Summary of act 1 scene 1 and 2 of the tempest by william shakespeare
Answers
The Tempest opens in the midst of a fierce storm. The location is a ship at sea, with a royal party on board. As the sailors fight to save the ship, several of the royal passengers enter, and Alonso, the king, demands to know where the master (captain) is to be found. The boatswain, worried that the passengers will interfere, orders them to go below deck. The king's councilor, Gonzalo, reminds the boatswain that he is speaking to the king, but the boatswain points out that if the king really has so much power, he should use it to quell the storm. If he lacks this power, the royal party should go below decks, as the boatswain orders. The royal party exits, presumably to go below deck to seek shelter.
Within moments, however, Antonio, Sebastian, and Gonzalo have returned topside again, much to the boatswain's annoyance. With Sebastian and Antonio cursing him, the boatswain continues in his efforts to save the ship. Soon, however, the sailors enter with laments that the ship is lost. Fearing that they will all soon die, Antonio, Sebastian, and Gonzalo elect to join the rest of the royal party below decks, where they will pray for their survival.
Summary and Analysis Act I: Scene 2
Scene 2 opens on the island, with Prospero and Miranda watching the ship as it is tossed by the storm. Miranda knows that her father is creating the storm, and she begs him to end the ship's torment and her own, since she suffers as she watches the ship's inhabitants suffer. Prospero reassures his daughter that his actions have been to protect her. He also tells Miranda that she is ignorant of her heritage; he then explains the story of her birthright and of their lives before they came to be on the island.
Prospero begins his story with the news that he is the duke of Milan and Miranda is a princess. He also relates that he had abdicated day-to-day rule of his kingdom to his brother, Antonio. Prospero admits that books held more attraction than duties, and he willingly allowed his brother the opportunity to grasp control. But Antonio used his position to undermine Prospero and to plot against him. Prospero's trust in his brother proved unwise, when Antonio formed an alliance with the king of Naples to oust Prospero and seize his heritage. Prospero and his daughter were placed in a small, rickety boat and put out to sea. A sympathetic Neapolitan, Gonzalo, provided them with rich garments, linens, and other necessities. Gonzalo also provided Prospero with books from his library. Eventually, Prospero and Miranda arrived on the island, where they have remained since that time.
When he finishes the tale, Prospero uses his magic to put Miranda to sleep. The sprite, Ariel, appears as soon as Miranda is sleeping and reports on the storm, the ship, and the passengers. Ariel relates everyone, except the crew, was forced to abandon ship. Ariel tells Prospero that the passengers have been separated into smaller groups and are on different parts of the island; that the ship, with its sleeping crew, is safely hidden in the harbor; and that the remainder of the fleet, thinking that the king is drowned, has sailed home. Ariel then asks that Prospero free him, as had been promised. But Prospero has more need of his sprite and declares that Ariel's freedom must be delayed a few more days.
When Ariel leaves, Prospero awakens Miranda and beckons Caliban, the son of the witch, Sycorax. Caliban has been Prospero's slave, but he is insolent and rebellious and is only controlled through the use of magic. Caliban claims the island as his own and says that Prospero has tricked him in the past. Prospero is unmoved, claiming that Caliban is corrupt, having tried to rape Miranda. Prospero threatens and cajoles Caliban's obedience, but Caliban's presence makes Miranda uneasy.
After Caliban leaves, Ariel enters with Ferdinand, who sees Miranda, and the two fall instantly in love. Although this is what Prospero intended to have happen, he does not want it to appear too easy for Ferdinand, and so he accuses Ferdinand of being a spy. When Prospero uses magic to control Ferdinand, Miranda begs him to stop.
hope it helps...
Answer: Act 1 SCENE 1 Summary
Explanation:
THE TEMPEST ( Act 1 Scene 1 Summary)
• The play begins with a shipwreck.
• The scene takes place "On board a ship at sea."
• The royal passengers were- Alonso (The king of Naples), Sebastian ( brother to Alonso), Ferdinand (the son of Alonso), Gonzalo ( An honest old counsellor to Alonso), Antonio( the usurping Duke of Milan)
The master commands boatswain to ask the Mariners to start doing the work quickly as the ship was getting stuck in shallow water. Boatswain encourages the Mariners by saying " My hearts."
When Alonso asked for the master from boatswain, he requested them to go back to cabin. He do speak in a rude tone. When Gonzalo asks boatswain to be patient, he says that he will be patient when the sea will be and the storm do not care for the presence of king on the ship. Boatswain then requests Gonzalo to use his authority and calm the weather and if he couldn't he must be grateful that he had lived for so many years and go wait in the cabin for mischance of hour. Gonzalo had a great comfort from Boatswain as he claimed that he had no drowning mark upon him and he would die only by hanging.
The royal passengers in the cabin were louder than the storm and mariners. After listening boatswain's rude words, Sebastian and Antonio curses him by calling him "bawling, blasphemous, in charitable dog" and "an insolent noise- maker" respectively. Gonzalo yet held the opinion that even though the ship was as fragile as a nutshell, he would not die by drowning.
Mariners stated that nothing could be done except for prayer.
After hearing the ultimate news of shipwreck, Sebastian went out of patience and Antonio reacted harshly by saying that they were merely cheated of their lives by drunkards and cursed Boatswain to drown ten times over.
The scene concludes with Gonzalo offering thousand furlongs of sea for an acre of barren land. He believed that what's destined will surely happen but he would still die by a dry death.