#thetempest

[enchantedbook]

'The Tempest' by Leo and Diane Dillon, 1965

[whencyclopedia]

The Tempest

The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare (c. 1564-1616), written in 1610 or 1611, and first performed for the court of James I of England (r. 1603-1625) on 2 November 1611. Believed to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote on his own, The Tempest deals with both tragic and comic themes, leading some literary critics to label it under the category of 'romance' or 'tragicomedy'.

Sources & Themes

Unlike many of Shakespeare's other works, there does not seem to be a direct literary source for The Tempest. Instead, it seems that Shakespeare was inspired by accounts of New World exploration, which was gaining traction during that time. Shakespeare had likely heard accounts of Ferdinand Magellan's circumnavigation of the world and had read Richard Rich's News from Virginia (1610). One of his main sources was William Strachey's A True Reportory of the Wreck and Redemption...from the Islands of the Bermudas, an eyewitness account of the wreck of the Sea Venture, a ship that went down off the coast of Bermuda in 1609. Since Strachey's full manuscript was not published until after Shakespeare's death, it is thought that the playwright had access to an early draft. Certainly, the excitement surrounding the discoveries in the Western Hemisphere provided the fabric of The Tempest's plot, even though it is narratively set on an island in the Mediterranean.

The island on which the play is set, in the words of David Bevington, is a place of "magical rejuvenation", a realm of art where "everything is controlled by the artist-figure" (818). In this way, the island itself is like a stage, and Prospero with his magic is like Shakespeare with his pen. There are several references within the play to theatre and actors, leaving some scholars to speculate that The Tempest may have been Shakespeare's way of saying farewell to his career, since it was the last play he wrote alone.

Another theme is that of colonialism, most clearly demonstrated with Prospero coming to the island, enslaving the native Caliban, and forcing Ariel to do his will. There are obvious parallels to the concurrent European colonization of the Americas, but Shakespeare's audience would have been more likely to think of the English exploitation of Ireland, which had taken an especially brutal turn. Caliban's enslavement, though presented by Prospero as necessary to prevent rape and disorder, nevertheless raises questions of oppression and control and leaves the audience to wonder whether Prospero's attempts to 'civilize' Caliban and contain his otherness has produced a worthy result.

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⇒ The Tempest

[thelibraryofforgottendreams]

-William Shakespeare, The Tempest

[pepzapata]

[amihuman]

Just started this the other night. It's gonna be epic.

[stochastique-blog]

True

Harpy wings nearing completion🧵🪡 #thetempest (at Cultural Arts Building at UNCW) https://www.instagram.com/p/CZ2GMxiO7v6/?utm_medium=tumblr

[macbooth]

step one to toxic (co)dependent yaoi: have fun and be yourself

step two to toxic (co)dependent yaoi: i'm your man by mitski

[jgroffdaily]

@melissahaizlip_ Thank you my dear friend @reneeelisegoldsberry for having me at @allinbroadway You are so amazing in the ahow! Congrats on opening this darling show, performed by a company of some of the funniest people on the planet! That’s YOU, bestie! Love you so much! And what a thrill to meet THEE #JonathanGroff one of my FAVORITE GOATS 🐐👑 and @sordociego @realrichardkind @johnmulaney What an amazing few years it’s been for you! Beyond honored to direct / produce your documentary @satisfieddoc premiere at @tribeca see you perform as Prospero in #thetempest @publictheaterny #shakespeareinthepark enjoy you in @girls5evaofficial on @netflix and now back to Broadway with #AllIn! Wouldn’t be surprised if @nbcsnl is next!! Look around, look around, how lucky we are to be alive right now! Love you, Renée! 🥰😍😘💃🏽💃🏽🐐✨⭐️💫💐🌸 #work #reneeelisegoldsberry #allinbroadway #angelica #hamilton #satisfied #goat

[witchesvision]

David Farr's #TwelfthNight where the shipwrecked siblings swam onto the stage 🌊

✨ This production was staged alongside #TheComedyofErrors and #TheTempest. The pool was drained after every Twelfth Night performance and then disguised with black cloth and debris for the other two shows.

Designer: Jon Bausor

📸 Emily Taaffe as Viola in Twelfth Night, 2012. Photo by Keith Pattison ©️ RSC

📸 Steven Hagan as Sebastian in Twelfth Night, 2012.  Photo by Keith Pattison ©️ RSC

[bootlegviolatwelfthnight]

BROKE: I'm trapped at home during college winter break

WOKE: I am Miranda TheTempest

[enchantedbook]

'The Tempest' by Pamela Colman Smith, (1878 - 1951).

[infinitelytheheartexpands]

god. i love miranda thetempest.

she’s a teenage girl who’s spent all the days of her living memory on a deserted island. she’s surrounded by magic but not privy to it. she has a dad who doesn’t treat her like a full human being. she’s an attempted rape survivor. and once again—she’s a teenager! she’s growing up, going through some of the most painful years!

she lashes out, of course. she talks back. she defies everyone who tries to hurt her or hurt other people. she hurts too—in more ways than one.

and yet.

she’s not just soft—this is a girl who is accustomed to carrying logs and will gladly do so because she’s more fit to it than this sheltered royal boy she meets. she screams at her dad. she screams at caliban. she screams at herself, beats herself up for breaking the rules that have been so engrained in her.

but at the same time, none of this has broken her spirit. she is so intensely empathetic. she cries out for humanity in a magical, inhuman world. she falls madly in love with the first boy she meets and she allows herself to be poetic, to be truly open and vulnerable, to be equal, to be truly herself with someone who adores her exactly as she is. she’s so intelligent. she’s the first one to propose in the exquisite scene that is 3.1.

she is brimming, nay, overflowing with joy and wonder and love.

“o wonder! how many goodly creatures are there here! how beauteous mankind is! o, brave new world that has such people in ’t!”

in short, i fucking love her, as i have since i saw the taymor tempest way back in 2013. and thank you dearly, @socialshakespeare for letting me take a turn at bringing her to life <3

[venacesaur]

I'm so normal about Ariel TheTempest

[sneefsnorf]

i love when i find a painting of a scene from shakespeare and its from the 1800s. fanart spans the ages. people have been genderbending ariel thetempest for centuries. peace and love

[butchhamlet]

lazy halloween costume idea for those normal about shakespeare: just put some red food dye or paint or something on your hands. boom. lady macbeth. for a not-lady macbeth option: just attach a dagger or some sort of knife on a string to the brim of a cap. thank me later <3 (i’m either going to be miranda thetempest or the girl with the pearl earring. or maybe lucy westenra. or blue theravencycle.)

THE DAGGER SKHFDWNFNDWKFNWKNFW

[cartridgeconverter]

Lesbian Ferdinand thetempest this. Lesbian Ferdinand that. How about transmasc Ferdinand (reasoning: I played him when I was 10 in a child-friendly production of Tempest)