The Tempest
Prospero’s daughter is about to get married so he has arranged a short
play to celebrate the event. Prospero also wants to control everything and
everybody so, in the middle of the play, he remembers he has something
important to do. He tries to bring the play to a quick end saying that it has
all been like a dream which has gone into "thin air”.
Many of Shakespeare’s plays were performed at The Globe Theatre. The
following lines speak about ‘the great globe itself’. This has a double
meaning and could refer to the ‘world’ or the ‘theatre’. These lines also
ask the question, “What is the difference between our real lives and our
dreams?”
Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd tow'rs, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
We are such stuff as dreams are made on;
And our little life is rounded with a sleep.
The Song “Full Fathom Five” is sung by mischievous Ariel. He wants to
mislead Ferdinand into thinking his father has died in a storm at sea.
Song – ‘Full Fathom Five’