Literary Influences

The Tempest - William Shakespeare

John William Waterhouse : Miranda

With The Tempest being one of my favourite plays ever written, I felt it fitting to include this piece.

The story is that of hardship and plotting for many of the main characters. After Prospero was banished to a remote island and his titles were stripped from him, he sought a way for his daughter to seduce the kings son. In shakespearian style, this works.

The reoccurring imagery in the play is that on fantasy, with references to witches, nymphs and wizards controlling the earth and also others' fate in the play.

"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,

And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,

Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff

As dreams are made on; and our little life

Is rounded with a sleep."

It must be noted that this was Shakespeares last play, ending with Prospero's words being sincere and of his own heart declaring his end to an era of creating literature and a note towards the mortality of humans themselves, and how life should be treasured and not 'left behind'.

I've found the use of the storm extremely useful in my final major works and my texture book. It so happens that during the creation of my final works, I was caught out in the middle of a storm; tempest, myself. The rain altered my textural spray paint boards and caused some of the paints to dry in an odd way.

It also rained throughout the time that I was painting, and Shakespeares words litter my texture book.