Tempest

p Tempest Tempest Regarding Prospero 's closing monologue at the epilogue of "The Tempest " there can be no plausible doubt that the play 's closing words should be "interpreted as Shakespeare 's personal farewell to the stage (Beauregard ) and , as such , Prospero 's monologue distills not only the thematic essence of "The Tempest " itself , but of Shakespeare 's meta-fictional perception of his art and his poetic gift , as well as a retrospective "confession " of the ultimate meaning and purpose of creative expression

To begin to understand the meta-fictional component of Prospero

's monologue , it is useful to view "The Tempest " as an autobiographical play this perception of the lay is widely admitted by scholars , among them David N . Beauregard , who observes

"There is a strong autobiographical motif in the play itself . Prospero gives an early recounting to Miranda of their past life (1 .2 , and in the play 's concluding lines he promises to tell "the story of my life a phrase twice repeated (5 .1 .303 , 312 . In conjunction with these lines , the referential discontinuities between the play and Prospero 's farewell occur with their rich suggestiveness

(Beauregard In other words , the play resists true understanding without -- at least -- a tangential relationship to autobiography , most specifically , those aspects of Shakespeare 's professional and artistic life which form an undercurrent to the development of the play 's themes and culminate in the closing epilogue with Prospero 's speech . Although Shakespeare 's "farewell " to the stage is couched in poetic beauty and is delivered with the dramatic flourish of an artist still in the prime of their creative powers , the actual lines of the monologue indicate another state of inner-creativity and speak of wisdom and life-lessons earned with difficulty , of the "cost " of the creation of art , of the perils of one 's ego , and of there redemptive value of "realeasing " not only one 's creations " plays and poetry --but of one 's artistic gift itself , of accepting the reality which lies beneath the illusory surface of art "Now my charms are all o 'erthrown / And what strength I have 's my own --- / Which is most faint : now 'tis true (Tempest . Shakespeare 's confession through Prospero that he regarded the dissipation of his creative power as an artist as something to be feared .Now I want Spirits to enforce , art to enchant / and my ending is despair " is just as quickly alleviated by the panacea he has envisioned -- or come to understand -- as the natural progression of art 's "illusion " that the audience will , in fact , make the illusion of art real

The lines "Unless I be relieved by prayer / which pierces so , that it assaults /Mercy itself , adn frees all faults " can and has been interpreted by scholars to indicate a Roman Catholic disposition on Shakespeare 's behalf , and in so doing , relegates the lines to a mere encapsulation of religious faith , and one which is , while radical in some ways given Elizabethan Protestantism , is not nearly as radical as the idea that these lines , in fact , speak of the fruition of artistic expression not in the artist but in the audience which receives it

Read this way , Prospero 's monologue not only expresses Shakespeare 's fear that "Shakespeare-as-actor is bound and confined to the stage , he has been concerned to , his old age would dispose him to despair (Beauregard ) but that , perhaps , the "fraudulent " of his art -- it 's technical manipulations and "stage craft " will ultimately come between what the artist , at the end of his long career , finally realizes is the true function of art , which is to find final and full expression in those who experience the work

In fact , artistry may have proven to be an impediment to making this connection with an audience "In The Tempest , Prospero 's epilogue shows an awareness that the construction of illusion carries with it an ethical burden , a guilt from which he needs absolution[ .] More than standard claptrap , these lines request pardon but also enlist the audience 's acknowledgment of their shared guilt (Mulrooney that is they have enjoyed the "illusionary " aspects of art as much and as guiltily as the artist , but as the artist 's talent and gift dissipate as he bids "farewell " to the stage , what will remain of his work -- will it be a decrepit shell empty of magic altogther

Although Prospero 's closing monologue certainly partakes of the language of religion and particularly that of Catholicism , the strict interpretation of this religious imagery as such seems to avoid the larger point of such imagery being used , by Shakespeare , to draw a conscious parallel between the salvation inherent in Christianity and the salvation made possible through artistic expression . Because the "epilogue refers us back to Shakespeare himself and to his dependence on the audience , which alone can release the artist from his cell of self which can provide fulfillment for the artist (Bloom 75 ) the parallel between the doctrine of salvation in Christianity and the theory of salvation-through-art is made at a level where the artist is -- rather than God or a god -- a "sinner " who must seek redemption through creative expression "Propsero affirms , not the theater 's autonomous life-giving power , however , but the dramatist 's audience , for whom his life and art are shaped (Bloom 75

Another way to envision the epilogue is as a 'farewell " to the ego-consciousness which binds the artist to his creation in a sort of miserly way , or in a searching way -- seeking approval or authentication from the audience . However , it is only through the surrendering of one 's ego , the surrendering of the creative gift , fully , which allows art to attain its true measure of power and influence : the pronounced act of giving being , in effect the artist 's true purpose , rather than the pursuit of fame or power "As The Tempest reflects on the theater 's powers and on the limits of those powers , it does so as a valediction to their use (Bloom 75 ) and this "valediction " is anchored in the almost ritualistic transference of creative impulse from the artist to the audience , a parallel to Christian Creation myths "the play finds its most moving moment in this epilogue , where the artist relinquishes the art that has shaped the play and sustained the artist , to turn for sustenance to the audience (Bloom 75 ) analogous to God 's turning to humanity to receive the gift of Creation and life

Suggesting that there is a religious aspect to the aesthetic theme of "The Tempest " or suggesting that art rather than religion , per se , is the intended theme amid all of the obvious religious invocations and symbols of the epilogue , may startle some observers or even critics who choose to view the thematic power of the epilogue as that which relates wholly to actual religious conviction . This idea is , of course , capable of being supported quite well by reference to Prospero 's closing monologue itself on the other hand , the figurative language of the monologue lacks its full expressive range when viewed to be that which relates exclusively to religious theology

When viewed as a synthesis of religious theology and artistic experience , the monologue then becomes a fusion of "controversial Catholic theological inferences as well as a direct fusion of art and religion as a single urge . And that is quite a radical idea in the Elizabethan age and now . Indeed , Shakespeare , in the closing monologue of "The Tempest " fuses art and religion so closely that it is tempting to call his tone and voice in this passage "messianic " as Coursen points out , Shakespeare is asking his audience "not immediately to pray but to imagine prayer and openness to grace as a possible means to human freedom from guilt and sin . Making this plea is as close as he can come to the stance of a prophet and still remain a poet (278 (Coursen 135 . Since "remaining a poet " was crucial not only to Shakespeare 's self-identity , but also to his conviction in "salvation " it seems irresponsible to view Prospero 's monologue , as some critics have done as a sublimation of art to the Catholic faith . Rather , Prospero 's monologue should be understood as a fusion of religious and artistic faiths -- each predicated on a the notion of fulfillment in being received honestly

Not that ample evidence is not readily available in the epilogue of "the Tempest " as well as throughout the play , which can be viewed as germane to the notion of religious salvation and specifically the doctrine of forgiveness and sin that is part of the Catholic faith . As Beauregard remarks in her comprehensive study "In general , the text of Prospero 's epilogue shows a consistent use of these interwoven theological terms and doctrines (Beauregard however , what Beauregard and other critics may not so readily perceive is that the "interwoven theological terms and doctrines " are , themselves , used metaphorically to indicate the function and native purposes of artistic expression

As noted above , the connection , in Prospero 's monologue , between artistic expression adn religious salvation is not intended to elevate one above the other , but to draw a seamless comparison between the two Shakespeare 's intention is to show that art , in becoming a "property " of the audience rather than of the artist , is a full transformation of the original inspiration and emotion which led to the expressive act in the first place . The crucial aspect of this transference is not in the artist 's gift for "illusion " or artistry , but the genuine transference of one 's inner-self to a public catharsis , that is : Prospero 's monologue in the epilogue of "The Tempest " exists as much as a of the "mystical " function of art as it comprises "a courtly plea for special favor and permission to retire from the stage (Beauregard , and , in so retiring , admit the audience as the ultimate arbiter of the function and certainty of art . Works Cited Beauregard , David N "New Light on Shakespeare 's Catholicism : Prospero 's Epilogue in the Tempest " Renascence : Essays on Values in Literature 49 .3 (1997 : 159 Bloom , Harold , ed . Shakespeare 's Romances . Philadelphia : Chelsea House 2000 Coursen , H . R . The Tempest A Guide to the Play . Westport , CT : Greenwood Press , 2000 Mulrooney , Jonathan "Rough Magic in America " Shakespeare Bulletin 24 .1 (2006 : 29...