The Tempest: Writer's Methods and Techniques (OCR A Level English Literature)

Writer’s Methods and Techniques

The best responses don’t limit their analysis to individual words and phrases. Examiners are really looking for analysis of Shakespeare’s overall aims so try to take a “whole-text” approach and consider the effects of the writer’s methods and techniques. Each of the below topics do just that:

• Form

• Structure

• Language

Form

The Tempest is a Shakespearean comedy. It is important that the examiner knows from your essay that you understand the conventions of comedy and aspects of it which inform your analysis of the play. It is also worth exploring the elements of this play as a romantic comedy. This produces a more conceptualised answer which takes into account the methods and purpose of Shakespeare as a playwright. 

Shakespearean comedies usually consist of:

• A setting which incorporates a celebration or festival, often in idyllic locations: 

  • In this way, The Tempest differs somewhat as it does not include a festival 

  • However, it takes place on a small, magical island

• A love dilemma or triangle which takes the protagonists on a journey of mistakes and misunderstandings:

  • The Tempest’s romantic triangle involves Miranda, Ferdinand and Prospero

  • Prospero tricks and schemes, listens in on their conversations and controls their relationship although they are unaware

  • Dramatic irony creates humour as audiences hear Prospero’s asides and soliloquies detailing his plots as he listens in on characters 

• Juxtaposition of scenes to present emotional ups and downs, disorder to order:

  • In The Tempest, Prospero and Ariel create disorder with their magical arts

  • Those with authority are shown to be vulnerable outside of their domain

  • As the noblemen are shipwrecked and wash up on different parts of the island, they are presented as out of control

  • These scenes are juxtaposed with magical illusions, songs and drunken celebrations

• A comic villain who plans to derail the happiness of the hero or heroine:

  • In this play, Caliban is the vengeful villain who wishes to derail Miranda and Prospero’s control of the island

• The theme of human folly, trickery and gullibility is shown through slapstick comedy, sexual jokes, satire and parody:

  • Characters such as the drunk Trinculo and Stephano create humour through their witty banter and clumsy, physical arguments 

• Characters such as clowns, fools and others in disguise:

  • In this play, Prospero makes himself invisible with a magic garment

  • Ariel is an invisible spirit who creates illusions and casts spells

• The use of dramatic irony so the audience laughs at a character’s ignorance:

  • The scene in which they elaborately feign innocence after drawing their swords on the sleeping Alonso is humorous to the audience, as they know Ariel has tricked them  

  • In The Tempest, Antonio and Sebastian are exposed as duplicitous when Ariel tricks them:

• A comic resolution where misunderstandings are clarified:

  • Prospero releases Caliban and Ariel from his control

  • Prospero forgives his enemies and they reconcile

  • Peace between Milan and Naples comes as a result of the marriage

  • The Duke of Milan gives the title back to Prospero

• A resolution which provides a sense of catharsis, often ending with a marriage:

  • The Tempest ends with a happy marriage between Miranda and Ferdinand

  • Prospero leaves the island and returns to Milan

A Jacobean audience member would have been well acquainted with comedy, and Shakespearean comedy in particular. This means a contemporary audience member would be expecting these plays to conform to the conventions of comedy, as listed above.

When the audience knows something that a character in a play doesn’t, it’s called dramatic irony. We see moments where Shakespeare uses Prospero’s plotting or Ariel’s magic as a method of creating dramatic irony, and this creates humour. As audiences watch, they are already aware that characters are being fooled.

Try to show the examiner that you understand that the audience would sometimes feel satisfied or amused, or show judgement or pity for characters as each scene is shown, and that drives home messages that Shakespeare wishes to convey. Make sure you highlight that Shakespeare uses this dynamic for dramatic effect too.

Structure

The structure of a comedy

Classical comedy follows conventions of Greek drama. The main features are: 

• Unity of time, place and action

• Events which mimic everyday life 

• A plot which ridicules and satirises human folly or vices

Shakespearean comedies generally follow the same five-part structure:

• Exposition: the play begins with a scene full of tension; often conflict is foreshadowed:

• In The Tempest, the play opens with a ship battling a storm

• The sailors argue with the noblemen who get in the way, suggesting a reversal of roles

• Prospero and Ariel have created the storm as a way to seek revenge 

• Miranda is the subject of Prospero’s magic as well

  • Rising Action: the implicit conflict is developed as the characters are tricked and deceived:

    • Prospero begins to control the noblemen as they wash up on different parts of the island

    • Prospero and Caliban’s resentful relationship manifests in bitter disputes and deceits

    • Ariel protests the way Prospero has manipulated them into slavery

    • Ferdinand is led to Miranda by magic and they fall in love

    • Prospero tests Ferdinand and Miranda, with them unaware

  • Turning Point: the climax of the play is signalled with chaos and an impasse:

    • Caliban plots to murder Prospero, with the help of Stephano

    • Prospero begins to see the distress he is causing Miranda and Ferdinand

    • Antonio and Sebastian are entrenched in their own plot to murder Alonso

• Falling Action: the play’s misunderstandings are revealed:

  • Ariel punishes Antonio and Sebastian with a stark warning

  • Prospero reflects on his actions and prepares to give up magic

  • Prospero forgives Antonio for betraying him 

• Resolution: problems are resolved and the play ends in marriage:

  • Prospero throws his books into the sea, denouncing magic

  • Antonio returns the dukedom to Prospero

  • The marriage of Miranda and Ferdinand brings peace to Naples and Milan

  • Ariel and Caliban are released

Language

It is, of course, important to analyse Shakespeare’s use of language in any essay on The Tempest. However, try to see “language” in a broader sense than just the words that Shakespeare uses: it also includes the form and patterns of his language. Moreover, try to take a “whole-text” approach and consider why Shakespeare presents - through his use of language - the ideas he wants to explore in the play. Below you will find revision materials on:

• Poetry and Prose

• Symbolism

Poetry and Prose

Shakespeare shifts his characters’ dialogue from prose to verse to indicate the mood in a scene, as well as the characters’ social status. In The Tempest, much of the dialogue is in Iambic pentameter. Lower status or comic characters almost always speak in prose, whereas those with power and knowledge speak in verse. It is worth noting that Caliban speaks in verse using sophisticated language to represent an intellectual character, despite his savage appearance and lack of authority.

Blank verse

• Blank verse consists of unrhymed lines of ten syllables, although it does not always exactly fit that pattern

• Blank verse does not necessarily rhyme, but lines have a regular rhythm

• Typically in Shakespeare plays, the use of verse represents a character’s emotions, often employed during an intimate speech or soliloquy:

  • His complex sentence structures and sophisticated soliloquy present him as an intellectual and powerful character 

  • Iambic pentameter in Caliban’s speeches show his sense of outrage

  • Prospero speaks in verse when he relates his betrayal to Miranda:

Rhymed verse

• Rhymed verse consists of sets of rhyming couplets: two successive lines that rhyme with each other at the end of the line

• Most notably, in the resolution Prospero delivers an epilogue in which he makes use of rhyming couplets: “Now my charms are all o’erthrown,/And what strength I have ’s mine own”:

  • Prospero’s final speech is poetic and sophisticated, indicative of his wisdom and power

• Ariel and the other spirits use rhyming couplets in their enchanting songs:

  • Ariel’s rhymes signify an innocent quality to their nature, contributing to the magical mood: “Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell./Hark, now I hear them, ding dong bell”

Prose

• Prose consists of unrhymed lines with no pattern or rhythm

• Shakespeare uses prose for dialogue of a comedic or a lower class character

• Shakespeare uses prose in The Tempest for Trinculo in particular:

  • Trinculo can be considered the fool or jester in the play

  • He dresses up, drinks too much and provides light relief

  • He delivers comedic lines as he argues with Stephano and is tricked by Ariel

Symbolism

Man and nature

• The title of the play and the opening scene introduce the symbolism of nature and the power of man:

  • The word “tempest” means “storm”

  • This foreshadows the turbulent and chaotic events about to be presented as the story unfolds

• In this first scene, the sailors challenge the noblemen and king:

  • They explain that nature does not observe man-made social hierarchies and drowns kings as easily as lowly sailors

  • This ironic scene conveys man’s vulnerability in the face of nature

• Miranda, who has lived on the island for many years, shows her fear of nature’s power:

  • She describes the “wild waters”: “The sky, it seems would pour down stinking pitch”

• While Prospero symbolises the power of man, he is aided by supernatural spirits and magical arts:

  • He repeatedly refers to “charms” and magical “arts” and speaks with the spirits

  • Although he gains control of the island he learns by the resolution that human power is limited by emotions

• Caliban symbolises the native inhabitant’s connection to nature:

  • He speaks of the gods of nature, he teaches Prospero about the land and he is described as animalistic

  • Caliban is insulted for his connections to barbarism: he is a “demi-devil” and “puppy-headed monster”

  • In Act III Scene II, he describes the noises of the island which “give delight and hurt not”, highlighting his close connection to nature

  • He believes Stephano when he says he used to be the “Man i’th’Moon”

• Shakespeare presents foil characters to emphasise conflicts between man and nature:

  • Caliban’s wild savagery contrasts with Miranda’s civilised and tame nature

Knowledge and power

• It is made clear to audiences in the exposition that Prospero's magical powers were learned from his vast library of books

• Prospero uses these powers to gain control and submit some of the inhabitants to servitude:

  • However, by the resolution, Prospero’s wisdom overrides his desire to control

• Caliban’s instructions to Stephano to steal Prospero's books and “brain him” by hitting him in the “skull” suggest Caliban knows where Prospero’s power lies

• In the rising action, Caliban expresses his outrage that the knowledge they shared with each other has been unfairly beneficial to Prospero:

  • His exclamatory language cursing Prospero conveys his outrage: “my profit on ’t/Is I know how to curse. The red plague rid you/For learning me your language!”

• Symbolically, the game of chess in Act V Scene I could allude to the way Prospero has “captured” the king, Alonso, and won back his dukedom:

  • The chess game, played by Miranda and Ferdinand, when Prospero reveals to Alonso his son is still alive, could represent Prospero’s mind-play

  • Prospero misuses his knowledge to gain full control, exemplified in this scene where he enjoys showing his power off to Alonso

  • His power is manifested both in his superior knowledge that Alonso’s son is alive and that he has married them unbeknownst to the king

• The political subversion in the play is disguised within the comedic relief:

  • Prospero’s magical “arts” control and subvert figures of authority

  • His power makes them vulnerable and exposed, on unfamiliar territory, as they become victims of nature and the supernatural

• In the resolution, Prospero denounces his magic and relinquishes control

• He does this by symbolically throwing his books in the ocean: "I'll drown my book" 

• It is argued that Prospero represents Shakespeare himself:

  • The Tempest is Shakespeare’s final play

  • The books could represent Shakespeare’s words and the power of drama

• Prospero's magical garment symbolises changes in his attitude to power:

  • The first is in Act I Scene II when he tells Miranda to “pluck my magic garment from me. So, lie there, my art-- Wipe thou thine eyes”

  • He takes it off in Act V Scene I to symbolise his rejection of powerful magic

  • Ariel helps to dress him in a duke’s robe, which is suggestive of their influence on his decisions

  • It is argued that the garment is a cloak, such as an academic or sorcerer’s gown

  • Prospero takes it off twice in the play: