Material used for a class on Study of Adaptation.

1. THE POWER OF THE GAZE: A STUDY OF
"RACE" AND GENDER IN THE
ADAPTATIONS OF THE TEMPEST TO THE
BIG SCREEN AND TO TV
Author: Msc. Sandra Mina

2. OBJECTS OF STUDY

The Tempest version of the
First Folio (1623)

The Tempest, (Arden
Shakespeare, 1999 )

3. OBJECTS OF STUDY
The Tempest BBC Collection (1980), by John Gorrie
Prospero's Book (1991), by Peter Greenaway
The Tempest BBC Animated Tales (1992), by Stanislav Sokolov
The Tempest (2010), by Julie Taymor

4. OBJECTIVE

This research aims at:
reading the text media under the perspective of
“race” and gender in the adaptations of The Tempest,
by William Shakespeare.


5. RESEARCH RELEVANCE
Needless to say that The Tempest (1910-11), by William
Shakespeare is one of his most known oeuvre.
In the past century, this particular work was revisited through the
Post-colonial scope focusing on the relationship between
Prospero and Caliban as being the relationship between the
colonizer and the colonized.
By performing a study on the adaptation from Literature to
animation and to cinema and TV, it is possible to access the
underlying meaning of each production that is added or modified
in the Shakespearean text.
*The study of adaptation is included in the chapter as “types of
films” in David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson‟s Film Art (1997,
p.46-49)

6. PROCEDURES
This work is performed as follows:

Reading of The Tempest version of the First Folio, printed
in 1623 as comedy , and subsequently reading the Arden
version, issued in 1999 with notes.

Studying the concepts of critical media literacy, and theory
of adaptation by Hutcheon.
 Confronting the transposition of printed language to media
language: selection of actors, composition of characters, the
scenery, the wardrobe and the lines of the characters of
each adaptation, besides the resources used by different
media, and sound and visual effects.

7. SOME CONCEPTS
Critical Media Literacy: “it does give audiences the skills
necessary for analyzing and questioning the ideologies that
often work at a subtextual level within media texts.”
(DINES; HUMEZ, 2011, p. 1)
Adapting for Hutcheon (2006, p. 8) is as follows:
 An acknowledged transposition
of a recognizable other
work or works.
 A
creative
and
an
interpretative
act
of
appropriation/salvaging.
 An
extended intertextual engagement with the adapted
work.

8. 



subject shot or a point-of -view shot (POV shot)- it shows the view of a character
(BORDWELL, p. 240)
The movements of the camera and framing can play many functions and should
be analyzed within the context and they can replace the audience‟s eyes.
Camera – narrator or the eye of the narrator/character.
Distance of framing: extreme long shot, long shot, medium shot, close-up,
extreme close-up, plan américan (“American shot”- knees up )

Long shot – space - distance

Long take – time - duration of the shot (p. 259)

Three point of light – eliminates the shadow - key light (frontal), back light
(posterior), fill light (fill in , weaker than the frontal and comes from the direction
of the camera).
BACK
FILL
KEY

9. THE TEMPEST (1910-11)






The Duke of Milan has the power taken by the brother Alonso, who is supported
by the King of Naples and escapes with his daughter Miranda.
Gonzalo his loyal advisor places books and clothing in a boat for the father and
daughter escape.
The Duke comes Prospero , a sorcerer. Arriving on an island, he frees Ariel from
the trunk of a Pine tree where he had been for 12 years imprisoned by the witch
of Sycorax. He raises Caliban, the witch‟s son, with Miranda educating and
teaching him language. Though, Prospero later says that Caliban had attempted
to dishonor his daughter and for this reason, Caliban is confinned to a remote
part of the island.
Prospero provokes a storm with Ariel‟s help and makes Alonso, king of Naples,
Ferdinand (Alonso‟s son), Sebastian (Alonso‟s brother), Antonio (Prospero‟s
brother), Gonzalo (honest adviser) and others arrive at the island.
Prospero prepare his vengeance. Ariel helps him and persuades him to forgive
them. Meanwhile, Caliban joins Trinculo (fool) and Stephano (drunkard) in order
to kill Prospero.
Miranda and Ferdinand falls in love with each other. Prospero forgives the
traitors, and frees Ariel. Everybody returns to Naples.

10. The Tempest, BBC Collection (1980), by John Gorrie
Sir Michael Hordern
(Prospero)
Pippa Guard
(Miranda)
Born in 1911, in
Berkhamsted, England.
Born in 1952, in Edinburgh, Born in 1953, in London,
Scotland
England
Passed away in 1995, in
Oxford, Englland
Cousin to Christopher
Guard
Christopher Guard
(Ferdinand)

11. THE TEMPEST, BBC COLLECTION (1980), BY JOHN GORRIE

David Dixon

(Ariel)
Born in 1947 , in Derby, England
Director : John Gorrie
Born in 1932, in Hastings, East Sussex, England
Warren Clarke
(Caliban)
Born in 1947, in Oldham,
Lancashire, England.

12. Prospero's Book (1991), by Peter Greenaway

Sir John Gielgud
(Próspero)
Born in 1904, in South
Kensington, London.

Isabelle Pasco
(Miranda)
Born in 1966, in
Perpignan, France
Deceased in 2000, in Wotton
Underwood,
Buckinghamshire, England.

1953 – arrested for
homosexual acts in public.

Mark Rylance
(Ferdinand)
Born in 1960, in Ashford,
Kent, England.

13. PROSPERO'S BOOK (1991), BY PETER GREENAWAY

Orpheo ?

James Thiérée
Born in 1974, in Lausanne, Switzland

Paul Russel
Born in 1963, in Sherborne, England
Director: Peter Greenaway
Born in 1942 , in Newport, Gwent, Wales .

Michael Clark
Born in 1962, in Aberdeen,
Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

14. The Tempest, BBC Animated Tales (1992), by Stanislav Sokolov

Timothy West
(Prospero)
Born in 1934, in Bradford,
Yorkshire, England.

Received the C.B.E.
(Commander of the Order
of the British Empire) for
his work for the theatre in
1984.

Katy Behean
(Miranda)

Jonathan Tafler
(Ferdinand)
Born in 1961, deceased in ?
1996.

15. The Tempest, BBCAnimated Tales (1992), by Stanislav Sokolov

Ella Hood: (Ariel)

Alun Armstrong
(Caliban)
Director: Stanislav Sokolov
Born in 1947, in Russia.
Born in 1946, in Annfield Plain,
County Durham, England.

16. The Tempest (2010) , by Julie Taymor


Helen Mirren
(Prospera)
Born in 1945, in Chiswick,
London.

Felicity Jones
(Miranda)
Born in 1984, in
Birmingham, West
Midlands, England.

Reeve Carney

(Ferdinand)
Born in 1983, in West
Village, Nova York,
EUA.

17. The Tempest (2010) , by Julie Taymor

Ben Whishaw: (Ariel)
Born in 1980, in Clifton, Bedfordshire,
England.

Djimon Honsou
(Caliban)
Born in 1964, in Cotonou, Benin.
Director: Julie Taymor
Born in 1952, in Newton, Massachusetts, USA.

18. 
The BBC Collection (1980), directed by John Gorrie is loyal to the
Shakespearean text, with some cuts. The choice for the cast for the roles
Miranda and Ferdinand, being cousin, seems to have influenced in the
construction of the characters. That diminished the sexual overtone that might
have in the text.

The role of Prospero, played by Sir Michael Hordern conveys a comic
overtone, when he makes comments as:
“They are both in either's powers; but this swift business
must uneasy make, lest too light winning
Make the prize light.”(Act1, scene 2).

Other moments, the dramatic tone is explored:
“Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep. Sir, I am vex'd;”(Act 4, scene 1)

19. 

Sir Horden‟s voice and the experience in
acting on stage help building the theatrical
production.
The make up of Caliban, played by Clarke,
helps create an animal-like aspect, or even a
grotesque mythological being that distances
him from the humane. The body movements
also reminds thee public of an animal in fury
and in pain.

20. 


Ariel, played by David Dixon, acts with sate movements in act 1, scene 2. Dixon
speaks with Prospero exploring movements in various levels typical of stage
acting from high to low (ground), conveying fluidity to the movements of the
character.
Ariel on the ground, uses his hands to sustain his body, elevating his hips from the
ground, in this way, he floats on the air. The production uses few resources such
as to make him disappear. In this way the production combines stage language
and cinema language.
In act 3, scene 3 “[Enter PROSPERO above, invisible. Enter several strange Shapes,
bringing in a banquet; they dance about it with gentle actions of salutation; and, inviting the
King, &c. to eat, they depart].” this scene is extremely sensuous with nudity and
conveys an island of depravity. A colonizer‟s view on the colonizing territory.

THE TRANSFORMATION OF ARIEL
IN A BIRD IS MADE THROUGH VERY
SIMPLE TECHNICAL RESOURCE OF
STAGE. IN THIS WAY, THIS
PRODUCTION RELY MORE ON THE
ACTOR‟S ABILITY TO ACT.

21. 




Peter Greenaway’s adaptation is the only one with a distinguished title :
Prospero's Book (1991) and conveys the supremacy of the written language to
the spoken language. Prospero‟s books appears in the opening scene and
seem to guide the actions of the characters and the narrative itself.
The language privileges the masculine over the feminine, ans it is possible to
point out the make capacity of dominating language. Prospero dominates the
language and assumes a paternalistic position.
Miranda and Ferdinand do not move their lips ,a nd their lines are placed by
editing through voice over by Sir John Gielgud, who plays Prospero, in some
cases the voices are distorted and in other cases they are disonants.
The film is divided in 24 “books”, 24 is the approximate age of Caliban, as he is
in the womb of the witch Sycorax when she arrives at the island, Ariel is
imprisoned for 12 years when he is freed by Prospero. Prospero frees and then
the narrative occurs when 12years have passed since then.
Caliban is played by the dancer Michael Clark in a rocky and wet scenario.
Clark wears a fine clothing tight to his body and accessories that resembles
male genitals. That emphasizes the lascivous sexuality of the character.

22. 

The sceneries are huge, and filled with several naked actors represent the
savage environment naturalizing the nudity. Miranda and Ferdinand get married
in a ritual.
Long sequences without cut (long take) are frequent in this production,
conveying the ritualistic scenes. Long sequences with camera movements that
follow the sceneries and place diversity of body shapes and ages on the screen.

23. Stanislav Sokolovs adaptation (1992) is a fairy tale. The resource used was
Russian puppets that conveys a theatrical overtone. The media text is not
deeply explored in terms of human passion and feelingas as the Ariel‟s rebel
behavior for freedom or Prospero‟s deep lines. The line bellow is excluded:
“Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff/As dreams are made on, and our little
life /Is rounded with a sleep. Sir, I am vex'd;”(Act 4, scene 1)
Though, Próspero is the only one with human facial features , and he conveys the
anger for being cheated by Antonio, Sebastian and Alonso.
Ariel becomes a bird, and it is represented by another puppet that wear t bird
costume.


24. 

Caliban is a monster with blue nose that has a body covered with scales and
feathers far from being human. The production does not convey any sexual tone or
offensive tone. Caliban‟s lines on language is omitted.
There are many cuts and at least two scenes in which are only narrated in the
Shakespearean text are shown through action. On the text: Ariel tells Prospero that
Ferdinand, King of Naples‟s son had yelled: “Hell is empty/ And all the devils are
here.” (Act 1, scene 2). In the animation Ferdinand yells from the ship during the
storm. Another scene, Prospero tells that he is going to be freed from the island
becoming Duke of Milan again, that implies leaving his books , in the animation it is
the final scene.

25. 

Julie Taymor „s adaptation (2010) shows Prospera that attempts to protect
her daughter in a savage environment. She is androgynous, assuming the
male roles in the film.
Ariel, played by Ben Wishal is ethereal being almost a ghost. in this
production technology has been recurrently used as in the scene that shows
the tree where Ariel was imprisoned, shows Prospera‟s dwelling becoming
gradually the tree, she clearly uses her power in order to control him.

26. 
When taught by Prospera, Ariel becomes a dark demon –like fiigure .

27. 

.




Caliban is played by Djimon
Honsou, from Benin, former
French colony.
By casting an African actor, the
colonial discourse intertwines
with the Shakespearean text.
The process of colonization of
Africa by Western civilization is
in the collective memory of
society.
The scene shows a mother
attempting to protect her
daughter from a native savage.
The sexual overtone is implicit,
as the savage carries on his
body the marks of an uncivilized
individual.

28. FINAL WORDS more prominent in Taymor‟s
The question of “race” had been


adaptation due to the choice of the cast Dijon Honsou to play the
character as Caliban, several discourses on the savage, and the
colonization of Africa by Western civilization are embedded in the
film production. Caliban is depicted as an evil character who
violates a Caucasian female, Miranda and is protected by her
mother.
Greenaway‟s production conveys an overall sexually tone in the
whole movie; however, the savage is the one who is lascivious
fish-like being with aberrant sexuality. This discourse ends up
summing the idea of a savage beast that needs to be controlled
and civilized by Western tradition, and that cannot be assimilated
as he keeps a strong connection with nature that opposes
civilization itself.

29. 
Sokolov‟s adaptation carries a childish tone as it is
directed to the infantile public ; thus, it needs to depicts
in unambiguous manner who is the good ones and the
bad ones, being this latter attributed to an inhuman,
animal –like character . That, form of depicting a
savage will form the idea of the savage as being a
monster and villain. However, the villainy is diminished
and the monster who receives the proper punishment
arouses laughter in the audience. Miranda resembles a
princes of a fairy tale, delicate and sensible who waits
for her proper prince.

30. Gorrie‟s adaptation is almost a theatrical play recorded by a
camera, with few technical resources applied to the editing
and production. This version carries a so-called classical
view of Caliban as being a savage, monster that lacks
beauty and intelligence that opposes to Ferdinand , who is
bearer of physical beauty, rational attitudes that are only
disrupted by love.
 All four adaptations carry discourses on the savage that at
the first view help reinforcing the prejudicial discourse
against him. However, by accessing the various subtexts of
each media text, it is possible to deconstruct them critically
avoiding only the reception of the discourse on its surface.


31. WORKS CITED


BORDWELL, David; THOMPSON, Kristin. Film Art: An Introduction. 5ed. New York: The
Mc-Graw- Hill Companhies, Inc. 1997.
DINES, G; HUMEZ, J. M. Theory. In: A Cultural Studies Approach to Media: Theory. In:
Race, Gender, and Class in Media. Ed. Gail Dines, Jean M. Humez. London: Sage. 2011,
p. 1-5.

GORRIE, John. The Tempest BBC Collection. Directed by John Gorrie. BBC , Time – Life
Television Production. UK, USA ,1980, 125 min.




GREENAWAY, Peter. Prospero's Book . Directed by Peter Greenaway. Allarts, Cinéa,
Camera One, Penta Films. Netherland, France, Italy, UK, Japan ,1991, 124 min.
HUTCHEON, Linda. "In Defence of Literary Adaptation as Cultural Production." M/C
Journal 10.2 (2007). Access in: 18 Nov. 2013. Available at: <http://journal.mediaculture.org.au/0705/01-hutcheon.php>.
___. A Theory of Adaptation. London: Routlege. 2006.
MABILLARD, Amanda. Shakespeare in Print.Shakespeare Online. Access in 18 Nov.
2013. available at: < http://www.shakespeareonline.com/biography/shakespeareinprint.html >.

32. 




SANDERS, Julie. Adaptation and Appropriation. New York: Routledge. 2006.
SHAKESPEARE, William. The Tempest. The Arden Shakespeare. Eds.: Virginia,
Mason Vaughan & Alden T. Vaughan. London: Thomson Learning. 1999.
SHAKESPEARE, William. The Tempest. 1º ed. 1623. Ed. First Folio. Editor
Charlton Hinman. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.1968. Electronic Text
Center, University of Virginia Library. Jul.1996. Access in: 7 abril 2011. Available
at: <http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/MobTemp.html>
SOKOLOV, Stanislav. The Tempest BBC Animated Tales. Directed by Stanislav
Sokolov. Soyuzmultifilm,Stanel 4, Cymru (S4C), BBC Wales, Russia and UK,
1992, 26 min.
TAYMOR, Julie. The Tempest . Directed by Julie Taymor. Miramax , Talkstory
Productions, Artemis films, USA, 2010. 110 min.

33. LIST OF FILMS




GORRIE, John. The Tempest BBC Collection. Directed by
John Gorrie. BBC , Time – Life Television Production. UK,
USA ,1980, 125 min.
GREENAWAY, Peter. Prospero's Book . Directed by Peter
Greenaway. Allarts, Cinéa, Camera One, Penta Films.
Netherland, France, Italy, UK, Japan ,1991, 124 min.
SOKOLOV, Stanislav. The Tempest BBC Animated Tales.
Directed by Stanislav Sokolov. Soyuzmultifilm,Stanel 4,
Cymru (S4C), BBC Wales, Russia and UK, 1992, 26 min.
TAYMOR, Julie. The Tempest . Directed by Julie Taymor.
Miramax , Talkstory Productions, Artemis films, USA, 2010.
110 min.