A mind-map of the historical context surrounding William Shakespeare's final play The Tempest including James I's persecution of witches, the European colonization in America and the mistreatment of the native Americans and forced marriages.
Written in 1611 and is considered to be
Shakespeare's last play.
Shakespeare would have been around about the age of 47. He died 5 years later.
James I of England considered
himself to be an expert in
witchcraft.
In 1597 he wrote the Daemonologie, a tract which
opposed the practise of withcraft and provided
background material for Shakespeare's Tragedy of
Macneth.
In Shakespeare's time women were subservient to men;
and were often used forge alliances with other powerful
families through arranged marriages.
Scottish Protestant leader John Foxe
said: "Women in her greatest
perfection was made to serve and
obey men".
Girls often had little choice who they married, and could get
married when they were very young. For instance Catherine
Howard married a 47 year old Henry VIII when she was 19. There
were instances where girls were much younger.
Under Elizabeth, England had begun colonization of the
Americas with Walter Raleigh's excursions to the Atlantic
shore and establishment of Roanake colony.
Colonization seems to have been on Shakespeare's
mind as almost every character - even the benevolent
Gonzalo - ponders on how they would rule the island.
Shakespeare also seems to be inspired by
Michel e Montaigne's essay 'Of the Cannibals' as
Prospero's servant-monster's name, Caliban,
seems to be an anagram of 'Cannibal'
In 1609, the ship Sea Venture was wrecked in a storm near
the Bermudas on it's way to Jamestown. The passengers
and crew were stranded for months on a deserted island in
the Bermudas. It is likely this event inspired the play.
European colonization had a devastating effect on the
Native American population. They lost their land,
brought diseases from Europe that the Americans were
unaware of and could not prevent. They brought horses,
guns and alcohol - the use of guns and horses changed
the way they hunted. The 'heathen' 'savage' 'inferior'
Native American were encouraged to convert to
Christianity. The Europeans were eroding their culture
and enforcing theirs upon them.