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The Tempest - Context - Coggle Diagram
The Tempest - Context
Magic
Elizabethan England's relationship with magic was complex; the distinction between magic and science was not always clear and many people believed in superstition, witches and magicians.
“They lived in a world where people believed firmly that there were hierarchies of angels and hierarchies of fallen angels, and to deny that was to be accused of being an atheist,” Mowat
James I wrote a book that human beings did indeed exercise power over spirits—and attributing the source of that power to the devil.
Shakespeare was taking a risk using magic in the play, however he protected himself by removing any religious context and by having Prospero give up magic at the end of the play
Sycorax directly introduces the idea of magic into the play, and at its most basic interpretation, the female witch commands black magic, whereas the male magician has the possibility for good magic, magic that is all too often correlated with art and beauty.
‘Witch’ was a common insult in early modern England and was usually directed towards women because women were believed to be “desirous of power”
witch meant the “mirror reversal of all that the patriarchy deemed good in a woman”. It was a name for women who threatened to upset the patriarchy.
In calling Sycorax a witch, Prospero is identifying her as a threat to patriarchy, and his anger shows that the threat is serious enough to enrage him. In trying to condemn Sycorax, Prospero shows that her power remains in a new form despite her absence.
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King James 1
He believed in the divine right of kings, which was the idea that kings were 'appointed' by God in that God has ordained the rank into which an individual was born and that if a King was bad, it was God's punishment on a group of people
James I wrote a book that human beings did indeed exercise power over spirits—and attributing the source of that power to the devil.
The plays Shakespeare wrote under the rule of James I were interested in questions of family, unlike those written in the Elizabethan era
he encouraged theatrical performances and spent severe amounts of parliamentary money on his own pleasure and enjoyment of the court, instead of nationwide matters such as foreign policy and religious uniformity
Colonisation
Written at a time when European colonial expansionism had brought to Europe stories of strange new worlds and civilisations.
representation of the Europeans through Prospero’s actions: he arrives at Sycorax’s island, subdues it and imposes his own culture to its inhabitants
Sycorax’s island could be seen as a representation of America, which suffered the same impositions than the island did
During Shakespeare’s times and the writing of The Tempest, what we refer as “The First British Empire” was happening, in which most of the colonization of America and Africa and the slave trade occurred. Around the year 1611, the English were trying to establish themselves on different parts of America, which were slowly subduing to the British Empire.
Shakespeare makes many comments about this subject throughout the play, most obviously the idea that western colonisation is foolish and irrational.
Prospero as the leader of the island takes control of the natives for his own purposes, such as Caliban and Ariel, but this is presented negatively through Shakespeare's negative portrayal of Prospero as arrogant and manipulative.
Jacobean England
still very patriarchal
Jacobeans believed that women should be delicate, caring and obey their husbands. Their main role in society was to marry, produce children and look after the family.
‘Witch’ was a common insult in early modern England and was usually directed towards women because women were believed to be “desirous of power”
witch meant the “mirror reversal of all that the patriarchy deemed good in a woman”. It was a name for women who threatened to upset the patriarchy.
In calling Sycorax a witch, Prospero is identifying her as a threat to patriarchy, and his anger shows that the threat is serious enough to enrage him. In trying to condemn Sycorax, Prospero shows that her power remains in a new form despite her absence.
The Masque
Some critics believe that The Tempest is symbolic of the tradition Masque's of the 16th century and that the play was performed to celebrate the marriage of King James the First's daughter's - Princess Elizabeth - marriage in 1612-1613, as the play was first performed around this time and contains similarities to these social events such as the wedding and the preceding Masque.