No fruit. No talking snake. No woman breaking rules.
So why is THE TEMPEST in the All About Eve season?
For starters, in this 1612 play, we do have an old, powerful, white guy in charge of an idyllic island. His name is Prospero and he happens to be a sorcerer who can control the weather, puts others into magical slumbers, make people bring him firewood, but most of all, he completely controls the only female character on stage.
If a man with magical powers controls you completely, how can you ask questions and explore? How can you be Eve? Perhaps that’s the goal…
Beyond that, THE TEMPEST demonstrates an early exploration of how to approach the “New World.” It’s a great example of Shakespeare basing a story on something akin to a newspaper headline in the early 17th century.
Along the way, Sonja says cannibalism as many times as she can, and Vanessa switches a C for T.
REFERENCES:
Roanoke Colony Story explained here.
Here’s some basic information about the Virginia Colony
Jamestown Settlement 1607 information here
Smithsonian account of cannibalism in Jamestown.
Here is information about the ship wreck of the Sea Venture
We reference our episode #57 on MUCH ADO, which you can find here.
Here is Michel de Montaigne essay, "Of Cannibals"
