A Tempest
-Aime Cesaire
Catherine D, Mike G, Deja B, Amanda Y
1
Fast Write
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Fastwrite:
What differences did you
notice in Cesaire’s rewrite
compared to the original?
What do you think this
means for the development
of the play past Act I? Are
there any particular
characters that have
changed? Why?
2
Reading + Discussion Question
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Act III, Scene 5 p. 56-66
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Questions:
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3
Why do you think Prospero frees Ariel and not Caliban?
Why does he change his mind about leaving the island?
What is Cesaire trying to symbolize?
Eshu
In A Tempest: Crashes the wedding party; sings song
In Myth: A Yoruban diety of chaos and trickery; the personification
death
4
Eshu
Eshu can play many tricks
Give him twenty dogs!
You will see his dirty tricks.
Eshu plays a trick on the Queen
And makes her so upset that she
runs
Naked into the street
Eshu plays a trick on a bride,
And on the day of the wedding
She gets into the wrong bed
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Eshu can throw a stone yesterday
And kill a bird today
He can make a mess out of order
and vise-versa.
Ah, Eshu is a wonderful bad joke.
Eshu is not the man to marry a heavy
load.
His head comes to a point. When he
dances
He doesn’t move his shoulders...
Oh, Eshu is a merry elf
Eshu is a merry elf,
And he can whip you with his dick,
He can whip you,
He can whip you….
Discussion question
Cesaire focuses strongly on Caliban’s native “black” magic, that
is also exemplified by the spirit Eshu, and ultimately, the defeat
of Prospero’s “white” magic, that is overrun by an opossum
plague. How does this tie in with the play’s colonization
theme?
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