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ELA 12: Hurricane-Strength Winds 18717 Views
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Description:
The Tempest is all about disruptions of everything from weather to power and political systems. Like most weather events in literature, this storm holds tons of Symbolic Meaning™.
Transcript
- 00:00
William Shakespeare's play The Tempest begins with a big violent windy
- 00:07
storm. I mean a tempest. go figure. enjoy good thing he fit that scene into [crops blow in the wind]
- 00:13
the play otherwise he might have had some very angry theater goers demanding
- 00:16
refunds for their tempest free experience.
- 00:19
however this storm is more than just your average devastating weather event.
Full Transcript
- 00:22
it not only tells us a lot about where the main characters but touches on one
- 00:26
of the plays major themes. a lot more information than you're likely to get
- 00:30
from your local weather forecast there. well even if they include the seven-day
- 00:34
outlook. sorry. ok let's start with the origin of the tempest. doesn't just come [woman gives 7 day forecast]
- 00:39
about by center of low-pressure surrounded by a system of high pressure.
- 00:44
well this tempest is a bit less sciency and a bit more magical. it's summoned by
- 00:49
Prospero a powerful sorcerer. and he didn't just create it to play an
- 00:54
elaborate game of water polo against a sorcerer on a different Island. although
- 00:57
you know he thought about it that'd be kind of cool. nope Prospero summons the
- 01:01
tempest in order to shipwreck the King of Naples on his island. not exactly the
- 01:06
best way to make someone feel welcome as. you might expect [frowning king stands on island]
- 01:09
Prospero's desire to shipwreck the king didn't just come out of nowhere, he
- 01:13
wasn't just bored. well the King Alonso and Prospero, his brother Antonio ended up
- 01:18
deposing Prospero as the Duke of Milan and stranding him on the island with his
- 01:23
daughter for 12 year0s. though if you're looking for a way to externalize 12
- 01:26
years of anger and suffering well you can hardly do better than whipping up a
- 01:29
terrifying tempest. but despite Prospero's anger he has his limits. even
- 01:34
though he causes a shipwreck he doesn't make the storms so severe that anyone [battered boat bobs in the wind]
- 01:38
dies. it might be bitter, controlling, and have a deep desire for revenge but the
- 01:43
guy's not evil. probably, well The Tempest not only tells
- 01:46
us what's up with Prospero but also touches on the idea of social upheaval,
- 01:50
once the boats in the thick of the storm the talk on deck takes a certain tone.
- 01:55
Duke Antonio starts yelling orders but the bosun basically tells the do
- 02:01
keep the orders to himself. that's kind of language - Duke is accustomed pick [sailor talks to the Duke]
- 02:04
hearing from his inferiors even if it is a bit windy out. but that's kind of the
- 02:09
point. although the characters in The Tempest usually live under a strict
- 02:13
social and political hierarchy where everyone set in their place, all it takes
- 02:17
is some bad weather to shake things up. kind of makes you wonder how rock-solid
- 02:21
that hierarchy was. [minions picketing]
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