Sunbeams from the Primary Text

Though I've blogged about my primary text before, The Tempest, it can't hurt to dig in again and find something else, so here goes:

On the theme of vision vs. reality (which I argue would be well-adaptable to a video game):

You do look, my son, in a moved sort, 

As if you were dismay'd: be cheerful, sir. 

Our revels now are ended. These our actors, 

As I foretold you, were all spirits and 

Are melted into air, into thin air: 

And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, 

The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces, 

The solemn temples, the great globe itself, 

Ye all which it inherit, shall dissolve 

And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, 

Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff 

As dreams are made on, and our little life 

Is rounded with a sleep.

(Prospero, 4.1.1877-1889)

I've referred to this quote several times, but never in it's full context like this. I think the effect of Prospero telling this to Ferdinand (and, in turn, the player) of a video game would be especially powerful, because it's reminding the player that this is all just a game, just "baseless fabric," "such stuff as dreams are made on."

Now my charms are all o'erthrown,
And what strength I have's mine own,
Which is most faint: now, 'tis true,
I must be here confined by you,
Or sent to Naples. Let me not,
Since I have my dukedom got
And pardon'd the deceiver, dwell
In this bare island by your spell;
But release me from my bands
With the help of your good hands:

(Prospero, 5.1.2404-2423)

This is from Prospero's final speech in the epilogue of the play, which reminds the audience that this has all been a play ultimately fleshed out by their own imaginations--so in their imaginations they must return Prospero to Naples or he's stuck on the island forever (because in their imagination is the only place he really exists). I have this vision of Prospero saying these final lines in the game version of The Tempest and it being programmed so that the only way to really end the game and "win" is to turn off the controller (or unplug the keyboard or mouse, or something), proving that you won't play anymore and you'll let Prospero go. This would be a powerful, inclusive, interactive way to present this theme of the play in general and the point of this final speech to the player. There would likely be a sense of frustration as the player can't figure out for awhile how to finish the final step and win, but then when they realize (or, let's be honest, look it up on the internet), hopefully they would reflect on what that means, and go away a little better as a person and think a little more about their real life, as well as the video game/play/story. Just like Shakespeare tried to do with the play in the first place.

O, wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in't!

(Miranda, 5.1.2233-2236)

Here, the vision v. reality theme is reversed, as Miranda has only ever seen visions (she's lived on the island with Prospero practically her whole life), and now she sees real human beings for the first time. She's taken aback by how wonderful real people are, how "goodly" and "beauteous." Video games, like all art, allow us to paint pictures of human beings that can seem startlingly or disturbingly realistic, or obviously and grotesquely false. Either way, watching false humans (whether they be actors or computer-generated images) can lead to real and powerful insights into real humans--just like Miranda appreciated real humanity after experiencing visions for all her life.

Good boatswain, have care. Where's the master?
Play the men.

(Alonso, 1.1.15-16)

"Act like men" or "make the men work" (according to Folger edition note). Even from the very beginning of the play, we see this theme come out--either of vision vs. reality (playing something even if you aren't actually that thing) or power and submission (also a big part of the play).

The Definition of Art

A big part of my argument revolves around the concept of "art," which gets more fluid and indefinite the more I study it. Shakespeare seemed to be aware of this too (another part of my argument is how Shakespeare had to legitimize his own medium in his own time as an art form, so I wonder while reading this if he was struggling with the very same question when he wrote it):

my daughter, who
Art ignorant of what thou art,...

Lie there, my art. Wipe thou thine eyes; have comfort.
The direful spectacle of the wreck, which touch'd
The very virtue of compassion in thee,
I have with such provision in mine art
So safely ordered that there is no soul—
No, not so much perdition as an hair
Betid to any creature in the vessel
Which thou heard'st cry, which thou saw'st sink.

(Prospero, 1.2.104-105,115-122)

The word "art" is repeated over and over again in this scene, with Miranda saying it before Prospero does. We see three definitions of "art" just in these lines, none of which are even cleanly our definition of "art" as creative expression--(1) art as in "are" ("thou art"), (2) art as in witchcraft or power ("in mine art"), and an interestingly metaphorical use referring, perhaps, to our standard expression "art," but meaning more literally, "creation" or "product" ("lie there, my art"). Later in the same scene, we even have Prospero say he was well versed in the "liberal arts" (1.2.172), yet another definition of art not quite the traditional definition.

 for I must
Bestow upon the eyes of this young couple
Some vanity of mine art: it is my promise,
And they expect it from me.

(Prospero, 4.1.41-43)

This is perhaps the closest we get to the typical definition of "art" in The Tempest, despite how often the word is used--Prospero will use his "art," or power, to bring up wondrous visions, beautiful things for them to look at--"art," in the traditional sense through non-traditional methods (hey--that's like video games!)

Finally, the word "art" is used in a totally new way in the same epilogue quoted above:

Now I want
Spirits to enforce, art to enchant,
And my ending is despair,
Unless I be relieved by prayer,

(Prospero, 5.1.2416-2419) 

Here, the definition of "art" is related to definition (2) above, witchcraft or power, but now means more directly "ability" or "capability." While Shakespeare's work is so universally received in our day as "art"--even the highest level of "art"--it seems he himself took a very liberal view of the word, while making that same great art out of a medium that few even imagined could be.

I could go on (I didn't touch on the theme of power and submission--I do a little bit in my previous primary text post when I talk about Caliban and Prospero's relationship near the end), but this is super huge already and I'll stop here.

The Tempest: The Video Game

The following is a brief list of quotes from The Tempest that take on a whole new meaning when you think of the play in the context of video games:


"She / Is daughter to this famous Duke of Milan, / Of whom so often I have heard renown, / But never saw before; of whom I have / Received a second life..."

(Ferdinand, 5.1.212-216)

Water Nymph
CC by zionenciel

"Go make thyself like a nymph o' the sea: be subject / To no sight but thine and mine, invisible / To every eyeball else."

(Prospero, 1.2.354-356)

"O, wonder! / How many goodly creatures are there here! / How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, / That has such people in't!"

(Miranda, 5.1.203-206)

These are a few tongue-in-cheek examples, obviously, but I think they help establish a connection quickly, even if it is a shallow connection.

What really intrigues me, though, are the more profound, relevant connections that come up from certain themes. The first and perhaps most obvious is vision vs. reality, captured most poignantly in the following lines (As some may have already heard me explain, this quote comes at an important part of the play where Prospero, the exiled duke of Milan and self-made sorcerer by reading books, shows his daughter Miranda and her love Ferdinand a great vision, and Ferdinand says he wants to stay on the magic island forever):

"These our actors, / As I foretold you, were all spirits and / Are melted into air, into thin air: / And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, / The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces, / The solemn temples, the great globe itself, / Ye all which it inherit, shall dissolve / And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, / Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff / As dreams are made on, and our little life / Is rounded with a sleep."

(Prospero 4.1.161-171) 

The point made in these lines has perhaps never been more relevant, especially for gamers. All they "have" or "achieve" in a game is really just "baseless fabric...such stuff as dreams are made on" that they can't take into real life. Prospero doesn't have his powers before he lives on the island, and as he leaves the island he forsakes his powers, making the island somewhat like Prospero's "game."

Additionally, I think a video game could help pull out other themes of the play that are on more of a subtextual level. One example is with the character of Caliban:

"All the charms / Of Sycorax, toads, beetles, bats, light on you! / For I am all the subjects that you have, / Which first was mine own king: and here you sty me / In this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me / The rest o' the island."

(Caliban 1.2.389-394) 

Screenshot of Bioshock
CC BY Chadrew

Prospero gained his power after reaching the island--we're not sure how long it took him. However, at some point he had to decide to enslave Caliban and the spirits of the island. Many have connected Caliban with natives that Europeans enslaved upon reaching the new world, bringing up themes of power, abuse, and slavery. An RPG/Adventure game of The Tempest could extend this theme interestingly with game mechanics. The game could be designed as such that the player knows he/she can enslave Caliban, but may not want to morally and so consider that maybe they could get by without him. However, inevitably, the player could be forced to realize that he/she has to enslave Caliban to carry on. (A similar situation to this happens in Bioshock with the Little Sisters.)

This in turn brings a new interpretation to the play itself and the character of Prospero. Prospero has often been interpreted as angry and domineering, but as players play the game version set up like this, it could open a new interpretation of a Prospero turning to his powers to survive as he tries to rebuild his life after exile.

In any case, I hope this post shows that there are at least several possibilities for intersections between video games and The Tempest that not only take advantage of the supernatural elements in the play, but also explore and enhance its themes, ultimately enriching both the play and the video game medium.

(Lines and line numbers taken from Shakespeare Searched.)