The setting is now the island on which Caliban, Sycorax his mother (now banished), and Ariel had been living before Prospero and Miranda’s arrival twelve years earlier (Miranda is now fifteen years old). Creating the mood for this scene might take the form of a class discussion or written assignment pertaining to the differences between island and mainland living, since Hispanic students will have had personal experiences with both. Before reading the section referring to Gonzalo’s having gathered the necessary provisions for Prospero and Miranda upon their flight from Italy:
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Some food we had, and some fresh water, that
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A noble Neapolitan, Gonzalo,
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Out of his charity, who being then appointed
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Master of this design, did give us, with
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Rich garments, linens, stuffs and necessaries . . .
-
(L. 160167)
students can imagine themselves in a similar situation in that specific time period and consider what manageable personal items they would have hurriedly thrown together for such an unexpected departure. My most cherished memories of grammar school revolve around the following exercise related to geography lessons. Our teacher would announce that we would be “travelling” the next day to a specific part of the world and after telling us a bit about its location and climate, would assign us the task of “packing a suitcase”—i.e. cutting out pictures from magazines of whatever we felt was necessary for the trip—and the next day we’d be strapped into our “seatbelts” on our “airplane” and be off! Xeroxed pictures from historical costume books would be helpful here for the clothing they might carry. Regarding the characters’ departure from Italy in
The Tempest
, students should consider that this might be a permanent situation and that Prospero does not use his magical powers until they reach the island. This should inspire students to select items carefully and to anticipate the problems the characters might encounter on their journey.
When Prospero reaches the island he is “rapt in secret studies” (L. 7576) with the books Gonzalo has supplied:
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Prospero: From mine own library with volumes that I prize above my dukedom.
-
(L. 167168)
Students might enjoy creating booklets with magical symbols and secret codes to help them imagine the power that Prospero reaps from these documents.
Scene II contains a poignant interchange between father and daughter in which Prospero finally explains to Miranda the circumstances surrounding their present existence. Lines 1525 and 3346 serve to give the class a clearer understanding of the characters’ plight; the following lines are particularly vivid and would probably leave a lasting impression on students as to the hardships Prospero and Miranda faced:
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. . . they prepared
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a rotten carcass of a butt, not rigg’d
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Nor tackle, sail, nor mast; the very rats
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Instinctively have quit it . . .
-
(L. 145150)
Miranda’s first memories of her childhood are hazy when Prospero asks her in line 49, “What seest thou else in the dark backward and abysm of time?” Students and teachers alike could be encouraged to think back carefully to their earliest memories in order to recount them either orally or in written form as Miranda has done here.
Prospero tells Miranda that he has released the tempest through Ariel’s intervention and with the magical powers of his robe. He asks Miranda to “pluck my magic garment from me” (L.24) when he no longer needs control, and students might begin to envision the qualities of this article of clothing by producing a costume sketch. A collection of fabric scraps, especially glitzy ones, would help spark their creativity. Students can attach small fabric swatches along the bottom and sides of the drawing, as is the practice of professional costume designers, in order to suggest color and texture.
Lines 226237 provide the only specific reference to Bermuda in the entire play and students could read the historical reference to the Bermuda Pamphlets described at the beginning of this unit.
Prospero, in his dialogue with Miranda, recounts their initial encounter with Caliban twelve years earlier. This, to me, is the first reference in the play related to second language acquisition and communication between two cultures, and for this reason I feel it warrants a detailed analysis. The first image we have of Caliban is Prospero’s description:
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. . . A freckled whelp hag, born—not honour’d with
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A human shape
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Dull thing, I say so . . .
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(L. 282284)
We see the encounter from Caliban’s perspective in the lines quoted at the beginning of the unit (L. 332341; 355-359) and it would be an opportunity now to review these and their exact meaning with the students. This quote, in conjunction with lines 310315 in which Prospero extols the virtues of Caliban’s native intelligence and hard work, provides a basis for discussion of the necessary components for survival in the wild. The foreigners are dependent upon Caliban for their livlihood, yet subjugate and enslave him:
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We cannot miss him: he does make our fire
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Fetch in our wood, and serves in offices
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That profit us . . .
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(L. 311315)
There is an interesting parallel in Cortes’ letter to the king regarding the Indians living near Tascalteca:
In a letter of mine I informed Your Majesty how the natives of these parts are of much greater intelligence than those of other islands . . . indeed they appeared to us to possess such understanding as is sufficient for an ordinary citizen to conduct himself in a civilized country. It seemed to me therefore, a serious matter at this time to compel them to serve the Spaniards as the natives of the other islands do; yet if this were not done, the conquerors and settlers of these parts would not be able to maintain themselves.
9
We have read Columbus’ account of rumored cannibals in the area; here is the entry regarding his initial attempts to communicate with the natives:
On my arrival at that sea, I had taken some Indians by force from the first island that I came to, in order that they might learn our language, and communicate to us what they knew respecting the country . . . in a short time, either by gestures and signs, or by words, we were enabled to understand each other.
10
The class could be divided into two groups at this point—natives and conquerors. Having prepared a list of the qualities of their island, the natives, through “gestures and signs” could attempt to communicate these to the foreigners.
The following illustration, adapted from original codices paintings by Alberto Beltrán, and excerpt from
Broken Spears
, the native accounts of the Conquest, are included here in order to draw parallels to
The Tempest
and to give students an understanding of what Caliban’s initial reaction may have been:
(figure available in print form)
An emissary had been sent by Montezuma to validate reports that natives had seen “two towers or small mountains floating on the waves of the sea”
12
and the following is their eyewitness acount:
‘Our lord and king, it is true that strange people have come to the shores of the great sea . . . There were about fifteen of these people, some with blue jackets, others with black or green, and still others with jackets of a soiled color, very ugly, like our ichtilmatli . . . They have very light skin, much lighter than ours. They all have long beards, and their hair comes only to their ears.’ Montezuma was downcast when he heard this report, and did not speak a word.
13
Since these particular students have had the experience in their lives of encountering a culture and language different from their own, the following suggestion for a theater game might help them to recall that initial point of contact and the inevitable frustration and misunderstanding which result. Some Hispanic students are well versed in “jeringoza”, in which words are divided into syllables and each syllable prefaced with the same sound, for example “chi.” This new language is spoken rapidly and totally baffles me whenever I hear it! If a student with this skill (pretending not to understand English or Spanish) were to confront the teacher or another student with no knowledge of jeringoza, this might simulate the initial encounter between Caliban and the foreigners. The class could formulate questions which might naturally develop from this situation and help the two actors consider non-verbal methods of communication.
The following quotes from the chronicles pertain to communication between two cultures, further emphasizing the historical antecedents and their relevance, both to students and to
The Tempest
. Students can be encouraged to reenact these three situations in the “jeringoza” theater game described above. The first quote from Garcilaso de la Vega el Inca recounts the story of an Indian named Berú who encountered the Spaniards on the banks of the river Pelú:
Having petted him to help him overcome his fear at the sight of their beards and unaccustomed clothes, the Spaniards asked him by signs and words what land it was and what it was called. The Indian understood that they were asking him something from the gestures and grimaces they were making with hands and face, as if they were addressing a dumb man, but he did not understand what they were asking, so he told them what he thought they wanted to know. The Christians understood what they wanted to understand . . . and from that time they called that rich and great empire Perú, corrupting both words, as the Spaniards corrupt almost all the words they take from the Indian language of that land.
14
Students and teachers alike have probably experienced similar misunderstandings in communication and it might be insightful here to discuss some of these twisted interpretations.
The next two quotes are taken from Cabeza de Vaca’s account:
The Indians of the village returned next day and approached us. Because we had no interpreter, we could not make out what they said; but their many signs and threats left little doubt that they were bidding us to go.
15
Students can contemplate what might have been said and attempt to communicate their thoughts nonverbally or through the “jeringoza” exercise above.
And we taught all the people by signs, which they understood, that in Heaven was a Man we called God, who had created the heavens and the earth’s that all good came from Him and that we worshipped and obeyed Him and called Him our Lord; and that if they would do the same, all would be well with them. They apprehended us so readily that if we had had enough command of their language to make ourselves perfectly understood, we would have left them all Christians.
16
A conflicting report is mentioned in Robert Ricard’s book,
The Spiritual Conguest
of
Mexico
as he describes the attempts of Mu–oz Camargo and other clerics to instruct the natives in Christianity:
. . . the religious could only indicate the existence of heaven and hell. To suggest hell they pointed to the earth, fire, toads and snakes. Then they raised their eyes, pointed to heaven and spoke of a single God. The Indians barely understood.
17
Many Hispanic students are familiar with the beliefs of the AfroCaribbean “Santer’a” religious cult. Assuming that the teacher is not and by using only signs and “jeringoza,” students could attempt to “convert” the teacher into this belief system and decide at the end of the exercise if their communication was successful.
Ariel’s song to Fernando (L. 399405) in which he falsely implies to the prince that his father, Alonso, has died in the shipwreck, is an opportunity for those students interested in sound to explore the technical possibilities within the play. The musical notation is included in the Arden edition and a simple flute recording with the assistance of the music teacher would add a nice touch here.
(figure available in print form)
In addition, students interested in scenic art could sketch their interpretation of these lines. Students are provided with two additional challenges to their creativity by considering solutions to the following stage directions included in this scene:
reenter Ariel like a water nymph
(L. 317)
reenter Ariel invisible, playing and singing
(L. 377)
The scene ends (L. 413 . . . ) with Miranda’s first glimpse of Fernando under the careful supervision of her father, who, as powerful as he is, cannot control their mutual attraction. Miranda challenges her father’s negative response to Fernando and what ensues is the age-old generational conflict to which students can easily relate. The following lines extracted from this interchange are relatively simple and, hundreds of years after they were written, might touch upon students’ personal feelings to again illustrate the relevance of the play to their own lives:
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Miranda:
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. . . I might call him [Fernando]
|
|
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A thing divine; for nothing natural
|
|
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I ever saw so noble.
|
|
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(L. 419421)
|
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Prospero:
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. . . At the first sight
|
|
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They have chang’d eyes . . .
|
|
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(L. 443-444)
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Miranda: . . . This
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____
Is the third man that e’er I saw . . .
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____
(L. 447448)
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Fernando:
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O, if a virgin,
|
|
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And your affection not gone forth,
|
|
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I’ll make you The Queen of Naples.
|
|
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(L. 450452)
|
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Prospero:
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. . . Come;
|
|
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I’ll manacle thy neck and feet together;
|
|
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Seawater shalt thou drink . . .
|
|
|
(L. 463464)
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Miranda:
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O dear father,
|
|
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Make not too rash a trial of him, for
|
|
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He’s gentle, and not fearful.
|
|
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(L. 468470)
|
Students can note here the change in tone of the supposedly cultured Prospero as he assumes a more savage perspective.
