The terrible spectacle of the wreck, that touched
The very virtues that are in you are compassion.
I have made such provisions in my art.
Hair is not perdition.
Betid all creatures found in the vessel
The cry which thou heard, the sinking which thou witnessed. (1531)
Prospero uses his magic arts to create a storm in order to foster compassion in Miranda, his character from William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Shakespeare also uses theater to inspire emotions in his audience and art to manage each character’s situation. Shakespeare uses the power of theatre art to try and recreate nature. Peter Greenaway looks at the relationship between nature and art in Prospero’s Book. He explains how The Tempest challenges the primacy of art over nature in his film.
Prospero creates a storm with his magic, opening The Tempest. Shakespeare emphasizes the power of theater as an art form and how it can replace nature. This is done through storm reproduction, which has an effect on both the outside world and the characters. This storm creation is a demonstration of the power that art has in reinterpreting natural events and emotions. Because of the storm’s powerful winds, King Prospero and his men remained on Prospero’s magical island. The play is set on Prospero’s magical, isolated island. Shakespeare, the artist, exits Act One, Scene 1, with an uncertain outcome. The characters and the audience don’t know what happens to the party on the ship, so their minds are in turmoil. Art manipulates the thoughts of these characters so that they become engulfed in it for a short period, and even accept their feelings as real.
Peter Greenaway portrays Act 1, Scene One using strong elements such as water and fire. These elements are associated with magic and Prospero is introduced as a magical character who can use his supernatural powers to control the natural world. He not only creates nature, but also his characters. This shows how art can control nature. Nature cannot alter its elements, but art creates them repeatedly. Greenaway, for example, doesn’t rely on natural events to occur before he makes a statement or creates art.
The film’s interpretation of the play alters the magic island setting. Contrary to traditional theater stage arrangements, the movie is set around a small swimming-pool with a long hallway that leads towards Prospero’s office. Greenaway’s pool is both a metaphorical reflection of the larger sea and a visual mirror. Because one can see himself in a small pool of water, it serves as an artistic tool. Greenaway recognizes that people must reexamine the world in mirrors, not only in order to better understand its issues. Water is not just a reflection of the surface. Water is more than just the surface. One looks into it and can see an entire world. Prospero also owns a “Book of Mirrors”, a collection of artistic expressions that mirror life. This visual appears again throughout the movie. Greenaway takes the audience into his bizarre universe, where he questions the nature and value of art through expanding the imagination. This world features sprites as children hanging from ropes, as they watch as a boat-shaped toy floats on the pool. The filmmaker treats the characters and audience as puppets, manipulating the environment just like Prospero in The Tempest.
Shakespeare wants to be astonished by the portrayal of natural phenomena in his play. Greenaway is following similar, updated goals with his film adaptation. This scene will use both the auditory and visual senses, allowing the artist to control the audience. Ariel, for example urinates heavily on the ship’s toy, and smiles while it tumbles. Ariel’s curly, red hair is a symbol of innocence. Although the child appears innocent, his expression changes into something sinister. This is his natural reaction to danger. The boy’s image provokes disgust among the audience. His innocent actions are juxtaposed with his destructive intentions. Greenaway mixes a part of humanity with a well-respected drama to create an artistic separation between art, nature, and the natural world.
Another striking scene is when Prospero walks to his study while the wind blows. The background shows books flying through the air, while men and women nude him. The people move faster and the wind speeds up, and there are sounds like machine guns and animal cries. Greenaway offers an observation about society. He associates animal cries with bestial cruelty and machine gun sounds with nudity. The world is full of people who create turmoil through violence and warfare, which only leads to pain and confusion. Flying books represent both the diverse political and social views as well as problems associated with too much information. This knowledge can lead to confusion and destruction. Books may be seen as a type civility. However the impositions on cultures other than our own can cause unwelcome conformity.
Shakespeare seperates Caliban from Ariel in Act One, Scene Two. Ariel, a small boy or man, arrives on stage in Act One, Scene 2. He acts as Prospero’s “spirit” (1533). Ariel uses spoken words and song to communicate. This interaction allows Ariel to reach a part and parcel of the human psyche, but it doesn’t change his manipulation of others through his music.
Sitting in a bank
Weeping over the King’s father’s wreck,
This music was a whisper in my ear,
Their fury and their passion can be soothed
Its sweet air. It has been my path ever since.
It hath drawn me more (1536).
Ariel’s songs inflict dreadful thoughts on the shipwreck onto Ferdinand’s brain. Shakespeare believed that music, as an artistic form, alters the human condition in a non-somatic manner. Song lyrics and tunes can alter perceptions, change emotions, and greatly enhance cinematic and theatrical effects. In his film adaptation, Greenaway uses the artful illusions created by music and sounds.
Peter Greenaway gives Ariel an operatic vibrato voice. While this visual portrays a boy with innocence and youthfulness, Ariel’s voice is artificial and unusual. The audience is encouraged to see this character as more than a musical opera. Greenaway hopes to expand the minds and perspectives of his audience through Ariel’s encounter with this strange child. This character is important to Greenaway because it adds to the film’s humanity. Ariel is a man and a woman in the play and film. He crosses between the normal human world and magical, non-human world. This message advocates an integration of all races.
Ariel’s dialogue is complemented by Prospero’s deep voice. Prospero speaks over Ariel’s voice. His lips are not moving. This film is both a technical spectacle for film, and the filmmaker interprets it visually. This technique is similar to the theatrical illusions used in Shakespeare’s play. These tricks are a reminder of the magic and power that film can bring to life, something that is unfathomable to many. This gives art a supernatural quality, since it takes human nature, like the senses, to move it around. This reaffirms the control of the arts over the natural world. Greenaway also uses picture-in-picture and alternates between movie and stage settings. He also uses ballet choreography.
Greenaway uses choreography in order to continue questioning how civility and savagery relate. In Caliban’s first episode, Greenaway shows a Sycorax, bald, giving birth. It is a very graphic but not shocking scene. The characters that represent forest-dwelling animals don’t wear paint. Caliban’s cry while being ensconced in a tree reveals his connection with nature and more than just animalistic emotions. Although Caliban is a savage human, these images imply that he has inner grace. Although they may have green hands and defecate on books like monsters, these people dance in sophisticated ballet style. These creatures possess a natural flexibility and grace that is rarely found in wild animals. Greenaway’s interpretation transforms mind. The filmmaker awakens a culture to embrace wildness, radicalism and art. He poses the question as to how to distinguish the artist from the savage.
Greenaway discusses the differences in culture between the forest and wild worlds through their costumes and actions, while Shakespeare focuses on the wild by focusing on language. He says that education and language are the best tools to defeat nature. “You taught language to me, but my profit was not / Does it matter that I can curse? You were cured by the red plague / Thanks for learning my language!” (1535). Caliban is an outsider who sees the world through the lens of nature. However, his verses are understandable and he can think rationally. This makes it difficult for the audience not to be both impressed by his natural innocence or disgust at his uncivilized state. Shakespeare makes a comment in Caliban’s quote above about the artificiality and immorality of education and customs. Prospero attempts to change Caliban by immersing Caliban within their culture. As they force religion, tradition, and language onto foreign cultures, this forces Renaissance audiences to question colonialism and exploration. Shakespeare wanted them to wonder if these natural creatures were truly less than human beings or if there is a redemptive art worthy of preservation. Shakespeare’s theater helps to propel these ideas. It proves that Shakespeare can alter the natures and habits of his audience. The masque scene demonstrates that theater can also be a symbol of artificiality.
The film’s mood changes are signalled by bells and angelic songs. Instead of Prospero’s booming voice, the audience is able to hear light musical sounds as they witness a celebration. Prospero opens His Book of Motion. He explains that laughter changes the appearance of the eyes and face. This is important when considering the absurdity of theater, which transforms audiences and characters into new mental and physical states. Greenaway opts for laughing over frowning. Laughing makes one’s face dance. However, the funny part of this scene lies in how costumes, settings, materials, color, and other artifice are conveyed. Miranda, for instance, is dressed in a red cocktail dress that contrasts Ferdinand’s zebra-striped suit. These colors correspond with the recreation nature theme, Miranda representing blood while Ferdinand represents wild animals. Their marriage is celebrated by Miranda and Ferdinand, part of a continuing theme of civilizing the wild. Greenaway also portrays this scene in a stage setting, associating costumes with insubstantial theatrical theater. Some partygoers wear only tutus, while others don thongs. It is a way of combining art and sexuality.
All our revels are over. These are our characters.
As I had predicted, all spirits were and are
Are melted to create air, and thin air.
And, as the unreliable fabric of that vision,
The stunning palaces and towers of cloud-capped clouds
The solemn Temples, the great Globe itself
All it inherits, shall be dissolved.
And, just as this insubstantial Pageant faded,
You don’t want to leave anything behind. (1552)
Shakespeare and Greenaway used their art as a way to discuss and question the nature of our world. Shakespeare is God using his art to create nature. Greenaway uses themes from The Tempest in order to change the traditional view of the play. Shakespeare considers theater insubstantial. His text emphasises its unimportance, unnaturalness. Prospero’s speech in Act Four, Scene 1, explains that theater is composed of air. Actors and audiences both always return to their own worlds. The play’s visualizations are unreal and have no foundation. Imagination is a form of imagination. Peter Greenaway argues against this view. His film is rich in imaginative detail and is based off The Tempest. He interprets the famous work of art in a creative way, using nature’s vulgarity to his advantage. He can distort and draw attention in ways that Shakespeare’s theatre technology couldn’t. Greenaway creates a more harmonious relationship between art and natural worlds, which leaves his viewers with lasting messages and imagery. Both William Shakespeare & Peter Greenaway have created artistic worlds to encourage others and challenge traditional boundaries between art & nature.
Works citées
Shakespeare, William. “The Tempest,” The Complete Works of Shakespeare IV, 4th Edition. Ed. David Bevington is a renowned scholar in the literary field. He is known for his extensive studies and publications on the subject. Longman published New York in 1997. 1526-1558.
Prospero’s Books. Dir. Peter Greenaway is a filmmaker known for his unconventional and experimental style. His works often explore the relationship between art and nature, as well as the intersection of the past and the present. Miramax, 1991.
Comments are closed.