The Tempest

Lesson 4

Examination tips:

4 areas of focus: characterthemelanguageperformance

2 extracts: must write about both Act I scene ii 189-321Act V scene i 1-134

quotations: relevant and embedded

word choice: use as many words related to the key words in the question as possible

summaries: use the grey boxes to help link extracts to question in first paragraph

structure: must make a point of view into a controlled argument

Language questions:

How does Richard use language to deceive others and to hide his plans to become King? (2006)

How does Macbeth’s language show that he feels afraid but is determined to keep his power? (2005)

How does Viola use language to hide her true feelings from Orsino and Olivia? (2003)

Read the summary of the set scenes and make up 4 language based questions from the information you are given:

Act I scene ii 189-321

In this scene, Ariel tells Prospero how the storm was created and how the King and his men fared. Ariel tells of how he ensured that all were safely on the island now and the crew left sleeping on the ship. When Ariel asks to be freed from Prospero’s control, Prospero recalls the state he found the spirit in when under the power of an Algerian witch. Ariel agrees to do more work for Prospero who vows to set the spirit free in two days.

Act V scene i 1-134

In this scene, Prospero reveals his true identity to the King and his men, reclaiming his Dukedom of Milan and forgving the crimes of his brothers. Ariel prepares to be set free and Gonzalo is rewarded with thanks for service to Prospero when he was banished.

In these extracts, how does the language create a magical atmosphere?

ExtractsPROSPERO Thou liest, malignant thing! Hast thou forgotThe foul witch Sycorax, who with age and envyWas grown into a hoop? Hast thou forgot her?ARIEL No, sir.PROSPERO Thou hast. Where was she born? Speak. Tell me! 260ARIEL Sir, in Algiers.PROSPERO O, was she so? I mustOnce in a month recount what thou hast been,Which thou forget’st. This damned witch Sycorax,For mischiefs manifold, and sorceries terribleTo enter human hearing, from Algiers, 265Thou know’st, was banished. For one thing she didThey would not take her life. Is not this true?ARIEL Ay, sir.PROSPERO This blue-eyed hag was hither brought with child,And here was left by the sailors. Thou, my slave, 270As thou report’st thyself, wast then her servant.And, for thou wast a spirit too delicateTo act her earthy and abhorred commands,Refusing her grand hests, she did confine thee,By help of her more potent ministers, 275And in her most unmitigable rage,Into a cloven pine. Within which riftImprisoned thou didst painfully remainA dozen years; within which space she died,And left thee there – where thou didst vent thy groans 280As fast as mill-wheels strike. Then was this island –Save for the son that she did litter here,A freckled whelp hag-born – not honoured withA human shape.ARIEL Yes, Caliban her son.

In this scene, Prospero reminds Ariel of the world that he was rescued from.

In this scene, Prospero prepares to re-enter the civil world and relinquishes his magical powers.

PROSPERO Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes, and groves;

And ye that on the sands with printless foot

Do chase the ebbing Neptune, and do fly him 35

When he comes back; you demi-puppets that

By moonshine do the green sour ringlets make,

Whereof the ewe not bites; and you whose pastime

Is to make midnight mushrooms, that rejoice

To hear the solemn curfew – by whose aid 40

(Weak masters though ye be) I have bedimmed

The noontide sun, called forth the mutinous winds,

And ‘twixt the green sea and the azured vault

Set roaring war. To the dread rattling thunder

Have I given fire, and rifted Jove’s stout oak 45

With his own bolt. The strong-based promontory

Have I made shake, and by the spurs plucked up

The pine and cedar. Graves at my command

Have waked their sleepers, oped, and let ’em forth

By my so potent Art. But this rough magic 50

I here abjure. And, when I have required

Some heavenly music (which even now I do),

To work mine end upon their senses that

This airy charm is for, I’ll break my staff,

Bury it certain fathoms in the earth, 55

And deeper than did ever plummet sound

I’ll drown my book.

In these extracts, how does the language create a magical atmosphere?

Do we agree with the question? How can we use the summaries?

The language and the way the language is structured helps to create a magical atmosphere at key moments in the play. Here, where we have Prospero as master magician, with Ariel his slave, Prospero enjoys the creation of atmosphere through his use of language. And later, when Prospero is relinquishing his use of magic, he uses language to convey his appreciation of the “potent art”.

In the first extract, references to the “foul witch Sycorax” with her “mischiefs manifold” and “sorceries terrible”, suggest that the world we are in is peopled by a range of fantastical creatures. The alliterative “mischiefs manifold” suggests Prospero’s enjoyment of such a world as does the descriptive “freckled whelp hag-born”. The sound patterns of these words enhances the mysterious images that are conjured.In the second extract, Prospero indulges the romantic landscape he has inhabited for some time. The “elves” he converses with are referred to as chasers of “Neptune”, “demi-puppets” that make “green sour ringlets” by moonlight. The magic he has performed with the help of elves includes the “noontime sun” being “bedimmed”, calling up the “mutinous winds” and creating war between the “green sea” and the “azured vault”. The visions of an eclipse, wild winds and raging war between sea and sky create a powerful image for the audience. The references to the gods and nature place the visions in a romantic light and we understand how difficult it must be for Prospero to “abjure”.

Same extracts – different focus

What might a question on theme/performance/character look like using the same texts and how might our choice of quotations change?