Shakespeare's The Tempest as Comedy

This study will provide an analysis of Shakespeare's The Tempest, focusing on the elements of comedy in the play. The study will primarily discuss ways in which the play fits into the comedic theory of Northrop Frye as expressed in his work Anatomy of Criticism, but will also very briefly consider ways in which the play does not fit into that theory of comedy. Where romance and comedy come together in The Tempest, Frye's theory is most applicable and rewarding. This conjunction occurs in terms of the generally positive and happy outlook on life which the play describes and clearly endorses. The essence of both romance and comedy (as opposed to tragedy), or romantic comedy, is that all ends well, with love fulfilled and past sins forgiven, and evil ways of behavior cast off forever.

This play is open to many interpretations, and there are beyond a doubt many elements which are not comic in any way. For example, the exile of Prospero on which the play is based is not comic. The theme of vengeance, undertaken with relish by Prospero, is not comic. The enchantment of Caliban by Prospero is not comic. Nevertheless, with our eye on the elements of the play which do generally conform to Frye's theory, we find many such examples. If one were to argue that the play is an out-and-out comedy, there would be little to defend such a claim. However, we are on reasonably safe grounds when we argue that there are clearly elements of comedy in a play which is complex and variegated in form a

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dience to make sense or effectively fit into Frye's theory of comedy and its properly happy and harmonious resolution. The twist in the plot, or the bridge between the pre-wedding celebration and the communion at the end, occurs in the midst of the pre-wedding celebration when Prospero suddenly remembers Ariel's warning him about a plot against his life by Caliban and two drunken sailors. The plot is stopped, and the various conflicts among Prospero and his other shipwrecked enemies are resolved. Prospero reveals his identity, and he and his long-time enemies confess their sins and forgive one another. Prospero says, "Let us not burden our remembrances with/ A heaviness that's gone" (Shakespeare 159). Frye writes that Shakespeare's type of romantic comedy . . . [is] the drama of the green world, its plot being assimilated to the ritual theme of the triumph of life and love over the waste land. . . . There is the . . . rhythmic movement from normal world to green world and back again (Frye 182). The waste land is found in the arid, bitter and power-hungry evil in the heart of Prospero. Certainly his enemies have done him wrong, but we care about Prospero and what will happen to him and his daughter more than we care about the

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