Act 1, scene 1, the tempest, Shakespeare

LIT GB

This scene, Act 1 scene 1 is taken from Shakespeare's novel « Tempest ». In this first act, we are first confronted with the chaos that occurs immediately: The storm. It is interesting to note that the scene is faithful to the name of the work, « tempest ». Shakespeare uses here the literary technique « in medias res » which consists in putting the reader or spectator, in the middle of an action without pre-explanation which makes the play immersive and dramatic at the same time. So, this ship is carrying Alonso, who is the king of Naples ,his brother, Sebastian and his son Ferdinand, Antonio, Gonzalo and others and while they are in the midst of the storm which is threatening the people’s lives on board of the ship, a conflict occurs between the Boatswain and the courtiers.

First, we’re going to comment on how this conflict reveals the main issue which is the class conflict. Then, we will elaborate on how the human is always in need for control, be it the nature that surrounds us or the natural behaving of humans and the consequences of it.

While in the midst of the roaring tempest, the Boatswain, by the Master’s demand, is ordering the sailors to work harder to keep the ship afloat and he says to them (L8)“Take in the topsail.—Tend to th' master’s whistle.—Blow, till thou burst thy wind, if room enough!” Soon after, other characters appear, and Alonso, the king, demands to know where the Master is, to which the Boatswain responds “Please stay below deck, sir” to ensure their safety. The king insists and Boatswain is telling them that they are making the situation worse as he says (L14)“You mar our labor. Keep your cabins. You do assist the storm.” and even orders them (L16)“To cabin! Silence! Trouble us not.” However, Gonzalo seems to take it as a rebellion against their ranks and warns him “remember whom thou hast aboard” alluding to the king which shows that despite the circumstances they are in, they believe their social class holds more power. They think themselves to be invincible because of their titles but the boatswain obviously cares little of the King or his rank because like he says “What cares these roarers for the name of king?". The social conflict that is happening here is interesting because we can see that, on the ship, the one in control is actually the Boatswain contrary to Alonso’s belief at the beginning when requesting for the master, because he is the one who leads the sailors on board and the king cannot do anything, he is only a mere passenger and the Boatswain reminds them of that when he tells Gonzalo in line 24 that the king should « use his authority » to stop the storm which he cannot but he at least can control men in order to save all of them. Indeed, in front of the storm, all men are equal.

Then, beyond the class conflict lies the control. This scene is all about control, whether it is the need of the characters to control themselves and others but also control the wilderness of nature. Indeed, the human seems to always need control no matter what, however Shakespeare shows that this need of control is exactly why the human is sometimes at risk for loss. Boatswain says (lines 19-20) «If you can command these elements to silence and work the peace of the present, we will

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