E X T E N S I O N THE TEMPEST: FEATURES 1 AND INTERPRETATIONS The Tempest is one of Shakespeare s shortest plays. To give unity of action, Shakespeare uses the figure of Prospero, who directs the events with his magic powers. The action takes place in one day and one place: an island in the Mediterranean sea. In The Tempest Shakespeare inserts music and songs typical of the masque. Inelegant and vulgar characters appear (for example, Caliban) and there is often a banquet, like the one The Tempest (R. Huskisson, 1847) Prospero organizes for the king of Naples and his court. Critics think that Prospero is Shakespeare s portrait2 and that Prospero s words Our revels3 now are ended. (Act 4, Scene I, line 148) are Shakespeare s good-bye to dramatic poetry. Until the final reconciliation4, The Tempest is a play of revenge5. But when good triumphs over evil and Prospero s enemies repent6, Prospero pardons them ( pardon is better than revenge ) and suspends his magic spell7. Critics think that The Tempest is an example of the contrast between nature and society. Caliban (probably an anagram of cannibal ), the monster, the elemental8 man with instinctive intelligence, represents nature. In Shakespeare s times there is the idea that society is good and that man outside society, in his natural state, is bad and similar to an animal. Beginning in the Romantic Age (1800 c.), a new idea becomes very common: the noble savage9 , who lives in the natural state, is more innocent and happier than a social man. This is the case of the savage protagonist of Brave New World (1932), a famous anti-utopian10 novel by Aldous Huxley (1894-1963). The title comes from the words that Miranda uses when she sees civilized people on the island for the first time. features: characteristics. portrait: picture. revels: celebrations. reconciliation: when two people become friendly again. 5. revenge: when you make somebody suffer because they have made you suffer. repent: feel sorry. spell: enchantment. elemental: naturally simple. savage: person that lives in a primitive way. 10. anti-utopian: describing a very negative imaginary world. 1. 2. 3. 4. 6. 7. 8. 9. 53