The Tempest | William Shakespeare #Play

I wanted to read The Tempest at some point for two reasons. 

1. I would like to read Margaret Atwood's Hag-Seed one day. But I have never seen any productions of The Tempest and don't really know the story very well.
2. I have never read a play before that I had not already seen a theatre, movie or TV production of (I don't count seeing Return to the Forbidden Planet in 1991 at the Cambridge theatre, London, as I remember absolutely nothing about it!)

So I added it to my Classics Club List #2 and it came up during the last CC Spin.

I was curious to know how easy it would be to read an unknown play.

It was not.

Easy, that is.

I struggled to gather any information about the characters. I couldn't pick up any inflections, tone or tempo from the bare words on the page. I didn't know if the various speeches were meant to funny, sad or ironic. There were simply not enough clues for me to work it out on my own.

In the end I let the words just wash over me. I gave up trying to remember who was speaking to whom, except for Prospero, Miranda and Ariel.

Early on I picked up on the hag-seed reference to Caliban though,

Save for the son that she did litter here,
A feckled whelp hag-born.

and realised this must be the point of entry for Atwood's version of the story. But again, who was Caliban? I couldn't work it out from the text in from of me. 

Was he a hero or anti-hero, a bad guy or just misunderstood? Was he an 'other', a victim or villain, foolish, naive or tragic? 

Does he represent the natural world as being uncivilised? Or does he show up the civilised world as being cruel and domineering? Is he inhuman or beast, untamed or rebel, monster or noble savage? 

Perhaps, though, it is this very doubt and openness to interpretation that makes Shakepeare's plays so great. Caliban can be any or all or none of these things, depending on the reader, the director, the times or the lens.

This island's mine, by Sycorax my mother, 

Which thou takest from me. 

When thou camest first, 

Thou strokedst me and madest much of me, wouldst give me 

Water with berries in't, and teach me how 

To name the bigger light, and how the less, 

That burn by day and night: and then I loved thee 

And show'd thee all the qualities o' the isle, 

The fresh springs, brine-pits, barren place and fertile:Cursed be I that did so! 

All the charms Of Sycorax, toads, beetles, bats, light on you! 

For I am all the subjects that you have, 

Which first was mine own king: and here you sty me 

In this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me 

The rest o' the island.

The only thing I really gleaned about Caliban is that his mother was called Sycorax and she was banished to the island pregnant and unmarried. I'm not sure who the father was, but Caliban is certainly the quintessential bastard son. He was living on the island alone, when Prospero and Miranda arrived. They took him in, cared for him, used his knowledge of the island, then took offence when he wanted to make babies with Miranda ['Thou didst prevent me. I had peopled else this isle with Calibans.'] It would be very easy to view this play through a post-colonialism lens.

There is much speculation about the name Caliban. The predominate one being that it is an anagram of canibal (Spanish spelling) with more than a passing nod to Montaigne's essay Of Cannibal.

One of Caliban's most famous speeches (below) was the inspiration behind Caliban's Dream as performed by Sir Kenneth Branagh at the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics.

Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises,
Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not. 

Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments 

Will hum about mine ears; and sometime voices 

That, if I then had waked after long sleep, 

Will make me sleep again; and then in dreaming, 

The clouds methought would open, and show riches 

Ready to drop upon me, that when I awaked, 

I cried to dream again!

Literary references also abound, with the most well-known one coming from Oscar Wilde, 'The nineteenth century dislike of Realism is the rage of Caliban seeing his own face in a glass. The nineteenth century dislike of Romanticism is the rage of Caliban not seeing his own face in a glass.'

The Tempest was first performed at Court in 1611 and was probably the last play written by Shakespeare.

My version of the play was an EMCP access edition PDF.

I'm not sure I will ever read an unknown play again. I'm obviously one of those people who needs to see a play to make sense of it. There is an art to reading a play that I do not have the skill to unpack.
The only real satisfaction I got from this one (besides spotting the famous quotes and making the Caliban/Hag-Seed connection) was the post-reading research.

Our revels now are ended. These our actors, 

As I foretold you, were all spirits, and 

Are melted into air, into thin air:

And like the baseless fabric of this vision, 

The cloud-capp'd tow'rs, the gorgeous palaces,

The solemn temples, the great globe itself, 

Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,

And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,

Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff

As dreams are made on; and our little life

Is rounded with a sleep.


Since writing this post, I've been thinking about and talking about which Shakespeare play is my favourite. Turns out it's harder to answer this question than I initially thought. Mr Books comes down on the side of A Merchant of Venice, which I do like a lot. But I tend to be a little more frivolous and romantic when it comes to Shakespeare and I'm leaning towards Much Ado About Nothing or Taming of the Shrew. But then again, I've seen so many different versions of Romeo and Juliet over the years, it feels like the play I know best of all.

But if I really had to pick a favourite, it might just be Macbeth.

Out damn spot and double, double, toil, and trouble.
Witches, the conniving Lady Macbeth and the guilty, tormented Macbeth.
Political intrigue, psychological angst and power struggles.
It all makes for great drama and tension.
The original why-dunnit.

What about you?
What's your favourite Shakespeare?

Twelve Months of Classic Literature: Shakespeare

The Classics Club is hosting a new year long Meme called Twelve Months of Classic Literature.
The January question asks us to reflect on the life and times of Shakespeare.

My lazy summer schedule has not allowed for serious reflection on any topic whatsoever. But I felt the urge to participate, so I've decided to go for the cheats post on Shakespeare.

In 2007, Mr Books & I had a wonderful 2 weeks travelling around the UK.
We both love seeing Shakespeare performed live, so I arranged tickets for us to see The Merchant of Venice at the new Globe Theatre in London for Mr Books birthday.

We also spent a day in Stratford-on-Avon where we soaked up as much Elizabethan culture as we could handle!

The first 4 photos are of the Gower Memorial in Bancroft Gardens in Stratford (1888). Shakespeare sits on top of the pedestal and is surrounded by bronzes of Lady Macbeth, Hamlet, King Hal & Falstaff (Philosophy, Tragedy, Comedy & History).

The half-timbered house in Henley Street (below) is supposedly where Shakespeare was born in 1564. It has been lovingly restored whilst retaining original details like sloping, uneven floors, narrow steps, dim lighting and low beams. Each room is furnished in the style of the time with lots of information points for the dedicated. The gardens (in September) were a glorious riot of colour.

New Place on Chapel Street was Shakespeare's home from 1597 until his death. Sadly the house was demolished a hundred years later, but the foundations & grounds can still be viewed. Nash House (next door) is now the entrance to the site. It was owned by Thomas Nash who married Shakespeare's granddaughter, Elizabeth. It has a display of furniture and information about the history of Stratford. The second photo (below) also shows the beautiful Guild Chapel in the background overlooking New Place.

The original Globe Theatre, in London was built in 1599. The modern Shakespeare Globe was opened in 1997, about 230m from the original site. We payed a little extra to sit in one of the bays (they're undercover & we didn't want to trust to the English weather!), but you are allowed (& encouraged) to move around before, during and after the performance. 

It was incredible to be so close to the action and was definitely one of the highlights of our trip. For anyone travelling to London from overseas, I cannot recommend this experience highly enough. It was easy to book the tickets online, before our departure. And we were very fortunate that Mr Books all-time favourite Shakespeare (The Merchant of Venice) was being performed the week we were in London.

I must confess that I don't enjoy reading Shakespeare anywhere near as much as I enjoy watching Shakespeare.

Since my highschool days when I watched numerous versions of Romeo & Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, Macbeth & King Lear for my studies, I have seen untold numbers of Shakespearean performances on stage, in the park and at the movies.

Some of the highlights have been Romeo & Juliet in the Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, Kevin Spacey as Richard III at the Sydney Opera House, Baz Luhrman's movie of Romeo & Juliet and The Merchant of Venice at the Globe Theatre.

Do you have a favourite performance?