Essay Questions

How does Taymor's use of imagery upon the arrival of King Alonso, Antonio, Gonzalo and Sebastian to the island enhance the story?

Taymor shows King Alonso, Antonio, Gonzalo and Sebastian arriving coupled with the imagery of waves crashing upon the jagged rocks of its shore. The imagery coupled with the arrival of the royal shows that they are in uncharted territory. Their aristocracy will not keep them safe here as they are now apart of a land they do not know and that does not know them. Thus it enhances the great danger they could potentially fall into.

What is one way the director uses the landscape to tell the story visually?

Taymor shows Caliban eating beneath the surface of the black rock that Prospera and Miranda stand upon. The imagery enhances our understanding of the levels of society on the island. Prospera and Miranda are at the top of the hierarchy while Caliban has been pushed to live beneath its surface, to a place from which his greatest desire is to rise.

What does Prospera breaking her staff on the rocks symbolize?

At the end of the film, we watch as Prospera breaks her staff upon the rocks beneath her. It is a symbol that she is done with the magic that got her banished to this island. It notes the beginning of her life back in Italy with her family, and her reclaiming her life. With the magic she became like the island, lonely and unreachable, and she desires this condition no more.