interpretation and staging. (I will refrain from giving a synopsis, assuming that it's readily available here and elsewhere, and instead focus on interpretation).
What is the play about? It's about power struggles, shipwrecks, murder or intended murder, revenge, forgiveness, restitutuion, servitude and rebellion, the enlightening and corrupting influence of booklearning, sorcery, innocent young love, resignation.....Are there any large themes that have been left out? There are dazzling special effects, there is humor, bawdiness, entertainment appealing to a broad audience.
The castaway Prospero has been likened to a theatrical Robinson Crusoe or seen as a Faustian figure who sells his soul in exchange for magical powers; as the playwright himself who bids farewell to show business (THE TEMPEST was Shakespeare's last play); as the colonial usurper who seizes control of a paradisical island and subjugates the natives.
Ah - and then there is Caliban. He has been represented as half man/half beast, misshapen, uncouth, barbaric - the missing link. Or as the oppressed native, naively trusting the white conqueror, accepting tyranny and exploitation while nurturing hatred in his breast. At the pinnacle of this evolution is the "noble savage", a proud and disdainful figure, well-spoken and highly sensitive to music and aesthetic values while being forced to do the most menial and degrading work.
And what about Ariel? Does he play Mephistopheles to Prospero's Faust? Is he the real Master? His days as a pleasant, airy sprite with an unlimited repertoire of magic tricks seem to be over.
Feminists object to the treatment of Miranda: she does her father's bidding without question; she falls in love with the first young man she sees. And, I'm told, she got her biggest laugh from the Shakespearean audience when she uttered the famous lines: "How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world that has such people in it." All this when meeting a bunch of scoundrels who have survived the shipwreck. What pernicious irony! Miranda is Prospero's creature in every way (we never hear a word about her mother): a fantasy, an invention.
The new (2008) Modern Library edition backed by the Royal Shakespeare Company has interesting pictures of various stagings and interviews with well-known directors. RSC actors who played Prospero, from John Gielgud to Derek Jacobi and Alec McCowen have adapted the role to their own understanding of it. It is impossible to read the play today and not have these images in the back of one's mind. You may cringe, you may object or be disgusted (in one RSC production, people in the audience shouted "Rubbish!" when Ariel spat in Prospero's face after being released by him. The director "rather liked it". He had envisioned Ariel as a rebellious teenager escaping from a controlling father).
And then there is the beautiful poetry. "We are such stuff as dreams are made on" and Prospero's final, haunting plea:"But release me from my bands/ With the help of your good hands" and "As you from crimes would pardoned be/Let your indulgence set me free".
So - is it all a Tempest of the Mind? A sort of catharsis for the audience?
I urge you to read the play again. It will undoubtedly trouble you, as it did me. But perhaps you will come up with a new and entirely different interpretation.
Set him free? Not a chance. We simply can't do without him.
Summary of The Tempest (Folger Shakespeare Library)
? Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play
? Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play
? Scene-by-scene plot summaries
? A key to famous lines and phrases
? An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language
? An essay by an outstanding scholar providing a modern perspective on the play
? Illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books
Essay by Barbara A. Mowat
The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., is home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit www.folger.edu.
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