EN 231: Literature of the British Isles (Marymount University)

This course introduces students to a variety of voices, genres, cultural movements and traditions in British literature, medieval to contemporary. The course is repeatable for credit under different themes. Prerequisite: EN 102 or permission of instructor. Liberal Arts Core/University Requirements Designation: LT-1. (3) This term, we'll be exploring the way that literature offers a window on the experiences of colonialism and imperialism, from Shakespeare to Zadie Smith. All public domain content will be available through this coursepack. Other content will be provided to students through Canvas.

The Tempest by Shakespeare, WilliamSource: Mr. William Shakespeares comedies, histories, & tragedies: published according to the true originall copies. (London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed. Blount, 1623)

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MR. WILLIAM
SHAKESPEARES
COMEDIES,

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, The Tempest Act I, Scene I. A tempestuous noise of thunder and lightning^thunder thunderIn 1611, when Shakespeare's The Tempest was first performed, theatres used a mechanism known as a thunder machine, which was essentially a long wooden box balanced like a seesaw, containing a large cannon ball that when rolled around produced a loud noise resembling thunder. To create the effect of lightening, stage hands would prepare powdered resin which would be thrown onto a flame. Lighting a firecracker attached to a wire extending from the roof of the stage to the floor would create the illusion of a lightening bolt ("Special Effects"). - [LD]. Enter a Ship-master and a Boatswain

Master

1 Boatswain!^boatswainboatswainPronounced "bosun," a boatswain is the person who manages the crew of a ship and the ship's equipment (OED n.1). - [LD]

Boatswain

2Here, master: what cheer?

Master

3Good, speak to the mariners: fall to't, yarely^yarelyyarelyNow archaic, yarely derives from the Old English and means quick or nimble action (OED adv). - [LD], 4or we run ourselves aground: bestir, bestir.

Exit Enter Mariners

Boatswain

5Heigh, my hearts! cheerly, cheerly, my hearts! 6yare, yare! Take in the topsail. Tend to the 7master's whistle. Blow, till thou burst thy wind^burstburstHere, the boatswain is directly addressing the tempest, challenging it to rage until it is out of wind, possibly in an attempt to encourage the men on deck to remain strong. - [LD],8if room enough!

Enter Alonso, Sebastian, Antonio, Ferdinand, Gonzalo, and others

Alonso

9Good boatswain, have care. Where's the master? 10Play the men^playplayAccording to the OED (I.1), "play" in this sense was used as an intransitive verb in the 1400s, meaning to engage something or someone in activity. Here, Alonso commands the boatswain to put his crew to work. - [LD].

Boatswain

11I pray now, keep below.

Antonio

12Where is the master, boatswain?

Boatswain

13Do you not hear him? You mar our labour: keep your14cabins: you do assist the storm.

Gonzalo

15Nay, good, be patient.

Boatswain

16When the sea is. Hence! What cares these roarers 17for the name of king? To cabin: silence! trouble us not.

Gonzalo

18Good, yet remember whom thou hast aboard.

Boatswain

19None that I more love than myself. You are a 20counsellor; if you can command these elements to 21silence, and work the peace of the present, we will 22not hand a rope more; use your authority: if you 23cannot, give thanks you have lived so long, and make 24yourself ready in your cabin for the mischance of 25the hour, if it so hap. Cheerly, good hearts! Out26of our way, I say.

Exit

Gonzalo

27I have great comfort from this fellow: methinks he28hath no drowning mark^markmarkGonzalo takes comfort from his belief that the boatswain's destiny in death is fated for the gallows (death by hanging), which disqualifies him for a death caused by drowning. - [LD] upon him; his complexion is29perfect gallows. Stand fast, good Fate, to his 30hanging: make the rope of his destiny our cable, 31for our own doth little advantage. If he be not 32born to be hanged, our case is miserable.

Exeunt Re-enter Boatswain

Boatswain

33Down with the topmast! yare! lower, lower! Bring 34her to try with main-course. 35A plague upon this howling! they are louder than 36the weather or our office. 37Yet again! what do you here? Shall we give o'er38and drown? Have you a mind to sink?

Sebastian

39A pox o' your throat, you bawling, blasphemous,40incharitable dog!

Boatswain

41Work you then.

Antonio

42Hang, cur! hang, you whoreson, insolent noisemaker! 43We are less afraid to be drowned than thou art.

Gonzalo

44I'll warrant him for drowning; though the ship were 45no stronger than a nutshell and as leaky as an 46unstanched wench^unstanchedunstanchedGonzalo is comparing the ship to "an / unstanched wench." According to Shakespeare Navigator, which draws on the OED definition of "staunch," calling the boat an "unstanched wench" may be comparing the boat to a woman (a "wench") on her menstrual cycle. However, the verb "stanch" also suggests satisfying a desire (OED v3a), and it derives from the Old French that also means to make a ship watertight. - [LD].

Boatswain

47Lay her a-hold, a-hold! set her two courses^coursescoursesThe Boatswain calls for the ship to be directed "two courses off to / sea." According to the OED, "two courses" has a specific nautical meaning, referring to the points on the compass where the ship is directed (course, n. 12a-b). - [MUStudStaff] off to 48sea again; lay her off.

Enter Mariners wet

Mariners

49All lost! to prayers, to prayers! all lost!

Boatswain

50What, must our mouths be cold^coldcoldAccording to the Arden Shakespeare edition of The Tempest, the boatswain is wondering if, even if after all his efforts, the sailors must drown, or have their mouths become cold from drowning. - [LD]?

Gonzalo

51The king and prince at prayers! let's assist them, 52For our case is as theirs.

Sebastian

53I'm out of patience.

Antonio

54We are merely cheated of our lives by drunkards: 55This wide-chapp'd rascal--would thou mightst lie drowning 56The washing of ten tides^tidetideThe washing of a tide is the act of sea water flowing up the shore during a high tide (OED, wash, III.12b). The Arden edition of The Tempest notes that pirates would be condemned to hang at the shore for the length of three tides. Antonio here is extending that length of time for the boatswain, whom he imagines would "lie drowning / [for the] washing of ten tides." - [LD]!

Gonzalo

57He'll be hang'd yet,58Though every drop of water swear against it 59And gape at widest to glut him.

A confused noise within: 'Mercy on us!'-- 'We split^split splitThe ship is splitting in half. - [LD], we split!'--'Farewell, my wife and children!'-- 'Farewell, brother!'--'We split, we split, we split!'

Antonio

60Let's all sink with the king.

Sebastian

61Let's take leave of him.

Exeunt Antonio and Sebastian

Gonzalo

62Now would I give a thousand furlongs of sea for an 63acre of barren ground, long heath, brown furze, any 64thing. The wills above be done! but I would fain 65die a dry death.

Exeunt

Headnote: Headnote for Shakespeare by Howe, Tonya and Leane Dondapati

Oroonoko, or, The Royal Slave: A True History by Behn, AphraSource: Oroonoko; or, The Royal Slave; a True History (London: Printed for William Canning, 1688)

Headnote: Headnote for Aphra Behn by O'Brien, John

Fantomina; or, Love in a Maze by Haywood, ElizaSource: Secret Histories, Novels, and Poems (London: Printed for Dan Browne, jun. at the Black Swan without Temple-Bar, 1725)

Headnote: Headnote for Daniel Defoe by O'Brien, John

Headnote: Headnote for Arthur Conan Doyle by Howe, Tonya

"The Sign of the Four" by Doyle, Arthur ConanSource: Lippincott's Monthly Magazine (Philadelphia, PA: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1889)

EN 231: Literature of the British Isles (Marymount University)

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