Blog 14

The article by Orgel is interesting in that it focuses partly on the absence of Prospero’s wife. He breaks up his article into five related moments and themes in the play; the missing wife, the marriage contract, power and authority, the renunciation of magic, and the bibliographical coda. In these related moments he tries to use his reason and understanding of Shakespeare’s life to discover if this text is the stable text in its reasoning and historical representation and one that can be taken as an accurate representation of Shakespeare saying goodbye to his craft.
Orgel uses many quotes from The Tempest and bits of information about Shakespeare’s life and the time in which he lived. For instance, he used the institution of marriage as an example of where Shakespeare’s play is not accurate to the times, nor a reflection of his life. Orgel cites that many of the women in Shakespeare’s plays marry very young. He notes that Miranda is fifteen and Juliet is fourteen at the time of their marriage. This is seen as abnormal in the everyday life of the common folk of the 17th century. In fact, Shakespeare’s own children married at much older ages than Miranda and Juliet. Ironically Shakespeare married younger than his daughters.
This article helped me to think of the play in ways in which I never had, especially pertaining to the absence of Prospero’s wife. I like the exerpt that Orgel cites, I think it really shows a conscious effort by Shakespeare to acknowledge the absence of Prospero’s wife:
When I have decked the sea with drops full salt,
Under my burden groaned, which raised in me
An undergoing stomach, to bear up
Against what should ensue.
(Act 1.2 55-58)
I think Orgel’s argument is very thoughtful and in depth. I think his logic is sound and he makes many points, but I find it hard to fully understand and critique since I don’t know much at all about the time in which Shakespeare wrote these plays and the other critics he notes. This article explores trains of thought that I had not even gave the time to think about nor do I care to give much more time to think about. I think it gets excessive when people analyze and analyze a work of Shakespeare. Sometimes it is just too much. The man has been gone from this Earth for centuries and people are still analyzing his work hoping to somehow understand what he was really thinking when he wrote it. But of course that can’t be done, Orgel even said it when he stated that the same play will always vary in its impression based on the people performing it. I think it is fun to try to discover what Shakespeare was thinking when he wrote the play and I think the wonder in that is beautiful because we will never really know why Shakespeare did some of the things he did. It is something we can be content with, I know I might sound like I am contradicting myself but I think the analysis of Shakespeare’s work can get excessive and this article is an example of that.