William
Shakespeare uses his own structure of a Shakespearean comedy to
write the play, The Tempest. An integral part of
that standard structure is courtship. The two main love interests in this play
are Miranda and Ferdinand. The fact that Ferdinand is only the
third man Miranda has ever seen speeds up the process of this courtship. They
fall in love instantly, but Ferdinand must prove himself not only to Miranda,
but to Prospero as well. To demonstrate his genuine love for Miranda, Ferdinand
promises to do whatever it takes. He collects and carries wood, per order of
Prospero. This physical labor displays his seriousness in their relationship.
Ferdinand would break his back before ever letting his one true love carry a
piece of wood. Because courtship follows an extremely stylized format, it needs
a specific language. Ferdinand’s “language of love” is seen clearly through his
willingness to please Miranda. In reality, he is in service to Prospero, but sees
Miranda as his master. He fills his speeches with compliments of her beauty,
ending this courtship successfully with an engagement to Miranda.
Another
component of the standard structure of a Shakespearean play is the comic
situation, which is determined externally by others. In Act II, scene ii,
Trinculo finds Caliban underneath his cloak. Caliban imagines Trinculo to be a
spirit and Trinculo concludes that Caliban is a monster. The comedy of the
situation is found in the fact that Trinculo needed to find shelter from the
impending storm and the only place he can think to hid is under a monster’s
cloak. Stephano then enters, confused, and hears Trinculo’s voice. It takes Stephano
and Trinculo a couple moments to figure out each other’s true identities. Because
Stephano gives Caliban wine, Caliban devotes himself to be Stephano’s loyal
servant, foolishly assuming that he is a special god, and not knowing that he is of
human race just like Prospero. The entire scene is humorous from the bantering
between the two drunks and the monster to Ariel interrupting the serenity
between the three. This scene lends itself perfectly to a comic situation
because personalities are confused, gods, or in this case spirits, intervene,
people are drugged, and this continued confusion generates the absurdities of
the play.
