Act1 of the Tempest Essay

The Tempest written by William Shakespeare was a tragicomedy; this means this is a play that contains comedy and also tragic events. The Tempest was Shakespeare’s final play so therefore it was more experimental. In the Tempest the play deals with much more serious issues. The term â€Å"nature vs. nurture† is a phrase used for this play due to the fact that many unreal activities are taken place, by stereotype people around Shakespeare’s times were formally known to act unaware of the moral activities that surround them at the time. The Tempest is more rhythmical and pacific; this is more advanced and modern to those of his earlier plays. The Tempest has a magical setting. The play is set on an Island that it â€Å"topsy turvy†, meaning that everything is upside down, The setting of the play reflects its genre conveying that the magical setting mostly exist in fairytale stories in link to this the Tempest had a colonisation society which made situations much more clearer to understand due to this unreal society. Also in having everything upside down, this reflects to me that confusion comes into place so comedy gets fit in the place. I feel from reading the play so far that there are a mixture of emotions, themes and genre’s The Tempest also has evidence of magic. His brother Antonio over threw Prospero who is the duke of Milan. Antonio and others were returning from his daughters wedding, when Prospero had heard about this, Prospero had immediately ordered to be shipwrecked by his spirit Ariel. His spirit Ariel had agreed o do this because Prospero had once feed her form a tree where she was trapped. Prospero’s daughter Miranda claims that she had seen the shipwreck and so Prospero calms her down and sets her to sleep. Prospero then calls his spirit Ariel who verifies that the nobles are safe on the island Ariel’s language is more respectful and polite therefore emphasising more calming and relaxing soothing situations. This is evidence of magic in the plat; that Ariel can generate illusions, and can also trick people into sleeping. The Tempest opens up with themes such as anger, resentment, and revenge, which is represented through the storm; this reflects the mood of Prospero as a result of being over thrown. On board the Tempest are Antonio Sebastian and Gonzalo. The storm has effected the courtiers, they forget who they are that they stoop to a low level of being â€Å"Hell is empty all devils are here†¦ † this is an indication of madness and humour, in relation to this situation, there is mockery o the lower class people such as Gonzalo. Sebastian and Antonio realise that their duties as noblemen and courtiers had suddenly been evaporated due to the situation, they are just simply in the way. Gonzalo accepts that he himself is humorous. Antonio and Sebastian only get abuse they have lost touch with reality before stepping foot on Prospero’s land.