Articles/Essays
Is Shakespeare's work generally, and The Tempest specifically, still relevant in our contemporary society?
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Choose at least one of the articles or essays below to read. Located at the bottom of the page is a supplemental activity you can use to take notes as you read.
Barbara A. Mowat’s essay, "A Modern Perspective: The Tempest," explores the play's element of romance and colonialism, along with focusing on several important components of the play: the contradictory nature of Prospero, a loving father who behaves capriciously, even at times cruel--most evident in his treatment of Caliban, the enslaved monster. The essay also addresses how modern lenses to the play often align with Europe's history of empire building and the subjugation of the indigenous. This is clearly evident when seeing the play through Caliban's perspective, an argument in itself that a fairy-tale of romance is more a story of unguided power and colonization.
How do you update a play about a castaway sorcerer, a malevolent creature and an air spirit? Margaret Atwood on the prisoners, politicians and hackers who make up her modern day Tempest
Examining Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” in this edition of “Revisiting Shakespeare,“ Editor-in-Chief Edwyn Choi ’27 explores Caliban’s legacy and how the play’s language of monstrosity, law, and property continues to shape conversations about colonialism and race.
The attached activity can be used to help you take notes while reading these articles. Feel free to "make a copy" to fill in on your own.
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