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A review by christopherc
The Tempest by William Shakespeare
5.0
Shakespeare's play THE TEMPEST is, much like THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, a play where one is not quite sure whether to ascribe characterization to the ethnic stereotypes of the time or laud the playwright for looking beyond the prejudices of society to the universal equality of human beings. The plot of THE TEMPEST is generally about exiled duke and magician Prospero luring his enemies to his island to wreak vengence is entertaining enough, what remains with me after every reading is the interaction between Prospero and the indigenous islander Caliban. How, as Shakespeare has the reader ask, can Prospero blast his fellows for overthrowing him if the magician has done the same to Caliban? THE MERCHANT OF VENICE had Shylock giving a moving defence of his humanity before the jeers of Elizabethan society, but then he went back to being the Jewish villian that contemporary audiences would love to hate. Caliban gets that too, for although a European character muses on the possibility that primitive societies are superior to his own, Caliban is mostly exploited for a sort of comedy: watch as Prospero harasses and torments the foreigner!
Over the years I've seen certain conservative writers blast the tendency of contemporary readers to focus on the Prospero-Caliban relationship, seeing it as a manifestation of political correctness. Still, that's what makes THE TEMPEST intriguing and saves the play from being a fairly goofy account of conspirators getting their comeuppance through an elemental spirit playing tricks on them, and then two young people falling in love but being commanded not to get frisky.
I read the Bantam Classic edition of this work, which features some fine supplementary materials. The chapter on The Tempest in performance tracks the play's remarkable staging history, for Shakespeare's original work was usually extended operetta-style with music and dancing until the 20th century. Bantam also includes extracts from the 16th century works which served as an inspiration for Shakespeare's setting: Sylvester Jourdain's "A Discovery of the Bermudas", William Strachey's account of the same incident, and Baron Montaigne's essay on cannibals.
Over the years I've seen certain conservative writers blast the tendency of contemporary readers to focus on the Prospero-Caliban relationship, seeing it as a manifestation of political correctness. Still, that's what makes THE TEMPEST intriguing and saves the play from being a fairly goofy account of conspirators getting their comeuppance through an elemental spirit playing tricks on them, and then two young people falling in love but being commanded not to get frisky.
I read the Bantam Classic edition of this work, which features some fine supplementary materials. The chapter on The Tempest in performance tracks the play's remarkable staging history, for Shakespeare's original work was usually extended operetta-style with music and dancing until the 20th century. Bantam also includes extracts from the 16th century works which served as an inspiration for Shakespeare's setting: Sylvester Jourdain's "A Discovery of the Bermudas", William Strachey's account of the same incident, and Baron Montaigne's essay on cannibals.