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11. The Tempest, “With Justice and Freedom for All”

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Shakespeare and the Uses of Ideology
This chapter is in the book Shakespeare and the Uses of Ideology
11 THE TEMPEST, "WITH JUSTICE AND FREEDOM FOR ALL" The destructive passion of revenge long haunted Shakespeare. In his early plays it was treated with an eye toward its theatricality, in his tragedies profoundly and philosophically, this shift being typical of his artistic growth. Coriolanus, of course, is a full dress study of a man destroyed, in large part, by the appetite of ven-geance. The subject engrossed him in the so-called mellow comedies that followed the gigantic labors of the tragedies. In his last -and hauntingly beautiful - play, Shakespeare makes his final and consummate statement on the passion of revenge, placing it in the most comprehensive context conceivable, that of all society and the globe itself. As we shall see, the theme of revenge is dealt with in terms of the most transcendent values of western civilization, as embedded in ideals of love, charity, and justice - above all the last. Freedom and forgiveness are the twin subjects that structure The Tempest, a play whose plot was devised by Shakespeare out of his favorite narrative devices, such as a storm, a masque, a dream fantasy, music, bewitching poetry, lyrical and philosophical, and themes close to his heart. As he composed it he must have been aware that it was to be his final work. Thus there is a composed and serene sadness that runs like an undercurrent through its scenes. But it is also a hopeful work whose relationship to its times is important and meaningful. For, as he did so frequently, Shakespeare was directly inspired to write the play by an exciting event of the day - the intense interest in exploration, in the Brave New World across the seas, in the possibilities of sudden and untold affluence as well as in the possibilities - this being the most exciting - of freedom, of a new start for man and for mankind.
© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Munich/Boston

11 THE TEMPEST, "WITH JUSTICE AND FREEDOM FOR ALL" The destructive passion of revenge long haunted Shakespeare. In his early plays it was treated with an eye toward its theatricality, in his tragedies profoundly and philosophically, this shift being typical of his artistic growth. Coriolanus, of course, is a full dress study of a man destroyed, in large part, by the appetite of ven-geance. The subject engrossed him in the so-called mellow comedies that followed the gigantic labors of the tragedies. In his last -and hauntingly beautiful - play, Shakespeare makes his final and consummate statement on the passion of revenge, placing it in the most comprehensive context conceivable, that of all society and the globe itself. As we shall see, the theme of revenge is dealt with in terms of the most transcendent values of western civilization, as embedded in ideals of love, charity, and justice - above all the last. Freedom and forgiveness are the twin subjects that structure The Tempest, a play whose plot was devised by Shakespeare out of his favorite narrative devices, such as a storm, a masque, a dream fantasy, music, bewitching poetry, lyrical and philosophical, and themes close to his heart. As he composed it he must have been aware that it was to be his final work. Thus there is a composed and serene sadness that runs like an undercurrent through its scenes. But it is also a hopeful work whose relationship to its times is important and meaningful. For, as he did so frequently, Shakespeare was directly inspired to write the play by an exciting event of the day - the intense interest in exploration, in the Brave New World across the seas, in the possibilities of sudden and untold affluence as well as in the possibilities - this being the most exciting - of freedom, of a new start for man and for mankind.
© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Munich/Boston

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Preface VII
  3. Contents XI
  4. 1. Ideology and Transcendence 1
  5. 2. Drama and Ideology 12
  6. 3. Ambition, the Murderous Appetite 25
  7. 4. The Cracked Mirror of History 44
  8. 5. Henry V as Ideological Vehicle 68
  9. 6. Stoicism, a Middle Way 81
  10. 7. Some Light on the “Dark” Comedies 108
  11. 8. King Lear, “Ideology” as Structure 137
  12. 9. Coriolanus, The Limits of Neutrality 178
  13. 10. Antony and Cleopatra and Vanishing Ideology 195
  14. 11. The Tempest, “With Justice and Freedom for All” 213
  15. Conclusion 220
Readers are also interested in:
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110805758-012

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Preface VII
  3. Contents XI
  4. 1. Ideology and Transcendence 1
  5. 2. Drama and Ideology 12
  6. 3. Ambition, the Murderous Appetite 25
  7. 4. The Cracked Mirror of History 44
  8. 5. Henry V as Ideological Vehicle 68
  9. 6. Stoicism, a Middle Way 81
  10. 7. Some Light on the “Dark” Comedies 108
  11. 8. King Lear, “Ideology” as Structure 137
  12. 9. Coriolanus, The Limits of Neutrality 178
  13. 10. Antony and Cleopatra and Vanishing Ideology 195
  14. 11. The Tempest, “With Justice and Freedom for All” 213
  15. Conclusion 220
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