The Tempest Act 1, Scene 1

Summary: The first scene and act of the play adapts to a setting of a ship, with its shipmen along with the King Alonso, his brother Sebastian, his advisor Gonzalo, Antonio and Ferdinand, when they hit a great storm. Their anxiety and fear of death reveals an insight on their inner feelings as they all prepare for demise.

Thesis

        Through the use of metaphors, dialogue, and structural features Shakespeare creates a chaotic and hectic exposition, that not only gives insight on the characters but also piques reader’s curiosity and heightens their anticipation.

Notes

  • The fact that it is an unexplained natural phenomenon, in the beginning creates a sense of anticipation for what’s to come – especially due the cliffhanger ending.

  • Constant use of exclamation marks “Heigh my hearts! Cheerly! Cheerly, my hearts! Yare Yare!... if room enough! – create a sense of anxiety due to exclamations as well as the context of the words
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  • “We split! We split! ...Yare lower! Lower!” Again the use of alliteration emphasizes the disaster that is to occur and the deadly effects and consequences it brings for the boatmen, and the royal family aboard, also strengthened by the exclamation marks.  (can also be regarded as background technique for those who wish to use that in their commentary )

  • “A plague upon this howling” is auditory imagery, as we can imagine the loud noises of the chaos and the scrambling to secure the ship

  • The ending is quite ambiguous and as it neither eludes to ...

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