Introduction
Exoticism is the essential part of Shakespeare’s Romantic comedy. In fact, the word ‘exotic’ was first used in 1599 to mean ‘alien, introduced from abroad, not indigenous’. By 1651 its meaning had been extended to include ‘an exotic and foreign territory, ‘an exotic habit and demeanor’ (OED).As a noun, the term meant ‘a foreigner plant not acclimatized’. During the nineteenth century, however, the exotic or the foreign, increasingly gained, throughout the empire, the connotations of a stimulating or exciting difference, something with which the domestic could be (safely) spiced (Ashcroft et al., 2004: 94).
The key conception here is the introduction of the exotic from abroad into a domestic economy. Exotics are the significant part of imperial displays of power and the plenitude of empires. Moreover, the term ‘exoticism’ includes remote or distant setting, high imagination and improbabilities, land of love, deception, master-slave relationship, song and music, and various romance and comic atmospheres. William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is a playwright who successfully uses the term “exoticism” in his romantic comedies. So, Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Twelfth Night are the plays which are abound with various exotic elements. Shakespeare skillfully handles these exotic elements in order to create romantic comedies. This article is concerned with exotic setting of The Tempest and Twelfth Night and its relevance to romantic comedies.
Post-colonial view
Exoticism is a post-colonial term which deals with the various effects of colonization, master-slave relationship, hegemony, awareness about the self and others. According to post colonialism; colonizers are more than the colonized. Language itself is the second area of c...
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John Gillies “The Open World : The Exotic in Shakespeare,” in Shakespeare and the Geography of Difference, La Trobe University.. http://www.enotes.com/topics/william-shakespeare/critical-essays/john-gillies-la-trobe-university Jurline T. Franklin. “Magic and Music, Revenge and Reconciliation: The Tempest”. Ortiz Middle School p.97.
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The Tempest - study guide http://www.universalteacher.org.uk/shakespeare/tempest.htm Unsettling AustrIllyria: Twelfth Night, Exotic Englishness and Empire
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Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is a comedy that has been interpreted in different ways, enabling one to receive multiple experiences of the same story. Due to the content and themes of the play, it can be creatively challenging to producers and their casting strategies. Instead of being a hindrance, I find the ability for one to experiment exciting as people try to discover strategies that best represent entertainment for the audience, as well as the best ways to interpret Shakespeare’s work.
In this article, Takaki addresses the idea of savagery and its role in both The Tempest and in the process of colonization. The idea of a “savage” was very prominent in people's minds at the time this play was written. In England, the established idea of a savage was the Irish, due to their lack of technology and other social institutions that the British were so used to, but at this time, the definition was rapidly evolving, due to the exploration of the New World. Exposure to Native Americans was increasing
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and The Tempest. The main sections of my argument will be; the phenomenon of love
Shakespeare, William. Othello. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2009. Print
Shakespeare, William. Othello. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2009. Print
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The study of the (non-Western) “Other”, defined by Trouillot as the Savage Slot, commenced before Anthropology became a discipline. Thus, Anthropology did not fashion the concept of the “Savage” or “Other” (Trouillot 2003:28). Instead, it is initially associated with the accounts of travelers and explorers and literature of the sixteenth century and seventeenth centuries. In 1516, Thomas More composed a fictional account of the island Utopia, which became “the prototypical nowhere of the European imagination” (Trouillot 2003:14). The appeal of the “Elsewhere” to Europeans was fulfilled by travel accounts that portrayed the savage, such as those of Jean-Baptiste Du Tertr...
The Tempest, by Shakespeare, offers the reader a variety of themes. The one theme that stands out the most is that of colonialism. During the time of Shakespeare, many European countries such as Spain, France, and England, were expanding their borders by taking over less developed countries, referred to as colonies. During this time of exploitation, there was skepticism concerning the possible success of the colonies. While some scholars believe that the play is about the Americas, I argue that the play reflects on colonialism in general and how it is destined for failure which is shown through the character’s relationships throughout the play.
Shakespeare, William, and Robert Woodrow Langbaum. The Tempest: With New and Updated Critical Essays and A Revised Bibliography. New York, NY, USA: Signet Classic, 1998. Print.
The elements of pastoral comedy in The Tempest are also linked to those of the masque. A natural man, Caliban, exists. So do a pair of noble young lovers, Ferdinand and Miranda, who are brought together in the pastoral setting of an island, unaffected by the corruptive influenc...