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The Tempest
Performer Heritage
Marina Spiazzi, Marina Tavella,
Margaret Layton © 2016
The Tempest
1. The plot
Act 1
• Setting in place An enchanted island away from
national claims and civilization.
Performer Heritage
The Tempest
1. The plot
Act 2
• King Alonso is desperate
because he thinks his son
drowned.
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The Tempest
1. The plot
Act 3
• Prospero makes Ferdinand perform
menial tasks to test him.
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The Tempest
1. The plot
Performer Heritage
The Tempest
2. The characters
Who is Prospero?
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The Tempest
2. The characters
Prospero’s magic
• to protect Miranda;
• to cast spells;
He uses magic
• to control the other
characters.
Performer Heritage
The Tempest
2. The characters
Who is Ariel?
• He is Prospero’s
messenger.
Ben Diskant as Ariel in The Tempest, directed by Adrian Noble.
• He joins the power of
all elemental spirits.
He appears as
Performer Heritage
The Tempest
2. The characters
Who is Ariel?
Performer Heritage
The Tempest
2. The characters
Ariel’s name
Performer Heritage
The Tempest
2. The characters
Ariel’s powers
• Ariel can control other spirits and
music, which is a way to transform
reality and to confuse and terrorise
the enemies.
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The Tempest
2. The characters
Ariel as Prospero’s tool
• Ariel is Prospero’s
eyes and ears
throughout the play,
using his magical
abilities to cause the William Blake,
tempest and to Ariel and
Prospero.
prevent other
characters’ plots
against his master.
Julyana Soelistyo
and Christopher
Plummer as Ariel
and Prospero
of The Tempest
in Stratford.
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The Tempest
2. The characters
Who is Caliban?
Performer Heritage
The Tempest
2. The characters
The character of Caliban
Dion Johnstone as
Caliban of The
Tempest in Stratford.
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The Tempest
3. The themes
• Forgiveness: all ends in reconciliation and peace,
with music intensifying the enchantment.
Performer Heritage
The Tempest
Performer Heritage
The Tempest
5. The style
• Shakespeare used different levels of speech
and action to portray his characters from different
angles.
• A character may suddenly switch from everyday
prose to solemn verse.
• At different times he included:
- allegorical scenes;
- noises;
- the sounds of the sea and of the island;
- songs, music and dances;
- magical transformations.
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