Analysis of the tempest.

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Analysis of the tempest.

The Tempest as a whole is influenced by the Masque, and hence the play may really be seen as a vehicle for stage spectacle, song and dance with a light underlying moral meaning, rather than a serious drama containing any real depth of plot and character"

There is some truth in this criticism, but I believe that there is lot of hidden depth that can be explained in order to understand where Shakespeare's ideas really came from. In this essay I intend to prove that, through the Masque and through character detail, that this play has thematic depth and richness of character.

The Masque originated from Italy and came to France and England in the late 16th century. It became formalised through the work of Ben Jonson and Inigo Jones. The Masque was dramatic and musical entertainment using elaborate and expensive properties and machinery, and was usually commissioned for Great State occasions.

The debate to whether the Tempest was or even contained a Court Masque was argued by Orgel in 1987. His argument for disagreement was that, because of the time the play was written, Masques were a fluid genre,