Idea Quote Technique Analysis

Redemption and ‘This thing of darkness I Metaphor/Euphemism metaphorical reference to moral shortcomings and the human desire for revenge, acknowledgement of faults and
forgiveness acknowledge mine’ alluding to remorse

‘A born devil’ juxtaposition/demonising How Prospero describes Caliban changes as he redeems himself and mends relationships

‘nurture can never stick’ Subversion of colonial perspectives, an amendment and reconciliation of colonial power dichotomies through the
redemption of the contemporarily perceived oppressor
contrasted to

‘to have my pardon’ -

‘Oh, it is monstrous, Epizeuxis Alonso feeling guilt for what he did to Prospero, remorse and seeking forgiveness, redeeming himself by asking for a
monstrous’ pardon, enforces vehemence of guilt expressed
‘thou pardon me my wrongs’

‘As you from crimes would Soliloquy Prospero, direct address to the audience to be set free from the moral judgement and perception of the audience, Atwood
pardoned be/let your recontextualizes this/reframes it
indulgence set me free’

“I do forgive thee, Unnatural Prospero asserts perfect Christian

though thou art” forgiveness that does not require
reciprocity- it is a virtue to offer
it, even in face of hostility

Power/Ownership ‘This was the most Metonymy production as a collective process

and Vengeance accomplished crew of Goblins
anyone could wish for’ God-given status - exertion of power

Contextual shift from Shakespeare’s determinism to contemporary vision of individual responsibility

‘...he intended to cram his foot Metaphor/ Metaphor for the extent to which he wants his revenge to go
into that hornet’s nest as far as Emphasises his need for vengeance on Tony
it would go.’

“God o’the Island” Metaphor/Apotheosis is a metaphor for Prospero and his powerful presence on the Island, apotheosis of Prospero’s power over the island, his
domain
‘Graves at my command have Personification Demonstrating the extent of Prospero’s power. Elemental control over the dead.
walked their sleepers’

‘This island’s mine, by Sycorax Apostrophe/Aphorism Caliban also having lost his power, asseverates his rightful ownership, with he laws of inheritance and power structures
my mother, which thou takest emulating the primogeniture structure of Jacobean England.
from me’

‘Magic garment’ Symbolism A tool to exercise power and control forces that fashion new versions of reality, similar to a director of a play, relate to
metatheatricality

Prospero: “...twelve year since,/ Thy father was the Duke of Milan and/ A prince of power.”
Great chain of being - Ultimate power and authority belongs to natural world and thereby, anyone capable of controlling
the natural elements harnesses undeniable power. (Prospero) Disrupted during times of great despair,

“A very shallow monster! … A Repetition of ‘monster’ emphasises subjugation of minority groups under colonialist culture
very weak monster! … A most
poor credulous monster!”

“In this day and age Caliban is Juxtaposition with quote above
the favourite, everyone cheers
for him.”

“refused to call them inmates, Contrast to genesis text The inmates, oppressed in their own way, are Atwood’s reimagining of Caliban, and refuses to dehumanise them from a
they were his actors” postcolonial lens

‘Suddenly revenge is so close Synesthesia revenge is something which feeds and motivates Felix
he can actually taste it. It tastes
like steak, ratre.’

“The smell of dejection, the Imagery, asyndeton The decrepit living conditions of the prisoners creates empathy with the oppressed, allowing Atwood to comment on the
shoulders slumping down, the shifting representation of the marginalised in a post-colonial reality..
head bowed, the body caving in
upon itself “

‘I’d need to do things in my Parallelism to Prospero Felix’s desire for power is more explicit than PRospero’s, but still parallels him.
own way...i’d want
considerable latitude.’ Hag-Seed being a novel allows for consistent communication of Felix’s thoughts, thus allowing for explicitness.

‘There would this monster Diacope alluding to only monsters masquerading as men to have the capability to hold power.
make a man; any strange beast
there makes a man.’

“All hail, great master, grave Verse, departure from prose Use of verse rather than prose suggests that language of coloniser has been imposed
sir, hail! I come To answer…”
 “But he’s resigned from his
position, so he’s lost his
credibility. He has no leverage,
no power platform; he’s no
longer among those who
matter/ Tony is out and Felix is
back in, which is as it should
be”
Why is he so sure he can pull
this off? . . . the improvised
drama he has in mind for
his distinguished enemies –
how to arrange it?.
“He needed to get his Tempest
back. He had to stage it,
somehow, somewhere”
Metatheatricality/ ‘If the words are not perfect,
Magic and Illusion the pitch exact, the modulation
of Theatre delicately adjusted, the spell
fails.”
“he engaged in this non-reality
as if it were real”
‘World of illusions’
‘the most beautiful, the most
awe-inspiring, the most
inventive, the most numinous
theatrical experiences ever’
‘Now we gonna start the
playin’
Rhetorical questioning, stream of
consciousness
Symbolism
Asyndeton
irony/suspension of
disbelief/paradox
Verisimilitude/metafictional
allusion
Anaphoric repetition
wordplay, double entendre,
Felix’s introspection into how he plans to exact revenge is ingrained with self-doubt, where the ambitious plan for doing
so requires more resources than he has
Novel as a form allows for character’s thoughts, insight into stream of consciousness, however Felix still carries out his
act of vengeance as opposed to Prospero, more didactic whereas the more individualised focus of Hag-Seed means that
Felix’s character arc concludes with compensation and revenge.
The Tempest here represents the stage performance, but is also a symbol of Felix’s power, wherein his role as stage
director provides agency for him to exercise his power over other people.
Postmodern notion of reverential pastiches and intertextuality.
Asyndeton of a play casting a ‘spell’ on the audience, where perfection paves way to the creation of an illusionary
experience that shapes reality
Postmodernist deconstruction of theatre, a detached analysis of the textual form’s devices culminating in an illusionary
experience
idea of magic and illusion, self-reflexive nature of Hag-seed means that Atwood engages with this notion through the
lens of the loss of Miranda, and the trauma subsequently leading to a phantasm that Felix suspends his disbelief for,
notion perpetuated within people and theatre’s magic/illusion itself
Referencing to theatre being a world of illusions to communicate narrative
‘Most’ - accentuates the passion and desire to create experiences and innovate through theatre
This quote, in interpretation, can be extrapolated to Atwood’s own attempts at recreating and reinventing Shakespeare’s
play
allusion to metatheatricality from the outset of Hag Seed, in first scene
 ‘When you walk in here, you Zoomorphic characterisation Referring to theatre as a place to adopt new personas and take the form of characters, also alluding to duplicity of
shed your daily self’ identity and the transience of theatre wherein there is an adoption for the indulgence of the audience.
Pastiche of postmodernist textual convention.

“From the life of theatre to Syntactical balance in inverting

theatre of life” “life of theatre” to “theatre of
life” highlights intimate
connection between artistic
representation and human
experience, representations are
able to bring us intimately into
contact with our own experience
in ways we may not realise
prospectively

‘The great globe itself’ Allusion to metatheatricality allusion to the Globe Theatre, philosophical view of what plays are, ‘the cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces’
lines 153 ish. It is about writing plays, and talking about how everything you see in plays disappears, theatre is only what
‘the cloud-capped towers, the man makes it to be.
gorgeous palaces’

‘We are such stuff Allusion to metatheatricality The artifice of theatre, where theatre and the stories told within are simply artificial constructions and the manifestation
As dreams are made on’ of human imagination

‘the collective indrawn breath, Diacope however, a pervading sense of magic created by Atwood is the power of theater, to shape realities and fashion alternate
the collective sigh’ worlds that is also done through magic
Tempest’s portrayal of magic → translated to Atwood’s modern transference to different forms, such as the impact and
possibilities of audio-visual and digital media, internet, drugs

Imprisonment and ‘a play about prisons’ Intertextual reference Communicates an interpretation of the Tempest that it reframes in a contemporary context with more explicit references
freedom
“I, thus neglecting worldly Hyperbaton / Periodic Structure Prospero, as a result of being usurped from the Dukeship of Milan, isolates himself to the island, where he can exert
ends, all dedicated/To closeness power over the region and exercise control
and the bettering of my
mind/With that which, but by
being so retired,”

‘As you from crimes would Soliloquy Prospero, direct address to the audience to be set free from the moral judgement and perception of the audience, Atwood
pardoned be/let your recontextualizes this/reframes it
indulgence set me free’

“‘To all the elements be free,’ In the ‘Tempest,’ Prospero says this same line to Ariel while this is said to Miranda in ‘Hag-Seed’ → same idea is
he says to her.” portrayed but it has been appropriated to suit Felix’s situation / Appropriates and aligns the same quote for Felix saying
this to Miranda, reimagining it within a more individualistic framework
 “You don’t say ‘set me free’ chiasmus/paradox Intertextual referencing
unless you’re not free. ‘

‘He actually heard a voice.../ Interior monologue One of the prisons is Felix’s mind, that confines im to his loss and exacerbates his trauma from usurpation, further
Break out of your cell. You delaying self-actualisation.
need a real-world connection.’

“By choosing this shack and the Symbol - this shack The shack echoes Prospero’s island.
privations that would come
with it, he would of
course be sulking. He’d be
hair-shirting himself, playing
the flagellant, the hermit.
Watch me suffer. He
recognised his own act, an act
with no audience but himself.
It was childish, this self-willed
moping. He was not being
grown-up.”

Extra Notes
- William Shakespeare’s The Tempest is the hypotext for Margaret Atwood’s Hag-Seed
- Hag-Seed is a reverential pastiche - a rewriting of a canonical text - it is a palimpsest
- Atwood’s intertextuality transcends a recreation of plot elements and characters, but transcends to a reinterpretation
- ‘Tell the truth in some real kind of way’ - when prisoners propose an ending for Antonio, ironic due the subjectivity of truth in a cognizant text that interplays several possible situations to reflect postmodernist
ideals of audience interpretation.
- explains the significance of intertextuality as “it leads to a much richer reading experience which invites new interpretations as it brings another context, idea, story into the text at hand. As new layers of
meaning are introduced, there is pleasure in the sense of connection and the continuity of texts and of cultures. These connections mean that a responder is engaging with a broader literary heritage than just a
discrete text. Intertextuality also invites us to revisit the earlier text, often with new insights into its meaning for our time.”
- Dialogism​ - the use in a text of different tones or viewpoints, whose interaction or contradiction are important to the text's interpretation.
- Engage, tribute, extrapolates, reflects, appropriates, adapts
- Political corruption - Atwood can comment on this directly enabled by her context, whereas Shakespeare’s depiction is more surreptitious (political commentary and satire is veiled
- Texts as instruments of artistic fulfilment and cathartic relief,
- GOOD QUOTE: “My island domain. My place of exile. My penance. My theatre.” Anaphora
- Thesis Must acknowledge how this conversation occurs. Atwood actively engages in conversation and responds to/appropriates to Shakespeare → it is a one-way conversation.
- Atwood’s text relies upon Shakespeare’s text to serve as a foundation for the conversation.
- First paragraph topic sentence - Shakespeare’s ideas bla bla help to establish a foundation for commentary/Atwood’s text.
- INSTEAD OF COLLISION - YOU CAN SAY DEPARTURE OF AN IDEA
- Focus on deliberate portrayal
- Integrating context:
 - From the perspective of a 17th Century British playwright, Christian and determinism, embodied in Caliban
- Vengeance context
- Tempest: Restoration of order and Chain of Being, Duke of Milan, Jacobean context means that vengeance leads to redemption and a societal restoration of order, collectivist interests Christian
Humanism
- Hag-Seed: Appropriation of the path to revenge, but looking at it from a more individualistic perspective (where Felix does not free his version of Ariel), thus in his personal pursuit of vengeance, he
does not seek redemption, and neither do any characters in general.

Prospero
- The stage manager of the play, exerting control, holding an assertoric gaze
- Final monologue is self-reflexive
- Avant-garde director
- Atwood retrieves a humanist depiction of Prospero after decades of distrusting him as a patriarchal tyrant and a proto-coloniser

The island
- Essential instrument in sublimating revenge

Power and revenge

- Tempest through Prospero
- Also reveals innate opportunistic human nature in the guys in Tempest who plot to get the throne - Antonio and Sebastian

Imprisonment and freedom

- Felix: ‘a play about prisons’ - intertextual reference reinforced the point
- “The Tempest is a play about a man producing a play—one that’s come out of his own head, his ‘fancies’—so maybe the fault for which he needs to be pardoned is the play itself” - Felix, in reference to final
monologue/soliloquy
- “I, thus neglecting worldly ends, all dedicated/To closeness and the bettering of my mind/With that which, but by being so retired,” - Prospero’s isolation to the island as a result of loss of power
- ‘As you from crimes would pardoned be/let your indulgence set me free’ - soliloquy by Prospero, direct address to the audience to be set free from the moral judgement and perception of the audience, Atwood
recontextualizes this/reframes it
- Caliban’s description/dehumanisation as a ‘beast’ juxtaposed with Atwood, rhetorical question ‘is he a victim of colonial repression’, instinctively adhering to a colonial reading

Redemption
- ‘This thing of darkness I acknowledge mine’ - metaphorical reference to moral shortcomings and the human desire for revenge, acknowledgement of faults and alluding to remorse
- ‘Oh, it is monstrous, monstrous’ - Alonso feeling guilt for what he did to Prospero, remorse and seeking forgiveness, redeeming himself by asking for a pardon, ‘thou pardon me my wrongs’
- ‘A born devil’ ‘nurture can never stick’ contrasted to ‘to have my pardon’ - redemptive perception of Caliban by Prospero, an evolution and conclusion to the colonial arc
- ‘As you from crimes would pardoned be/let your indulgence set me free’ - soliloquy by Prospero, direct address to the audience to be set free from the moral judgement and perception of the audience, Atwood
recontextualizes this/reframes it
- Tempest - motif of servant-master power dynamics
Power and Ownership

- “God o’the Island” is a metaphor for Prospero and his powerful presence on the Island, apotheosis of Prospero’s power over the island, his domain
- Similarly
- ‘This was the most accomplished crew of Goblins anyone could wish for’ - production as a collective process
- Contextual shift from Shakespeare’s determinism to contemporary vision of individual responsibility
- God-given status - exertion of power
- ‘This island’s mine, by Sycorax my mother, which thou takest from me’ - apostrophe, Caliban also having lost his power, asseverates his rightful ownership
- ‘They think you’re a waste of time...they think Shakespeare is a waste of time. They think he has nothing to teach’
- Anaphora of ‘they’; third person collective pronoun emphasis sense of distancing, binary dichotomies
- Relevancy of didacticism as a result of contextual paradigms evolving
- ‘There would this monster make a man; any strange beast there makes a man.’ - Diacope, alluding to only monsters masquerading as men to have the capability to hold power.

Magic and illusion of theatre​-

- Understanding the social implications of exploring magic on how the original text would have been received, Atwood introduces a new kind of magic to a new audience—that of drug culture and technological
manipulation—in order to continue to engage in this textual conversation about the unclear line between illusion and reality. Felix is able to conjure his own type of magic through the help of 8Handz, who uses
audio and visual effects to trick Tony and Sal into seeing things that are not really there. Here, Atwood asserts how the same issues can pervade humanity, although our changing cultural and technological
paradigms certainly can influence the ways in which this is true. Ultimately, she shows how society has managed to create their own kind of magic.
- postmodern/neo-humanist interpretation of artificialised illusions, rather than that of an elemental nature as depicted in the Tempest, shaped by zeitgeists and perceptions
- ‘World of illusions’
- ‘If the words are not perfect, the pitch exact, the modulation delicately adjusted, the spell fails.”
- Asyndeton of a play casting a ‘spell’ on the audience, where perfection paves way to the creation of an illusionary experience that shapes reality
- “he engaged in this non-reality as if it were real” - idea of magic and illusion, self-reflexive nature of Hag-seed means that Atwood engages with this notion through the lens of the loss of Miranda, and the
trauma subsequently leading to a phantasm that Felix suspends his disbelief for, notion perpetuated within people and theatre’s magic/illusion itself
- Artifice of theatre
- ‘Now we gonna start the playin’ - wordplay, double entendre, allusion to metatheatricality from the outset of Hag Seed, in first scene
- Tempest’s portrayal of magic → translated to Atwood’s modern transference to different forms, such as the impact and possibilities of audio-visual and digital media, internet, drugs → however, a pervading
sense of magic created by Atwood is the power of theater, to shape realities and fashion alternate worlds that is also done through magic ‘the collective indrawn breath, the collective sigh’