Shakespeare wrote four romances at the end of his career, of which “The Tempest” is one. The genre of romance can be classified as a “tragic comedy” because it is driven by the demands of tragedy but ends with a comic resolution. There is a sense of the tragic in the play, but it is resolved in a comedic, highly superficial fashion. In “The Tempest” we can see this resolution in the union of Miranda and Ferdinand, which reinforces the idea that the “best girl gets with the best boy” and their union also conveniently joins the states of Milan and Naples. The play ends with a celebration of community and regeneration. The romance also tends to deemphasize the interiority of its characters, instead casting them as representative types. For example, in “The Tempest” the names tend to reveal characterization, such as Miranda (“one of wonder”), Ariel (“air”), and Caliban (“cannibal”). Romance also requires a suspension of disbelief. For instance, it is common for characters that are presumed to be dead to come back to life. Romances flaunt their theatricality and leave no mystery, in the sense that all the things we expect to happen do occur. Romances often make free interplay between the real-world and the fantastical and are set in remote, legendary, or fantastical spaces.
Darlene Lin
Discussion 1F (5-5:50)
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