The Tempest: Act 3
Please answer these questions with specific reference to the text. Be prepared to discuss these next class. These questions WILL BE COLLECTED. Read 3.1, the summary of 3.2 and 3.3 (Note: you do have to read Caliban’s speech in 3.2 very carefully)
1. How do you know that Prospero approves of the growing love between Ferdinand and Miranda? (3.1)
2. In his “music” speech, Caliban speaks of sleep and dreaming in one of the most eloquent passages of the play. What other moments in this act stress dream or illusion? How are dreams and strange visions related to the theme of transformation ? (Act 3.2; lines 134-142)
3. How does Caliban reveal himself to be more eloquent than Stephano or Trinculo? What does this quality suggest about his character?
4. What does the disguised Ariel say to the banqueters when the banquet vanishes? How does each of them react? (3.3)
5. A feast usually suggests celebration and welcome. Why is an interrupted feast especially suitable for Prospero’s purposes? (3.3)
6. Gonzalo says that Sebastian, Antonio and Alonso are affected by the “poison” of their guilt. How does guilt act like a poison?
7. How does Prospero haunt this act, although he does not make a formal appearance in any scene? In what way is he different from all the other characters?
8. If Caliban and Miranda had the same upbringing, why are they so different? What does this difference suggest about the relative importance of nature versus nurture?