The Magic of Prospero

Summary

There is magic enough in Shakespeare, of one kind or another, from his very first play onwards. We may be inclined to reject Talbot’s conception of the Pucelle, in 1 Henry VI , as a witch, a servant of the Devil, and a sorceress, as inconsistent with her characterization and speeches, until we reach Act V, Scene iii, when we unexpectedly find her busy with spells and conjuration of fiends who appear only to indicate the end of their intervention on her behalf. In comedy, Puck’s first entry in A Midsummer Night’s Dream introduces the theme of magic fairy power which is the motive force in the geometrical plot of four lovers of changing allegiance. It may well be doubted whether in either play the possible relation of the fictional magic to current beliefs and superstitions was of any consequence to the dramatist or to the audience. It was not so in some of Shakespeare’s later plays, in Macbeth or in The Tempest, for example. In them it is a matter of importance that the magic which lies at the dramatic heart of the play should find a response in the serious attention of the audience.

It is noteworthy that the element of the supernatural should play an increasing part in the plays of Shakespeare's last period. In The Tempest, of course, it is all-pervasive. In Cymbeline an elaborate and spectacular vision embodies a dream of the sleeping Posthumus in prison. A soothsayer reports a private vision portending success to the Roman wars in Britain, and at the end of the play expounds the oracular message discussed by Posthumus upon his awakening. Both prophetic visions are accomplished in the event. In The Winter's Tale the oracle of Apollo speaks and is reported at the trial of Hermione who has put herself upon his judgement. The oracle convinces Leontes of his injustice and he accepts the divine punishment inflicted upon him in the death of Mamillius and the apparent death of Hermione.