Angelica's presentation on Justice and Injustice in The Tempest

1. Justice and
Injustice

2. Justice and injustice
Restoration
Punishment of wrongdoing
Lack of autonomy
Supreme power

3. Justice: Restoration
Ao3:
• John Dryden’s ‘The Tempest’(1670)-
most characters are given another
half e.g. Caliban has a sister and
Ariel has a girlfriend- Therefore it
may be said that he was attempting
to amplify the theme of restoration
and unity that exists in Shakespeare’s
original version of The Tempest.
• Concept of unity is reflected in
Shakespeare’s other comedies e.g. As
you like it.
Ao2:
1.1.52
• ‘We split, we split, we split’
5.1.305
• ‘Please you, draw near.’
1.3.185
• ‘To thy strong bidding , task/ Ariel and all his
quality.’
5.1.305
• ‘ Then to the elements/ be free and fare thou
well!’
Ao4:
A divided society:
• Social inequality- feudal system
Notion of figures returning to their natural place:
• The chain of being
Faith in goodness:
• Humanism

4. Justice: Punishment of wrongdoing
Ao2:
4.1.226
• ‘Spirits in shape of dogs and hounds,
hunting them about, Prospero and Ariel
setting them on’
Prospero’s own punishment
5.1.47
• ‘I’ll break my staff,/ bury it in certain
fathoms of the earth, / and deeper than
did ever plummet sound/ I’ll drown my
book’ [Solemn music]
Ao3:
• Fred Parker- “drowning has powers
of transformation in The Tempest”
• Fred Parker- “[The Tempest] could be
a revenge play”
• Reflects themes of characters getting
their comeuppance in Shakespeare’s
other plays such as Hamlet, e.g.
Claudius who is forced to drink his
own poisoned wine
Ao4:
Punishment:
• Religious- protestant beliefs of afterlife- heaven and hell

5. Injustice: Supreme power
Ao2:
Three important figures of supreme power
• Prospero:
3.2.52
‘I am subject to a tyrant,/ a sorcerer, that by
his cunning hath cheated me of the isle’
• Alonso
1.1.52
‘the King and prince at prayers, let’s assist/
them, for our case is as theirs.’
Ao3:
• Reflects other figures of great power
in Shakespeare’s plays such as
Hamlet and Macbeth. This is affirmed
by literary critic Matt Trueman, who
suggested that “[Shakespeare’s]
History plays follow the same
pattern: a struggle for power,
followed by a dead king and a
coronation. ”
(http://matttrueman.co.uk/2012/09/us
urpation-in-the-tempest.html )
Ao4:
• Building the British empire- colonial expansion
• Monarchy- divine right to rule
• The Tempest first performed as a masque for the wedding of Elizabeth I
• Feudal system

6. Injustice: Lack of Autonomy
Ao2:
Physical sense:
5.1.70
• ‘They all enter the circle which Prospero
had made and stand there charmed’
Emotional sense:
1.2.7
• ‘Be collected;/ No more amazement. Tell
your piteous heart/ There’s no harm
done.’
Captivating the audience:
1.2.68
• ‘Dost thou attend me?’
Ao3:
• Kahn suggests that throughout the
play, Prospero’s displays are “a
superb combination of power and
control”. (p.25)
• Vaughn and Vaughn- “In an effort to
control his fellows, Prospero also
seeks to monopolise the
narrative”(p.26) /the fact that
Prospero speaks 20% of the play’s
entire dialogue
• Lowri Amies- “The audience is under
the spell of Shakespeare’s verse”
.
Ao4:
• Prospero as Shakespeare’s author surrogate
• Fear of occult