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The Tempest
by William Shakespeare, Members of The Arkangel Cast , Adrian Lester , Arkangel Cast , Jennifer Ehle
by William Shakespeare, Members of The Arkangel Cast , Adrian Lester , Arkangel Cast , Jennifer Ehle
Terence's review
bookshelves: shakespeare-stuff, audio-books, the-plays-the-thing
Sep 20, 10
bookshelves: shakespeare-stuff, audio-books, the-plays-the-thing
Recommended for:
Who would I not recommend it to?
Read in September, 2010 — I own a copy, read count: 2+
I finished my rereading of The Tempest earlier today. As usual when I reread one of the Bard's plays, I appreciate it more. I can definitely upgrade my initial reaction to a solid 3 stars. It's still not a favorite; many of the qualms I had from my original review remain. Except perhaps at the end when Prospero gives up the power his magic gives him, though I couldn't tell you why he does so - Shakespeare doesn't give us much in the way of motivation for any of his actions. For example, why does he forgive Antonio? How secure is Antonio going to be with a restored Duke Prospero? Why is Prospero OK with Ferdinand courting his daughter? (I realize that in the context of Elizabethan and Jacobean England it's usual but the modern reader must realize that Miranda is only 15 years old. I wonder how young she was when Caliban - how old is he? - attempted to rape her, and was it really "rape" or just two children playing "doctor"? Considering Prospero's decidedly aristocratic temperament, I can easily see him overeacting and the incident becoming more and more lurid with each passing year.)
That aside, The Tempest is a good play by itself. I was particularly taken with Caliban, Trinculo and Stephano who came across as the most "real" in this reading. (I'm sure something else will engage me the next time I read the play.)
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This is probably the least 3-starry play amongst my Shakespeare reading. More like a 2.5 or 2.6; I'm rounding up because it is Shakespeare and I do wish I could write half so well.
The greatest impediment to a full-throated 3 stars is that I don't find anyone in the play all that admirable or interesting. The two characters I feel any regard for (and it's sympathy) are Ariel and Caliban, enslaved these dozen years by Prospero, whom I think Caliban rightly calls "tyrant."
My practice over the last year, ever since I discovered that my Glendora library has all of the plays on Audio CD and most of BBC TV's versions on DVD, has been to read (or reread) the text, listen to the play, and watch a version (or versions). Perhaps when I get the time to watch the DVD this weekend, I'll have more sympathy for the play.
(And I just wanted to mention: I'm not approaching this from the point of view of colonialist-native. Heck, I'm one of the white males who've been oppressing the rest of you for four centuries. Prospero's a "tyrant" by any measure.)
That aside, The Tempest is a good play by itself. I was particularly taken with Caliban, Trinculo and Stephano who came across as the most "real" in this reading. (I'm sure something else will engage me the next time I read the play.)
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This is probably the least 3-starry play amongst my Shakespeare reading. More like a 2.5 or 2.6; I'm rounding up because it is Shakespeare and I do wish I could write half so well.
The greatest impediment to a full-throated 3 stars is that I don't find anyone in the play all that admirable or interesting. The two characters I feel any regard for (and it's sympathy) are Ariel and Caliban, enslaved these dozen years by Prospero, whom I think Caliban rightly calls "tyrant."
My practice over the last year, ever since I discovered that my Glendora library has all of the plays on Audio CD and most of BBC TV's versions on DVD, has been to read (or reread) the text, listen to the play, and watch a version (or versions). Perhaps when I get the time to watch the DVD this weekend, I'll have more sympathy for the play.
(And I just wanted to mention: I'm not approaching this from the point of view of colonialist-native. Heck, I'm one of the white males who've been oppressing the rest of you for four centuries. Prospero's a "tyrant" by any measure.)
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Elizabeth
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rated it 3 stars
10 sett. 15:35
2.6, Terence???? 2.6! Are you sure you are Terence? Hm...I am suspicious.
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No, no, I remain me.Or as much "me" as "me" has any meaning. I've been reading too many books on consciousness, I fear.
I'm taking advantage our support group's reading of the play to revisit my opinion. And the 2.6 is a relative measure compared to Shakespeare's other plays, of which I have my favorites.
Oh, well, if you're going to get all relativist about it, I can understand a lower rating, but I'm still struggling with it.Which one is your favorite? One of the Henry's?
Really? 2.6???? I know Elizabeth just said this, but I also express my incredulity. I get the relativism & all. Tempest is pretty far up there for me. The one I would get into trouble with is Othello - I just can't dig Iago - I think he's totally without motivation, and that makes him lame.
Iago has plenty of motivation. He's secretly in love with Othello and hates himself and his love object for this, especially as he is also racist, so his hate comes out in all sorts of seriously twisted ways.
Tempest is waaaaaay up there for me, so I am in shock over your rating, Terence, since you and I seem so often to be in line, but I see how you reached your rating, so I salute you. I have always loved this play, but I've felt invited to dislike Prospero and have done so with relish. I agree with your pity for Ariel and Caliban, but I even have sympathy for old Alonso, who picked up the slack for his self-indulgent, jackass bro and seems to have done a decent job after "usurping" Naples.
But I do think I get where you're coming from. Are you planning on seeing Helen Mirren as Prospera this winter? Julie Taymor directed the new version. Djimon Hounsou as Caliban, Alfred Molina and Russell Brand as Trinculo and Stefano. Sounds like fun, at least.
Whew! Little did I think I'd spark such a flurry of remarks by so innocently reopening my The Tempest review :-)@Elizabeth: Yes, the entire Henriad sequence, from Richard II to Richard III is my favorite Shakespeare. I couldn't really pick out one play in particular - all of them have "things" I enjoyed. I wish he could have done more with the early Plantagenets beyond King John; I would love to see what he could have done with Henry II and Eleanor.
@Ceridwen: Othello is my favorite of the nonhistories, followed by Macbeth and King Lear. Perhaps I'm just not at the proper point in life to appreciate The Tempest?
I don't know. I am getting interested, though, in hearing what people think of the play on the support group thread.
@Brad: I first heard of this "heretical" version of The Tempest in one of your posts so I don't know much about it but since I adore Taymor's Titus, I'll definitely have to check it out.
Does the gender switch extend beyond Prospero/a to any others?
I saw a production that changed the Duke to a Duchess, played by an African American woman; she leant a great deal to the play. I really enjoyed it.
Elizabeth wrote: "Iago has plenty of motivation. He's secretly in love with Othello and hates himself and his love object for this, especially as he is also racist, so his hate comes out in all sorts of seriously tw..."No, I dig this, I just feel like it's a modern reading, and it makes the whole enterprise weird for me. I like Othello himself - I think there's a lot of there there, it's just so...uh...something. Maybe it was too many arguments with my roommate at the time I last read it about whether it was more about race or about some "universal" idea of jealousy. (You can probably see by my scare quotes where I fell in that argument.)
I read a play once called A Tempest - no freaking idea who by - which was really great too.
Yes, a modern reading of Iago, but I think there is some truth to it, they just didn't have the words for it yet. It's not like homosexual desire is a new idea, and it's kind of a play on the play, since the women were also played by men... But, I think the jealous/racist motivation has always been there, the reason has just become more modern. It's possible it was originally some displayed father issue (e.g. he like Cassio better) or simple racial-sexual jealousy. How did this Moor get a hottie like Desdemona.It's been a long time since I read it. Oh! Have you ever seen Stage Beauty?
Ceridwen wrote: "Fuck yeah, Stage Beauty! I really liked that. They really made Othello for me."I think it came out at the same time as Shakespeare in Love, which is a pity because it is a much better film.
I think it came out at the same time as Shakespeare in Love, which is a pity because it is a much better film. For serious. Way for serious. The principle actors had a ton more heat, among other things.
Jon wrote: "Try watching The Forbidden Planet (1956) for an SF adaptation of the Tempest. :)"Thanks for the suggestion but it's too late. I've been a "Forbidden Planet" groupie since I was a kid :-)
"My Krell. My poor, poor Krell!"
Terence wrote: "Thanks for the suggestion but it's too late."Me too. I requested the BluRay from Netflix as soon as it was released. It has TONS of extras, including another entire movie!
Jon wrote: "Terence wrote: "Thanks for the suggestion but it's too late."Me too. I requested the BluRay from Netflix as soon as it was released. It has TONS of extras, including another entire movie!"
"Another entire movie!"? Like the B side of a record? What's the movie? Another classic '50s sf flick? At the very least, another otherwise forgettable '50s sf flick? :-)
IMDb shows that the remake is due for 2013, and I was just reading a blog that says it's more a prequel to the original which may lead to a real remake in the future. What I'm afraid of is that it'll be an excuse for a bunch of expensive CGI and blowing things up. The original worked because it had an actual story behind all the special effects and theremin music, however cool they were (are).
Well...I suppose as long as they keep Keanu Reeves away from the cast, there's hope. There's always hope ;-)
As for Prospero giving up his powers, I've been told it's a metaphor for Shakespeare preparing to give up writing. "?"
