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Personification
Definition of Setting
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or it can be an imagined... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the... read full definition
Setting
Explanation and Analysis:
The Tempest is set on a remote island that is inhabited by spirits like Ariel and Caliban. The island is possibly in the Mediterranean during the European Rennaissance, which was a time of widespread geographic exploration and discovery. Some critics argue that it was inspired by a shipwreck in the Bermudas. Before the play begins, Prospero is cast out to sea by his men in Milan with his three-year-old daughter and they happen to land on this magical island. Prospero, Miranda, and the shipwrecked nobles are the only humans on it.
The most interesting thing about the island is that it provides a confined place in which Prospero can exercise complete control over its inhabitants. He lords over and protects his daughter Miranda, makes Ariel his servant, and enslaves Caliban. The tempest itself is a product of his magic; he orders Ariel to shipwreck the unlucky men on the island's shore. The island's isolation also provides a place in which many conflicts can be resolved outside the bounds of society—Antonio betrayed Prospero in Milan, but Prospero gets his dukedom back while both men are on the island. The comedic exploration of the island by Gonzalo, Alonso, and Sebastian helps demonstrate the apparent strangeness and unfriendliness of the island to visitors. In Act 2, Scene 1, Adrian terms it "uninhabitable and almost inaccessible," and Antonio observes that "the ground indeed is tawny."
Related Themes:
