The Tempest, written by William Shakespeare, is highly
influenced by The Holy Bible, the western culture and literature source.
This paper utilizes Northrop Frye’s mythic archetypal criticism theory to study
the play’s embodiment of the biblical archetypal model. Previous studies have
only dealt with one aspect of the biblical archetype in The Tempest.
This essay discusses that the characters, structure, plot, and imagery of The
Tempest can all find the archetypes in The Holy Bible. It is found
that the play is the Scriptures’ double to some extent, through which
Shakespeare wants to spread biblical values such as morality and fraternity.
References
[1]
Frye, N. (1957) Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays. Princeton UP, Princeton. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400866908
[2]
Hamilton, A.C. (1992) Northrop Frye on the Bible and Literature. Christianity and Literature, 41, 255-276. https://doi.org/10.1177/014833319204100303
[3]
Liang, G. (2006) Shakespeare and the Bible. The Commercial Press, Beijing. (In Chinese)
[4]
Sutton, Brian. (2008) Virtue Rather Than Vengeance: Genesis and Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Explicator, 66, 224-229. https://doi.org/10.3200/EXPL.66.4.224-229
[5]
Shakespeare, W. (2016) The Tempest. Oxford UP, Oxford.
[6]
Zhao, Y.H. (2013) Divinity-Humanity-Magic: A Frye Reading of The Tempest. Journal of Huaibei Vocational and Technical College, 12, 28-29. (In Chinese)
[7]
Marx, S. (1994) Northrop Frye’s Bible. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 62, 163-172. https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/LXII.1.163
[8]
Xiao, S.X. (1996) Biblical Archetypes: The Cornerstone of Shakespeare’s Writing. Foreign Literature Studies, 1, 91-96. (In Chinese).
[9]
Zhong, X. (1989) Ryken Leland Bible and Literature. Chunfeng Literary Publishing House, Shenyang. (In Chinese)
[10]
Tsuruta, M. (2018) Psalm 75 and Prospero’s “Great Globe” Speech in The Tempest. Notes & Queries, 65, 83-84. https://doi.org/10.1093/notesj/gjx219
[11]
Go, K. (2010) Biblical Echoes in the “Roar” of “Lions” in The Tempest, II.i.313-14. Notes & Queries, 57, 405-408. https://doi.org/10.1093/notesj/gjq062
