The Genre of The Tempest Essay - 952 Words

The Genre of The Tempest The Tempest is customarily identified as the William Shakespeares last piece. These marginal issues aside, The Tempest is the forth, final and finest of Shakespeares great and/or late romances. Along with Pericles, Cymbeline and The Winters Tale, The Tempest belongs t the genre of Elizabethan romance plays. It combines elements of Tragedy (Prosperos revenge/Loss of a royal son) with those of romantic comedy (the young lover Ferdinand and Miranda) and, like one of Shakespeares problem plays, Measure for measure, it poses deeper questions that are not completely resolved at the end. The romantic gesture is distinguished by the inclusion (and synthesis) of these†¦show more content†¦There was no category for romance. The tempest was also placed in this category. Although The Tempest does end happily, Ferdinand is reunited with his father, wrongs are forgiven, and people promise to change their ways, there was no other way to categorize the play at the time. In plays such as the winters tale and the tempest, Shakespeare combines a mixture of comic and tragic styles, incorporating elements of romance and realism in a manner which differs distinctly from the style of his earlier plays. Technically speaking, both The Winters Tale and the tempest adopt a comic style with the bad characters being punished, and all strife reaching the comic plane of resolution at the end. However, although the suffering is overcome, in neither play can we find harmony restored in the way that it usually is in comedy. In the Tempest the final reconciliation of Prospero and Antonio has none of the vitality of comic harmony in it. Even in the words of forgiveness which Prospero speaks there is a note of blame: For you, most wicked sir, whom I call brother Would infect my mouth, I do forgive Thy rankest fault. Act 5 scene 1 line 158 Resolution is diluted by the lingering remembrance of earlier discord, so the general effect of the plays is far more bleak than would be typical of a comedy. In the tempest the plot can be viewed as matching perfectlyShow MoreRelatedThe Tempest By William Shakespeare1446 Words   |  6 PagesThe Tempest is a play written by William Shakespeare around 1610 toward the end of his career as a poet and playwright. The Tempest fits in the genre of tragicomedy. The genre blends aspects of tragedy and romance together which are depicted in a humorous way. The Tempest is set on an island where its location is unspecified. The play finds Prospero and Miranda, ousted former Duke of Milan and his daughter, living in exile on an island with Caliban, its lone native inhabitant. Change affects theRead MoreThe Tempest By William Shakespeare1497 Words   |  6 PagesOn June of 2014, Savage Rose Classical Theatre Company in Louisville, Kentucky closed their season, naming the sequence of plays as â€Å"Season of Storms,† and dedicating all of them to Shakespeare, with the last play being â€Å"The Tempest.† Shakespeare’s â€Å"T he Tempest,† is a romantic comedy believed to be written around 1610-1611 that was presented for the first time at the Court and acted out by the King’s Men in 1611(Sparknotes.com). It is also believed that this romantic comedy is one of the last playsRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s Tragicomedy The Tempest1935 Words   |  8 Pagesfrequently including elements from other influences. William Shakespeare’s tragicomedy The Tempest (c:1611) is a play that uses intertextuality to enhance ideas about natural order. 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In the essays The Backward Voice: Puns and the Comic Subplot of The Tempest, by Maurice Hunt, and The Tempest as Romance and Anti-Romance, by Richard Hillman, the genre of the play is discussed in depth. Using elements such as setting, lines of the characters, and the action that occurs in the play, the authors evaluate Shakespeares play The Tempest to be a romance with a comic subplot, and therebyRead MoreComparison of the Tempest and Forbidden Pl anet Essay1836 Words   |  8 PagesFebruary, 2010 Morbius’ Fatal Folly As pointed out by Merrell Knighten in his essay called The Triple Paternity of Forbidden Planet, the main difference between Shakespeare’s The Tempest and the 1956 science fiction adaptation Forbidden Planet (referred to as FP) is the use and control of power. In The Tempest, Prospero knows what power he holds through the use of his books and spells, and ultimately uses these powers to restore order to the island. However, in forbidden Planet, Morbius’ powersRead MoreThe Elizabethan Era1595 Words   |  6 Pagesto new heights and the unexpected was taking place frequently. Queen Elizabeth had a love for the arts, especially theater written by Shakespeare. The Elizabethan Age was strongly influenced by the rise of theater specifically through the play The Tempest, written by William Shakespeare. The Elizabethan Age was a time of change and new ideas (Holzknecht 33). In this period, the Renaissance, or rebirth, spread throughout Europe (â€Å"Elizabethan Age†). This brought an increase in nationalism in EnglandRead More Portrayal of Utopia in The Tempest Essay example1652 Words   |  7 PagesPortrayal of Utopia in The Tempest      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In The Tempest, Shakespeare allows the audience to appreciate the possibilities of utopian society and whatever this may posses.   Being the good, and bad so that they can see that problems can arise in such a society. The Tempest can be thus seen as a window into the dimensions of utopian societies. While his characters take on the role of the leaders of the utopian societies, Shakespeare uses his creation to portray the social questions and beliefsRead MoreThe Tempest By William Shakespeare1640 Words   |  7 Pages Brown’s insistence that The Tempest is a play of steeped in ambivalence and contradictions is not entirely unfounded, however. Prospero himself is an extremely powerful magus whose power borders on the transcendent and divine; he is also a man obsessed with perfecting his â€Å"art† that, at times, can be base and wicked. He demonstrates compassion and generosity, yet his apathetic and sometimes contemptuous treatment of other charact ers raises questions about his moral sensibilities. Within the drama