The Tempest: Themes (AQA GCSE English Literature): Revision Note

Although your GCSE English Literature exam could cover a wide range of topics, having a thorough knowledge of the key themes in the play will help you to formulate an effective response to whatever comes up. Here are four major themes in The Tempest to think about:

• Power and control

• Magic and illusion

• Loss and betrayal

Power and control

The Tempest explores knowledge and power over one’s environment as a way of gaining control. In particular, the play examines the misuse of power, and the way it can be used to control and manipulate. 

Knowledge and understanding 

• The play’s dramatic opening introduces the theme of power and control:

  • While the king holds power in the real world, the ship’s Boatswain reminds them nature is omnipotent, and waves care not “for the name of king”

• The rising action (opens in a new tab)reveals a powerful protagonist (opens in a new tab) who controls the island:

  • Prospero enslaves the natives and controls them with fear and threats

  • The fact that he calls the natives “slaves” perhaps alludes to colonialism 

• Prospero’s hunger for power extends beyond his desire for revenge:

  • He limits the information his daughter receives, makes her sleep or wake and, later, enslaves Ferdinand and controls their relationship

• The play also depicts characters such as Caliban and Antonio trying to persuade others to help them gain control by treacherous means

• Caliban’s awareness of his lack of power is illustrated when he admits he fears Prospero’s strength, and says he is “subject to a tyrant”:

  • His need for Stephano’s help, calling him a “god”, and himself a “footlicker”, presents him as submissive 

• By the denouement (opens in a new tab) of the play, a humble Prospero admits the misuse of his power, destroys his staff and books, and chooses “virtue” over “vengeance”:

  • In the epilogue, Prospero says his magic has been “o’erthrown”

What is Shakespeare’s intention? 

• Shakespeare examines the misuse of power that comes in the form of knowledge used to manipulate and control

• The play suggests human control is limited, and that nature is all powerful

• Shakespeare examines oppressive, patriarchal and colonial relationships

Magic and illusion

The Tempest, Shakespeare’s final play, blurs reality and illusion, as it is set on a supernatural island inhabited by spirits and humans. Typical of Shakespearean comedy, magic is used to trick characters, mock villains and reveal the power of nature. 

Knowledge and understanding

• The island’s supernatural qualities stress the power of imagination and nature:

  • The king’s men personify it: the “air breathes most sweetly”, and it is “lush and lusty”, with an “eye of green” in it

  • Stage directions ask for magical effects like invisible songs

  • Ariel, a magic spirit, shape-shifts into a “harpy”, a mythical figure 

• The exposition (opens in a new tab) introduces a magical human as well: Prospero is able to control nature, the spirits, and the natives with a magic staff and cloak:

  • The play’s title refers to the storm that Prospero creates and ends

  • His power is described as “charms” and “arts”, connoting to magic

• The epilogue breaks the fourth wall as it directly addresses the audience, blurring the line between fiction and reality: “Let your indulgence set me free”

• In the resolution, Prospero says that the actors are “spirits” and the events an illusion, telling Ferdinand, “We are such stuff as dreams are made of”

What is Shakespeare’s intention?

• Shakespeare’s final play explores the extent to which humans can control their environments and lives

• While presenting the power of knowledge, Shakespeare also considers its misuse, specifically the way in which it oppresses and over-complicates things

• Shakespeare mocks the limits of human experience and presents the power of nature and spirituality 

Loss and betrayal

Shakespeare presents extreme reactions to betrayal and loss in The Tempest. The play depicts characters betraying others and planning revenge on those who have betrayed them. Ultimately, however, the play criticises the need for revenge and encourages forgiveness.  

Knowledge and understanding 

• The play presents an array of characters who experience loss, often as a result of betrayal:

  • The shipwrecked men believe the king’s son is lost at sea

  • Audiences learn their terrible circumstance is punishment for their betrayal of Prospero, who now plans to wreak his revenge

  • Prospero’s loss, his dukedom, is presented as less hurtful than his sense of betrayal: he “prizes” his library over his dukedom

• The play’s conflict originates from the political treason committed by Antonio and King Alonso against Prospero, typical of a Shakespearean tragedy:

  • Treason is also presented in the sub-plot when Antonio and Sebastian plot to kill Alonso, prevented by Ariel who calls them “men of sin”

• Caliban is also an example of a character who responds extremely to the loss of his island, and particularly to his sense of betrayal:

  • He pleads with Prospero to remember all the ways he helped him survive on the island, and says he loved him “then”

  • Caliban’s loss turns to anger, reflected in insults towards Prospero

• Ariel is also betrayed by Prospero and loses his freedom once Prospero frees him from the tree, ironically, perhaps presenting a cycle of betrayal

What is Shakespeare’s intention?

• Shakespeare suggests that man-made hierarchies are flawed as they are subject to human emotion

• Shakespeare illustrates how loss of freedom and autonomy creates conflict and a desire for revenge

• The Tempest criticises deception and the misuse of power, and encourages compassion and honesty 

Source

https://shakespeare.mit.edu/tempest/full.htm (opens in a new tab)