DOI Artikel:
Laskowska-Hinz, Sabina: Who are our gods?: The iconographic, religious and cosmic commentary on William Shakespeare's The Tempest by Wojciech Siudmak (1978)
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.59533#0045
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SABINA LASKOWSKA-HINZ
INTRODUCTION
Deprived of their royal affluence and banished from their kingdom, Prospero, the protagonist of Shake-
speare’s The Tempest, and his daughter Miranda appear on the lonely island - a prison, refuge and new king-
dom.1 The man remains the king, an anointed by God and god-like figure - merciful, forgiving, responsible -
who governs and controls life and death in his new land.
Prospero has been identified as a divine character in numerous studies. In The Shakespeare Conspira-
cies. Untangling a 400-Years Web of Myth and Deceit (2007), in the chapter devoted to The Tempest, Brian
McClinton associates Shakespearean characters, on the one hand, with divine figures originate in Greek and
Roman mythology: “Prospero serves both as Zeus or Jupiter and as Orpheus; Miranda, daughter of Prospero,
is Proserpina, daughter of Jupiter or Zeus; (...) and Ariel, Prospero’s servant, is Hermes (or Mercury), the
servant and agent of Zeus (or Jupiter).”2 On the other hand, the scholar points to the references highlighting
the divine - ancient and Christian - character of Prospero: “Zeus or Jupiter uses Hermes or Mercury and God
uses the Spirit, just as Prospero uses Ariel.”3 Moreover, basing on an extensive bibliography regarding reli-
gious reading of The Tempest, it is possible to identify in Shakespeare’s dramatic text connotations of the bib-
lical Paradise, the Apocalypses, the mystery of God-figure, as well as holy sacraments. Hannibal Hamilton in
The Bible in Shakespeare (2013) mentions that The Tempest “is imbued throughout with high moral passion,
it presents in Prospero a worker and teacher of the moral law, a God-man, a Logos, a Trinity in Unity, which,
moreover, is the Christian Trinity in Unity.”4 In The Exploration of the “Trinity” Prototype in ‘The Tempest’
(2013) Yu Hao and Ren Chi discuss Shakespeare’s characters as representants of the Trinity and providers of
the biblical redemption.5 Furthermore, Steven Marx in Shakespeare and the Bible (2000) establishes parallels
between Shakespeare’s text and the biblical books of Genesis and Apocalypse, as well as Prospero and God.
He argues that “[j]ust as the Bible’s God makes the world he populates and then interacts with it, Prospero
conjures up the world of The Tempest with his magical utterances and peoples it with his own offspring, along
with the demons over whom he has taken control.”6 Marx provides an extensive argumentation to demon-
strate evident similarities between the dramatic text and the Apocalypse:
The book of Revelation and The Tempest share a four-part structure consisting of (1) an introduction of setting and
participants and movement to another world, (2) a pageant of battles in which good triumphs and evil is defeated,
followed by images of resurrection, judgement, and the dissolution of the world, (3) a new pageant combining
recreation with marriage, and (4) the closing of the vision and a return to the setting of this world.7
Other publications offer comprehensive studies of Shakespeare’s dramatic text in the context of Chris-
tian beliefs.8 Especially relevant for the analysis of the poster by Siudmak is Shakespeare and the comedy of
forgiveness by Robert G. Hunter (1965) examining the motif of forgiveness.9
Wojciech Siudmak’s The Tempest appears to be an iconographical reference to the archetypical depiction
of power. It is exceptionally rich in interpretative clues stemming from the novel and provocative employ-
ment of various art conventions. The designer employs a compositional arrangement characteristic for the
1 The article is a part of my PhD thesis prepared at the University of Warsaw and supervised by dr hab. Anna Cetera-Włodarczyk,
prof. ucz. The thesis is titled The image of it gives me content already: The Critical Interpretations of Polish Theatrical Posters for Shake-
speare Productions in the Years 1966-1989. A Study of Motives and Approaches [The image of it gives me content already („Już sam obraz
sprawia mi radość”): Potencjał interpretacyjny polskich plakatów teatralnych do spektakli szekspirowskich w latach 1966-1989. Studium
motywów i ujęc\.
2 B. McClinton, Prospero’s Myth, [in:] The Shakespeare Conspiracies. Untangling a 400-Years Web of Myth and Deceit, Cork
2007, p. 419.
3 Ibidem, p. 420.
4 H. Hamlin, The Bible in Shakespeare, Oxford 2013, p. 57.
5 Y. Hao and R. Chi, The Exploration of the “Trinity” Prototype in The Tempest, “Canadian Social Science”, 2013, vol. 9, No. 6, p. 197.
6 S. Marx, Genesis in “The Tempest”, [in:] Shakespeare and the Bible, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2000, p. 19.
7 S. Marx, A Masque of Revelation: “The Tempest” as Apocalypse, [in:] Shakespeare and the Bible..., p. 132.
8 Cf. e.g. J.D. Cox, Recovering Something Christian about “The Tempest”, “Christianity and Literature”, 2000, vol. 50, No. 1,
pp. 31-51; F. Song, Purification as a To-Be: “The Tempest” and Shakespeare’s World of Imagery, “English Language and Literature Stu-
dies”, 2015, vol. 5, No. 4, pp. 145-153; D.V. Urban, Prospero, the Divine Shepherd, and Providence: Psalm 23 as a Rubric for Alonso’s
Redemptive Progress and the Providential Workings of Prospero’s Spiritual Restoration in Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”, “Religions”, 2019,
vol. 10, No. 8, pp. 448—463.
9 R.G. Hunter, Shakespeare and the Comedy of Forgiveness, New York 1965, pp. 227-241.
SABINA LASKOWSKA-HINZ
INTRODUCTION
Deprived of their royal affluence and banished from their kingdom, Prospero, the protagonist of Shake-
speare’s The Tempest, and his daughter Miranda appear on the lonely island - a prison, refuge and new king-
dom.1 The man remains the king, an anointed by God and god-like figure - merciful, forgiving, responsible -
who governs and controls life and death in his new land.
Prospero has been identified as a divine character in numerous studies. In The Shakespeare Conspira-
cies. Untangling a 400-Years Web of Myth and Deceit (2007), in the chapter devoted to The Tempest, Brian
McClinton associates Shakespearean characters, on the one hand, with divine figures originate in Greek and
Roman mythology: “Prospero serves both as Zeus or Jupiter and as Orpheus; Miranda, daughter of Prospero,
is Proserpina, daughter of Jupiter or Zeus; (...) and Ariel, Prospero’s servant, is Hermes (or Mercury), the
servant and agent of Zeus (or Jupiter).”2 On the other hand, the scholar points to the references highlighting
the divine - ancient and Christian - character of Prospero: “Zeus or Jupiter uses Hermes or Mercury and God
uses the Spirit, just as Prospero uses Ariel.”3 Moreover, basing on an extensive bibliography regarding reli-
gious reading of The Tempest, it is possible to identify in Shakespeare’s dramatic text connotations of the bib-
lical Paradise, the Apocalypses, the mystery of God-figure, as well as holy sacraments. Hannibal Hamilton in
The Bible in Shakespeare (2013) mentions that The Tempest “is imbued throughout with high moral passion,
it presents in Prospero a worker and teacher of the moral law, a God-man, a Logos, a Trinity in Unity, which,
moreover, is the Christian Trinity in Unity.”4 In The Exploration of the “Trinity” Prototype in ‘The Tempest’
(2013) Yu Hao and Ren Chi discuss Shakespeare’s characters as representants of the Trinity and providers of
the biblical redemption.5 Furthermore, Steven Marx in Shakespeare and the Bible (2000) establishes parallels
between Shakespeare’s text and the biblical books of Genesis and Apocalypse, as well as Prospero and God.
He argues that “[j]ust as the Bible’s God makes the world he populates and then interacts with it, Prospero
conjures up the world of The Tempest with his magical utterances and peoples it with his own offspring, along
with the demons over whom he has taken control.”6 Marx provides an extensive argumentation to demon-
strate evident similarities between the dramatic text and the Apocalypse:
The book of Revelation and The Tempest share a four-part structure consisting of (1) an introduction of setting and
participants and movement to another world, (2) a pageant of battles in which good triumphs and evil is defeated,
followed by images of resurrection, judgement, and the dissolution of the world, (3) a new pageant combining
recreation with marriage, and (4) the closing of the vision and a return to the setting of this world.7
Other publications offer comprehensive studies of Shakespeare’s dramatic text in the context of Chris-
tian beliefs.8 Especially relevant for the analysis of the poster by Siudmak is Shakespeare and the comedy of
forgiveness by Robert G. Hunter (1965) examining the motif of forgiveness.9
Wojciech Siudmak’s The Tempest appears to be an iconographical reference to the archetypical depiction
of power. It is exceptionally rich in interpretative clues stemming from the novel and provocative employ-
ment of various art conventions. The designer employs a compositional arrangement characteristic for the
1 The article is a part of my PhD thesis prepared at the University of Warsaw and supervised by dr hab. Anna Cetera-Włodarczyk,
prof. ucz. The thesis is titled The image of it gives me content already: The Critical Interpretations of Polish Theatrical Posters for Shake-
speare Productions in the Years 1966-1989. A Study of Motives and Approaches [The image of it gives me content already („Już sam obraz
sprawia mi radość”): Potencjał interpretacyjny polskich plakatów teatralnych do spektakli szekspirowskich w latach 1966-1989. Studium
motywów i ujęc\.
2 B. McClinton, Prospero’s Myth, [in:] The Shakespeare Conspiracies. Untangling a 400-Years Web of Myth and Deceit, Cork
2007, p. 419.
3 Ibidem, p. 420.
4 H. Hamlin, The Bible in Shakespeare, Oxford 2013, p. 57.
5 Y. Hao and R. Chi, The Exploration of the “Trinity” Prototype in The Tempest, “Canadian Social Science”, 2013, vol. 9, No. 6, p. 197.
6 S. Marx, Genesis in “The Tempest”, [in:] Shakespeare and the Bible, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2000, p. 19.
7 S. Marx, A Masque of Revelation: “The Tempest” as Apocalypse, [in:] Shakespeare and the Bible..., p. 132.
8 Cf. e.g. J.D. Cox, Recovering Something Christian about “The Tempest”, “Christianity and Literature”, 2000, vol. 50, No. 1,
pp. 31-51; F. Song, Purification as a To-Be: “The Tempest” and Shakespeare’s World of Imagery, “English Language and Literature Stu-
dies”, 2015, vol. 5, No. 4, pp. 145-153; D.V. Urban, Prospero, the Divine Shepherd, and Providence: Psalm 23 as a Rubric for Alonso’s
Redemptive Progress and the Providential Workings of Prospero’s Spiritual Restoration in Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”, “Religions”, 2019,
vol. 10, No. 8, pp. 448—463.
9 R.G. Hunter, Shakespeare and the Comedy of Forgiveness, New York 1965, pp. 227-241.