The tempest

Maybe the last great play written by Shakespeare. It belongs to a group of comedies called romances, complicated stories of love and adventure with a happy end.

The play

The tempest is set on an island discovered by Columbus. Situations and characters are metaphors of colonialism.

The ship, on which the king of Naples Alonso and his court are sailing, is caught by a tempest. They are safe on an island, but the king's son Ferdinand has disappeared. Prospero, a magician, who is the king of the island, has raised the tempest. Prospero was the Duke of Milan, but he lost his dukedom because of a plot set up by his brother Antonio and the king of Naples, Alonso. Prospero escaped from Milan with his little daughter Miranda. Prospero and Miranda went to the island, and thanks to his magic art, prospero subdued spirits, who lived on the island: Ariel and Caliban, a monster half man half beast. At first Caliban was help for Prospero and Miranda; he showed them the qualities of the island, but he rebelled against Prospero's authority, and he tried to violate Miranda to people the island with his own descendants. But now he's Prospero's servant.

That happened 13years ago. Now Prospero and his enemies are on the island together, but he's the master.

The shipwrecked noblemen run into several adventures, set up by the magical art of Prospero. Miranda and Ferdinand fell in love; at the end they are reconciled. Prospero forgave Antonio and Alonso for the plot. They came back to Naples, where the marriage between Ferdinand and Miranda will be celebrated.

Caliban stayed on the island and Prospero freed Ariel.

The text

Prospero and Miranda's point of view is opposite. For prospero, Caliban is "most lying slave"(schiavo bugiardo), but for Miranda he's an "abhorred slave"(odioso schiavo). Shakespeare showed Caliban's inability of being taught.

The meaning of the text

Narrative motifs common to romance, classical and mythological references.

Shakespeare investigated the nature of power in social and human relationships. Alonso usurped Prospero's throne, but he in turn has usurped Caliban's of his island. The plot was produced on the uncivilized island.

Metaphor of colonialism, references to New World and to natives. Prospero is the colonist who takes possession of the island and enslaves its inhabitants; Caliban is the native as a savage.

Prospero is a sort of theatre director, and a projection of Shakespeare himself, because he renounces magic and leaves the island as Shakespeare who with The Tempest wrote his last play, and came back to Stratford.

Metaphysical poetry

The poetry of WIT.

In the 17^th century, a new principle had come to be an important element in the poetry: wit. At first wit meant intelligence, now it means a kind of skill with words. It's the ability to create unusual images and complex chains of thought. The poets of wit used irony and serious reflections, and a blend of colloquialism and of high vocabulary, and above all metaphors, that create an element of surprise. The new poetical style is called "metaphysical", to indicate its difficulty and cleverness. Its most important poet is John Donne. In his poems, also love lyrics, are filled with death. He uses complex images, called conceits.

Irony serious reflections, philosophising, unusual imagery a combination of intellectual strength with a deep passion

A valediction: Forbidding mourning

Poem about the separation of 2lovers.maybe it was written by the poet for his wife on the occasion of a trip. The lover refuses to accept the idea of being separated from his woman. The poet and his lady share a love, which is not only physical, but also the union of 2 souls.  The two lovers are ed to the connected legs of a compass: they may be physically far from each other, but they will always be spiritually united.

The writer

He wrote love elegies and love songs he is not a passive subject in the hands of his lady: he doesn't believe that to suffer is a virtue for the lover, but he makes his love physical and spiritual. His love experiences has been fully lived and suffered. He believes in the union of 2souls, which is stronger than the union of the bodies.