This scene provides a wealth of opportunities for students interested in technical theater as the storm wells up again and a banquet strangely disappears. In addition to scenic, costume, lighting and properties notes, there are references to music and choreography and to the elements of Ariel’s magic. Students could divide the following stage directions into their corresponding components and decide as technicians in their particular fields what the best solutions would be. They might also consider the differences between a staged and a film version in order to compare the possibilities and limitations of both media:
Solemn and strange music, and Prospero on the top (invisible). Enter several strange Shapes, bringing in a banquet; and dance about it with gentle actions of salutations; and inviting the king and company to eat, they depart;
(L. 1621)
Thunder and lightning. Enter Ariel like a Harpy; claps his wings upon the table; and, with a quaint device, the banquet vanishes.
(L. 5154)
Ariel vanishes in thunder; then, to soft music, enter the Shapes again, and dance, with mocks and mows, and carrying out the table.
(L. 8285)
This scene also contains a description of the islanders by Conzalo which parallels an entry in Bartolomé de las Casas, and students might consider the similarities in both accounts as a basis for class discussion and/or a written assignment. Regarding the natives of Hispaniola (Santo Domingo), las Casas states:
. . . these people are the most guileless, the most devoid of wickedness . . . They are by nature the most humble, patient, and peaceable, holding no grudges . . . neither excitable nor quarrelsome . . . The sons of nobles among us, brought up in the enjoyments of life’s refinements, are no more delicate than are these Indians . . .
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