Question

which are the three goddesses that play a part in the pageant? What does Prospero suddenly remember while the pageant is still in progress?

from the book- the Temptest

Answer 1

Answer:

To what extent does Prospero s masque express, reflect and amplify the magic of the play?

Part of what makes The Tempest such a remarkable and remembered play is its sustained deployment of spectacle, and this spectacle is heightened in Prospero s masque. Masques were a commonplace part of Renaissance theatre and most members of the audience would have readily understood their symbolic significance. Yet their nature has been viewed with strongly differing opinions: Ben Jonson in 1631 argued that all representations, especially those of this nature in court, public spectacles, either have been or ought to be the mirrors of man s life [1], suggesting that Prospero s masque reflects and amplifies the themes and ideas illustrated in the rest of the play. Inigo Jones, on the other hand, remarked in 1632 that these shows are nothing else but pictures with Light and Motion [2]. In regards to this comment, the importance of the masque and its relation to the play has been somewhat disregarded by many& some even go as far as refusing to believe that Shakespeare himself ever wrote the scene. But however one views the importance of the masque, it has clear links to the magic portrayed elsewhere in the play, and is interpreted by many producers as being one of the most splendid moments in The Tempest .