Take a photo of a barcode or cover
grb8 's review for:
The Tempest
by William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare’s Black Album.
Distinct in Shakespeare’s catalog for a number of reasons; the most interesting to me being it’s meta self-referential nature (to Shakespeare himself as a singular figure) and it’s uncharacteristic fumbling of power dynamics (the main reason it peaks at a 3/5 for me).
While there’s good humor here, some genuinely poetic musings on the violence and beauty of art and culture, and a profound ending, it’s a play that seems to forget to finish its job. While the self referencing is so interesting here, Shakespeare seems to become a bit too indulgent in the end in a way that for me is too apologetic to Prospero and unsympathetic to Caliban. There is no drama or reckoning in the last act even though it felt like the fourth act was such a build. In the end though, the great power Prospero holds is so overwhelming from start to finish that there is no drama and in turn no useful dissection of or commentary on that power.
It’s very popular to read this play as a commentary on colonialism in accord with its art-focused considerations and, to me, I don’t see how anyone CAN’T read it that way. This is a case where the most popular interpretation seems to be the only legitimate one. And again, this is what makes the ending so disappointing to me. I expected a standoff between Caliban and Prospero or at least some weighty dialogue; instead, Shakespeare takes the time to tell the crowd "one last time I need y’all to roar." A choice that is fascinating in its divergence from any other Shakespeare I’ve read, but one that ultimately limits the ceiling of the play as a whole.
Distinct in Shakespeare’s catalog for a number of reasons; the most interesting to me being it’s meta self-referential nature (to Shakespeare himself as a singular figure) and it’s uncharacteristic fumbling of power dynamics (the main reason it peaks at a 3/5 for me).
While there’s good humor here, some genuinely poetic musings on the violence and beauty of art and culture, and a profound ending, it’s a play that seems to forget to finish its job. While the self referencing is so interesting here, Shakespeare seems to become a bit too indulgent in the end in a way that for me is too apologetic to Prospero and unsympathetic to Caliban. There is no drama or reckoning in the last act even though it felt like the fourth act was such a build. In the end though, the great power Prospero holds is so overwhelming from start to finish that there is no drama and in turn no useful dissection of or commentary on that power.
It’s very popular to read this play as a commentary on colonialism in accord with its art-focused considerations and, to me, I don’t see how anyone CAN’T read it that way. This is a case where the most popular interpretation seems to be the only legitimate one. And again, this is what makes the ending so disappointing to me. I expected a standoff between Caliban and Prospero or at least some weighty dialogue; instead, Shakespeare takes the time to tell the crowd "one last time I need y’all to roar." A choice that is fascinating in its divergence from any other Shakespeare I’ve read, but one that ultimately limits the ceiling of the play as a whole.