ShmoopTube

Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.

Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos


All British Literature Videos 53 videos

1984
135161 Views

Well, if this book doesn't make you want to tape over your laptop camera, we don't know what will.

1984 and V for Vendetta
17150 Views

Imagine a world in which all literature was dystopian. Okay, so we may be getting to that point, 1984 and V for Vendetta helped start it all.

1984 Summary
136167 Views

By the end of this video, you will be brainwashed. There's nothing you can do about it; we just wanted to let you know. We like to think we're bigg...

See All

ELA 12: Hurricane-Strength Winds 18717 Views


Share It!


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™.

Language:
English Language

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.

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]

Related Videos

A Tale of Two Cities Summary
75858 Views

Meet Charles Darnay, the nobleman who spends more time on trial and in prison than attending balls and drinking expensive wine. Don't feel too bad...

Beowulf
113100 Views

Written in Anglo-Saxon, or Old English, sometime between the 8th and 11th centuries, Beowulf is an epic poem that reflects the early medieval warri...

Brave New World
79224 Views

Brave New World is supposed be an exciting book about a negative utopia and the corrupt powers of authority. So where’s the big car chase? What's...

Dracula
27348 Views

What is Dracula really about? Just Count Dracula? Or is there more to it than vampires? This video addresses some major ideas in Bram Stoker’s cl...

Dracula: Father of the Modern Vampire
17557 Views

There are plenty of famous vampires that send chills up our spines, but Dracula was and still is the king of them all. No one else can touch him. N...